In 2021 I set a wild goal: to read 52 non-fiction books in the 52 weeks of the year. I did this as a result of feeling like I struggled to even finish a non-fiction book before retirement. The list of things I’m curious about and want to learn is long, and I thought this ambitious goal would be helpful and fun (what an idiot I was ๐ ).
So I usually aim to read 1 non-fiction book a month๐. I did not hit that goal last year because of…everything 2020 threw at us. So now that I'm retired I'm thinking of attempting to read 52 non-fiction books in the 52 weeks of 2021. Have I lost my mind๐ค? pic.twitter.com/seiQtqwrle
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) January 3, 2021
Anyway, despite all odds, I did complete this goal though it was difficult. I only read books that interested me regardless of the dense-ness of the content or the number of pages in a book, which led to me devouring several 600+ page monsters filled with complicated content. I didn’t want to choose books based on trying to complete this goal, but instead based on what I wanted to learn. I think that was the right approach, but doing so at times, led me to block off half days of time just to finish these really long books.
Luckily, I don’t really have other things to do ๐ , but this goal was a little too ambitious for me I found. I’m not going to impose any such goal on myself this year, and I am curious how many books I’ll read on my own – probably a lot less since goals are a thing for a reason, they usually work to push you ๐ .
Well, I DID IT๐คฏ!!! I gave myself the goal of reading 52 non-fiction books in the 52 weeks of 2021 and I just finished Book #52๐. Phew! I wasn't sure if I was going to make it, but here I am done early. Now, it's time for a nap๐ด๐คฃ. pic.twitter.com/yyimkKQx6F
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) December 16, 2021
Anyway, if you’re curious which books I read and what I rated them, I have them all under a 52-in-52 tag here on my Goodreads. I’ve also listed them under the “Reading” section in my 2021 annual accomplishments post. So now instead of the “What”, let’s talk about the “How.” How the fuck did I read that many books in a year? Here’s how I was able to do it:
Being Retired
…seriously though ๐ . After working 10-12 hour days during my career, the last thing I wanted to do was use my brain further by learning something new. I was way too tired for that most nights and weekends. My previous goal was 12 non-fiction books a year and I didn’t always accomplish that.
But now, having time and the ability to let my brain have the space to be curious and hungry was key. I know some people like the badass Angela from Tread Lightly can read this much non-fiction regularly while working, but I’m not a superhero like her so here we are ๐ . Being retired allowed me to have both the time and mental capacity to learn this much.
How's retirement going๐ค?
๐ง My mental health is the best it's ever been
๐๐พโโ๏ธI'm in the best shape I've been in since age 22
๐I've read more non-fiction books this year than the last 5 years combined
๐ฅฐI've spent more time with my loved ones than ever beforeAKA it's going well๐
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) October 11, 2021
Breaking It Down
If I had looked at a stack of 4 thick books at the beginning of each month and thought, “I have to read all these,” it would have been overwhelming even in my work free life. So I broke it into smaller parts. For example, I would say “I should read 20 pages of this book a day”, which is obviously way more manageable mentally. At times I would exceed that page goal and other times I would stay at the minimum and move on with my day.
Choosing Variety
Similar to fiction books, there’s a range of types of non-fiction that I read. There are the books that I can’t put down and I finish in a day or stay up late into the night reading. On the other side of the spectrum, there are books whose subject matter is very interesting, but the way it’s written makes it hard for me to devour it.
These are the books where I have to read passages multiple times to get the gist, but I want to put in the effort. So having a variety of books that are easier to read alongside the mammoths that take all of my concentration, helps me not just burnout immediately when taking on this goal. Similarly, the page counts of the books I read varied wildly. There were shorter reads and entire tomes mixed in there. If I had chosen just one or the other, I don’t think I would have had as well-rounded of an experience.
Me: [Trying to read my book at the local brewery while trying a flight๐ป]
Also Me: [Totally eavesdropping on the dude next to me's Tinder date๐] pic.twitter.com/wDWqjKFzuZ— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) November 18, 2021
External Deadlines
This lesson obviously extends beyond just books, but to do something, I need a deadline. I suspect other humans are similar because every time my partner and I moved cities, we would have more visitors in the last few months than we did in previous years combined ๐ .
Back in the literary world, I’m the same way with library books. Something could be available to borrow for years – and I wouldn’t. So I started placing holds on books that wouldn’t be available for weeks or months. Then when they were available, I had that feeling of scarcity and the knowledge I would have to wait even more time for the opportunity to read this again. I also had a literal ticking clock for when the book would be returned to the library working against me. I found that this was the best way to finally tackle my reading list even before embarking on this challenge.
