2020 Reading Goal

In today's high-tech world it's very easy to get distracted, and with that Magic Box of Answers and Games in my pocket masquerading as a phone it's even easier.  As a result, reading has become something of a difficulty for me.

So it's time to once again try and retrain my brain to be able to focus on page after page and get through a book or ten.  It's time to break away, just for a little while at a time, from that magic, flashy, look-at-me world of the internet and lose myself in books again.

It's not like I don't have reading material.

So the goal for 2020 (because why not base a goal around arbitrary beginnings and endings?) is to read 24 books.  That's only two a month.  I should be able to do that.

There has been much discussion in my family about what constitutes "reading" a "book."

First off, for the purposes of this exercise, listening to an audiobook will not count toward the goal.  It will count, mind you, just not toward this tally.  There is much merit in listening to a story being told, especially if you're fortunate enough to have the author reading you their own story.  But since this is about retraining my brain to physically read then only the printed page will do.

Yes, that also means, for me, that reading off of a screen won't count.  I just don't like it.  I want to feel the pages between my fingers.  It still counts for everyone else, but not me.

Now, on to what constitutes a "book."  Does a graphic novel count?  Sure, why not?  But I don't think I'll count it toward this goal.    They still count, though, out in regular tallies.  

Right, so that's about it.  Graphic novels and audiobooks are grand and count as reading but not for this purpose, so I'll just be counting books with lots of words between two covers.  Twenty-four of them.  Starting tomorrow.  I already know which one will start it.

I've created this page so I can document when I finish, and to hold myself accountable.  Sure, I could just delete it if things go wrong, but the shadow will always be there, so I'd best play nice.

Time to crack some spines.