“To read is to fly.” – A. C. Grayling
While New Year’s resolutions have never played an important role in my life (I can’t remember the last time I made one), I do think resolutions are essential. Life is defined by the decisions we make and I’ve come to view life as a series of adjustments. As we increase in age and wisdom, we begin to recognize opportunities in our life to grow and improve. And any decision to embrace that opportunity could best be labeled as a resolution (I’ve just never understood why we’d wait until January 1st to make the change).
On a related note, I like reading. Each time I read a new book, I am stretched as a person. I am forced to embrace a new thought and evaluate my life against it. I am taken to new places and enjoy conversations with new people. I am inspired, entertained, and invested into. I become a better person because of it… I just wish I did more of it.
That’s why I’ve taken this occasion of a new year to purposely resolve to read more books. For most of my life, I’ve averaged reading about one book per month. But for the next 52 weeks, I have resolved to read 52. After giving it some thought over the past few weeks, I have made the decision to read one book per week in2012 for a number of reasons:
1. It’ll make me a better writer. As one who enjoys spreading thoughts and inspiring others through the written word, writing is important to me. And reading always increases our capacity to write.
2. It’ll make me a better leader. Life requires relationship. Each of us interact with others on a daily basis. And our lives are either giving life to others or draining it from them. I want my life to give life to others and inspire them to live better. There is a growing passion in my heart to continue taking this message of “finding more life by owning less” to more and more people. I’m not entirely sure what that looks like down the road, but there’s a 100% chance leadership qualities will be required.
3. It’ll increase my worldview. Reading opens our heart to new ideas, new cultures, and new worldviews. Good art always does.
4. It’ll increase my breadth of knowledge. There is a world of inspiration to be discovered in books. There is also a world of knowledge to be found in books. I live my life trying to see the good in people believing that we can learn something from everybody… and since some have had the opportunity to write it down for us, it would make sense to take full advantage of their efforts.
5. It’ll increase my reading speed. Just like any skill in life, we improve with practice. While not a slow reader, I have never considered myself particularly fast either. No doubt, reading 52 books in 52 weeks will be a stretch for me. It will require my attention and practice and will likely increase my skill and pace in reading – at times, by necessity.
6. It’ll be a good example for my kids. My kids are young (elementary school) and still learning to read. I want them to embrace the practice with joy. I want them to become lifelong readers. And I want them to recognize their father as one who does the same.
7. It’ll increase my ability to dream big. While I have enjoyed reading all genres of books, I have always found special joy in biographies. Reading the stories of those who sacrificed much, inspires me to do the same. Reading the stories of those who loved unselfishly, inspires me to do the same. And reading the stories of those who accomplished much, inspires me to dream big and do the same.
8. It’ll stretch my self-discipline. No doubt, at times, this resolution will require discipline. The best ones always do.
9. It’ll stretch my creativity. New thoughts always stretch our minds to rediscover life in new ways. We begin to see the world differently. And we find new creative solutions because of it.
10. Books lead to greater relationships with the people around us. Books provide great opportunity to improve our existing relationships. Not only do they provide new conversation starters, they offer a new depth to our conversations as well. They encourage us to further pursue their claims within the world and people around us. As a result, they give us opportunity to not just grow in ourselves… but grow in our relationships with others as well.
11. It’ll help me better discern good ideas from bad ideas. One thing’s for sure, there are a lot of different approaches to life and the problems we face. Reading books provides opportunity to better discern what has worked in the past and what has not.
12. There are so many great books left to be read. There are books written to provide wisdom, inspiration, knowledge, and laughter. There is a wealth of life hidden inside of them… all we need to do is take the time to pick them up and read.
Thus far, I am on pace. I have recently completed Every Body Matters and Seven Days in Utopia. I am currently rereading Death by Suburb. And I have another book lined up to read after that. I hesitated a bit writing this post… but I desire the accountability. Putting resolutions out in a public forum encourages our discipline and resolve. It further calls us to pursue our goals as others have the opportunity to track our progress. And that encouragement will be valuable to me throughout.