Just knowing I want to do something doesn’t allow me to make time in my busy ๐ schedule to do it. There are too many birds to identify and sunsets to watch ๐ . Giving myself a timeframe (all of 2021) and a general guideline (1 non-fiction book a week), helped to keep me on track. I even announced this goal on Twitter and Goodreads for some extra accountability. Every little bit helps.
I was just reading a book and listening to music. I read a line in the book and it included the exact same words that the song was singing at the same moment…Am I a wizard๐ง๐พโโ๏ธ? pic.twitter.com/oF1AUB5Ogi
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) March 11, 2021
Learning My Patterns
I’ve discovered the situations where I prefer to read non-fiction books – interestingly it’s the exact opposite environment I prefer for reading fiction. When I dive into a fictional world, I don’t like distractions – I want to be locked in my room with no obligations to interrupt me and devour a book.
Conversely for non-fiction, I require breaks to let these new concepts sink into my brain. As a result, I prefer to read non-fiction around people. I don’t mind interruptions to chat. I also read non-fiction while commuting for similar reasons. Interruptions are welcome instead of a nuisance.
For example, when we were still living in our Georgia tiny house/commune situation, we would chill together most evenings. My partner and his brother would do a crossword puzzle and I would read non-fiction books. It was perfect – I could add a word to the crossword if they asked me, and pop in and out of learning something new in my book.
I just had to urge to read political fiction and it made me realize – I haven't felt that in years. Unintentionally I haven't watched shows, movies or read books on that world. I guess now I'm ready. A weird side effect of yesterday๐คท๐พโโ๏ธ. Let's dive in! pic.twitter.com/F35l8jgkhp
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) January 21, 2021
Conclusion
And that’s how I tackled this really challenging goal in 2021 ๐ . For 2022, I’m going to keep up my library holds strategy and generally give myself some breathing room. So look forward to some ridiculous Beach Reads popping up on my Goodreads ๐ . Until next time!
What books did you love last year?
Wow, that’s quite a bit of books to read in 1 year! I think I only read half of that (29) in 2021!
Here are some of my favorite non-fictions from last year:
Winning, by Tim Grover.
Total Recall, by Arnold Schwarzenegger
Great By Choice, by Jim Collins
4 Hour Chef, by Tim Ferriss
Art Of Learning, by Josh Waizkin
That’s still an amazing number! Way more than I read while working. Thanks so much for sharing your favs – I’ll look them up!
I also read more books last year than I have since high school, probably – 33!! (finally recovered from college burnout) 13 nonfiction, 20 fiction – a good mix.
My favorite books of the year for nonfiction were 1. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer 2. Why Fish Don’t Exist by LuLu Miller 3. This Bridge Called My Back (essays by various feminists of color) 4. The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee. 5. The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
Faves for fiction were 1. Juliet Takes A Breath by Gabby Rivera 2. Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon 3. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden and 4. The Inheritance Trilogy (counting 3 books as one here ๐) by NK Jemisin.
That sums me up pretty well!! Books about the land/nature, queer YA, lesbian feminism, racial justice, diverse epic fantasy, and personal finance.
That’s awesome!! Thank you for sharing – I really appreciate it ๐ .
Ahhhh this was so good. You mean giving your brain a break and having the time to delve into complicated topics means . . . you read more? Quelle surprise! Sounds like bliss. Well done on hitting the goal, that’s a big achievement, especially with tomes that need mental digestion. You definitely deserve to mix it up with some fiction now.
I love reading, but have fallen into the easy fanfiction trap way too often. I consider it junk food for my brain. My literary goal for 2022 is to read a few pages of a physical book – fiction, non-fiction, doesn’t matter – every night before sleeping. The idea is to read down some of my to-read list and to read better quality writing. I’m enjoying it so far, even though I’ve technically reread 3 out of the 4 books for January! It’s a nice treat after a day of work.
Oh, and books I loved last year . . . the Blackthorn and Grim series by Juliet Marillier, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine, Joy in the Morning by P.G. Wodehouse.
Thank you!
Haha yeah – wild right ๐ ? And thank you!
That’s interesting that you think of fanfic as junk food for the brain. I don’t personally because on the whole fanfics are better written than most of the fiction books I can find. Very interesting perspective. On a silly side note, I at times call reading (fanfic or otherwise) ‘research’ in case I want to write a book one day – so much research ๐ .ย ย
Maybe it depends on the fandom. I’ve found it hit or miss. Some fanfics are incredible – well-plotted, well-written, nuanced and accurate characterisation (or internally consistent if not accurate to the show/movie), and just a joy to read. In those cases, yes, better than some published fiction. But I’ve also waded through bad grammar, lack of plot, badly constructed prose, melodrama, etc, and while I just close stuff I’m not enjoying, I still spend time and energy looking and reading until I realise there’s an issue. There’s a fair amount of repetition in reading the same pairings over and over again in differing contexts. I also find myself very irritated by certain things that I suspect get edited out or polished in traditionally-published work – just language things, unnecessary wording, bad sentence structure, crappy plot structure, all that kind of stuff. Perhaps I’m just a snob ๐ that’s why I consider it junk food: it’s great when it’s good, but a lot of it isn’t exactly nutritious.
Re research: yeah! One of the things I love about fanfic is the creativity in taking an established world and characters, and building new interesting things about them. There’s a lot of skill and imagination to learn from.
So interesting! Yeah I rarely see typos in fanfics – I see them more often in published books, same with strange sentences (in my head while reading I mentally strike out a word or write them a note haha). You made me think about how I find high-quality fics and I think it’s because I only read recommendations – either based on the highest kudos on AO3 or just straight up “this is sensational” recommendations from people I trust. I do the same with published books, but overall they seem poorer quality. Anyway, all anecdotal obviously, but it’s really cool to hear your experience is different. Thank you for sharing!
An incredible and stupendous goal – a big well done for getting there! I had a goal to read just 4 non-fiction books in 2021 and I failed (I read 3). Am trying again for 2022. Overall goal is 25 books (mainly fiction).
Interesting reading list but the title that jumped out at me was the one on Slow Jogging – I’d heard of slow jogging a while ago and thought I’d give it a go myself (I have never enjoyed long distance running, being built for short bursts of speed, not endurance) as I wanted to add more cardio to my exercise routine. I’m probably now jogging a little faster than what is considered slow jogging (about 5.5 mph) but it’s not fast enough to be deemed running and I think it’s something I can keep doing longterm. – I have no goal to go any faster! Have you been slow jogging?
Thank you ๐ . And yes – I’ve been slow jogging since August! I have a story highlight about it on Insta.
I came here to make the same joke: “How I read 52 non-fiction books in 52 weeks: by being retired.” Guess that was low-hanging fruit ๐
Still, impressive achievement and I’m sure you learned a lot! I’ve been reading an unusually high amount of non-fiction lately myself – great minds obviously think alike ๐ Haven’t read 52 books in a year though, so I’ll have to step it up!
I did notice that you said there were “shorter reads and entire tombs mixed in there.” I think you meant to say “tomes.” Otherwise, that gives “reading non-fiction” a whole new [morbid] meaning!
Haha – low hanging fruit and very true ๐ . And thank you for telling me about the typo! It’s been fixed. I unfortunately didn’t mean that morbid definition haha.
Great accomplishment! I like for the concepts to sink in and long after reading a book, I still analyze how it applies to my life so 2-3 weeks is typical for me. If it’s fiction, I tend to let the story linger in my mind long after I’m done if it’s a good one.
Yes with library holds, I just reserve as many as I can then I move to the back of the queue if I am not ready for a new one. Do you use just one library or you register with a new library every time you move? I found a library outside my town who loans e-books without a card.
Yeah that’s awesome. I love books that stick with you. And yeah I just use the one library where I’m a resident (Seattle).
Hi,
Recently came back to your website after first hearing you on Captain FI podcast. I was wondering whether you borrowed all the books or do you have a book budget?
Cool! Last year I borrowed them all from the library, but this year I’m already buying some and that comes out of my “Entertainment” budget.
I am so jealous of this! I didn’t even manage a book a month last year, but am shooting for two a month this year (surprise surprise, I’m off the pace already). Need to get back into the 20 pages a day habit and get back to reading!
You’ve got this!!
There’s truth in reality. Have you read Severance by Ling Ma? Since you’ve been in and out of NY, it might resonate with you like it did with me. But it has a slight pandemic trigger warning.
โNew York is possibly the only place in which most people have already lived, in some sense, in the public imagination, before they ever arrive.โ
The boyfriend also goes nomadic, hehe.
I haven’t – I’ll look into it!