Lastly, I wanted to encourage you. No doubt, if you read blogs, you are likely a reader already. But if not, there’s no better time to start than today. And while 52 books is a challenge that I believe fits into my life at this exact moment in time, you may find greater encouragement in reading 26 or 12. But either way, I’d love to have you join me in some way.
I’d also welcome any book recommendation in the comment section below.
Elwyn Richards says
Excellent article, Joshua. I have read as many as 67 books in a year, this is dependent on the length of the book, of course. Reading is something I have done since childhood, I’m now 54, and I think I would have withdrawal symptoms if for any reason I was not able to have my books around me.
You asked for book recommendations. Well, two recent books that I’ve read which I really enjoyed are, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Happy reading
Elwyn Richards.
Mahad says
Awesome post. I find this challenge to be an exciting one, and look forward to starting on it right away, also love what you said about NY resolution, and that its better to just get start right away instead of waiting for NY to make a resolution.
Best,
Mahad
Kristina says
I have challenged myself on Goodreads.com to read fifty-two books this year. I require my seventh grade students to read one book a week. I started requiring this last year after seeing students take three weeks to read a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. If kids will actually follow through it will increase their ability to focus for a period of time. They also read in class and can use the same one they read at home. They are also able to get two weeks for a book over 400 pages (advanced class) 300 (inclusion). If you read about Ben Carson in his autobiography Gifted Hands he discusses how his mother made him read two books a week and he went from the very bottom of his class to the very top.
Now reading one book a week doesn’t mean a book can’t be repeated. My students don’t know it, but I’m going to tell them three times this year that’s an assignment. Write down what they remember and compare it to a second read. Also reading a book a week doesn’t mean they or myself need to only read quality literature. But some quality is bound to fall in there with that many books. There are also books that may be non-fiction and only sixty pages. I read a book on Jackie Kennedy that was only sixty or so pages long. I learned quite a bit. It’s count. There are eight maybe nine Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. That leaves eight months of reading other books! Lol. Also, if I don’t hit fifty-two but read 45… I didn’t reach my goal but came close enough to be proud.
Anyway awesome goal and I personally would love some follow ups. (A) What adventures did you encounter? (B) Did you repeat this challenge the following year?
(C) Benefits and Challenges
pavithra says
super . will u pls till me the best book which is good in its al wil with auters name
Sonali Pahuja says
I have the same resolution for 2015. Was searching for people like me on internet n bumped into u. I have read 9 books in 4 months. I am not on track but I m really enjoying the vast information flow in my head.all the best to all the voracious readers and god bless the writers who take us to a different world of fulfillment.
Jessica Hall says
Hello, there! I have not made the resolution to read more books but I plan on doing so. I just read the Alchemist for my class, and am a new follower of God…that book, especially towards the end, brought me to tears. It made me at rest with myself at eighteen years old. I highly recommend other people to read it; it has 60 translations and the author, Paulo Coelho, is from Brazil. It’s about a boy named Santiago who goes through his journey to find his “Treasure” and the moral lesson, well, you probably have found this parallel in other literature books too. I am highly blessed to have discovered the treasures in this book that have brought me the secret of life: love it, treasure it, cherish it, and don’t be swept under the rug by societal norms. Bless you all! Amen.
Cody Pitchford (@iCodyTV) says
Thank you for sharing this Joshua! Stats say 85% of highly successful people read 2 or more education, career-related, or self-improvement books per month. I love to read; however, audiobooks seem to be the way to go with my busy schedule. I download them for free from Amazon’s Audible website at http://goo.gl/olNFvM
Thomaa says
As a young student, this message truly hits home. it was really perplexing and somewhat disappointing when I discovered that many people in modern society think buying expensive stuff is the ultimate. I wish you the best on your purposeful journey. Two books ti check out if you have an open mind: “The Alchemist” by Paulo Vogel and “The Meaning of Marxism” by Paul D’amato
Apryl says
How do you find time to read with small kids and being a busy parent?
Autumn says
I want to thank you for writing this blog. It is inspiring and I have decided to make the commitment of reading one book a week. I added this page to my favorites incase I need some motivation to keep me going to meet my goal of a book a week. :)