To start with a confession, the title of this post is a bit untrue. I did not actually “read” 52 books in 2019, I “listened” to 52 audio-books in 2019. While it may not be as impressive as “reading”, I think listening works better for my lifestyle and I feel it may work for you as well.
This post is geared towards explaining how I achieved this feat (#humblebrag) and lay out some steps for you if you would like to experiment with this idea.
How to get started?
First, make a new year resolution/Set a goal — Just kidding :).. We all know those rarely work. For me, reading 52 books was NOT a goal that I set for myself for 2019.
It was quite serendipitous actually; I stumbled on a post on Product Hunt around “Startup book club” in December 2018. The idea of the club was that every 2 weeks the club members will read a non-fiction book from a compiled list based recommended of the likes of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg etc.
The first book that I read as part of the club was “Atomic Habits” and the next one was “Surely, you must be joking Mr. Feynman”. These two got me hooked and I was surprised that instead of taking the expected 4 weeks, I was able to listen to both of them within 2 weeks. Then on, I stopped following the club’s weekly recommendations, but looked ahead at the bigger list for my next picks.
By June 2019, I had listened to roughly 30 audiobooks. That was the first time I thought to myself, hey I could potentially listen to 52 books this year. So although I did not start the year with that goal, but it did become a goal roughly mid year.
So, to get started you need two things —
- A book that you’ll like — If you are not enjoying what you are reading, you’ll find excuses to postpone it. If you need some recommendations, I have a list towards the end of this post.
- An accountability partner — The book club served as a accountability partner for me. I didn’t want to be the one stuck behind, when rest of the group was moving on to the next book.
Tips for you to listen to more audio-books in 2020
If you already identified the book and and an accountability partner and are looking for ways to find more time in your schedule. Here are a few tweaks I made in my lifestyle which I feel compounded over time and allowed me to read more books —
- Replace podcasts with books — A while back, I had decided to spend less time reading random articles on internet and spend that time reading more books. I applied the same logic to my listening time as well, fewer podcasts and more audio books.
- Better dead-time management — There are many windows during the day when you have dead-time — commute is one big example, but there are many others such as doing chores around the house, grocery shopping or waiting in the line for the next iPhone (do people still do that?). I utilized those very effectively and you could be assured if I was running an errand, I would have my headphones on and I’ll be zoned in.
- Utilizing Public Library —This is something I feel was a true game-changer. I’ve been a long time subscriber of Audible, but that gives you one audio-book a month for $14.95 subscription. Most popular audiobooks costs more than $20 each, and even though I love books I don’t think I would have spend roughly $100 on books each month. I believe this is also the reason some people may prefer podcasts or audio-books. After all, podcasts are free and for books you have to pay. This is where I discovered that the public library system in US (and I presume in many other developed countries) is AWESOME! Most libraries allow you to use apps such as Libby or Hoopla to checkout books online. Hoopla lets you borrow 5 books each month and Libby allows you to hold up to 8 books at a time, with a checkout window of 21 days. Most of the books I read in 2019 were thanks to the Northern California Digital Library. If your public library provides you this provision, you should definitely be leveraging it.
- Have your next book lined up — This is also where the book club helped, but there are a number of other places where you can find great book recommendations. Having a next book lined up will help keep the habit going.
What next
As 2019 is coming to a wrap, I’ve been thinking will I try to do another 52 books next year? The answer is most likely not. As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t start 2019 with a goal to read a specific number of books.
In fact once I had set the goal around June/July, I felt a bit of a pressure to finish it and I felt the joy of reading waning a bit. I felt the urge to pick the books that were shorter, in order to get my count up. So for 2020, I’m not going for any specific count. I think I already have the habit/system in place. If I don’t listen to a book for a week or so, I feel something missing. I’ll go with the flow, and see what number I’ll end up with.
Something, I’ll like to change in 2020 is that I’d like to add a note-taking practice. As I am mostly listening to the books while driving or completing another chore, I’m don’t get to take notes or underline important points in the book. I feel this is something I can improve and it is something that’ll help me retain more. If you have any ideas on how I can improve this, please add a comment.
Book Recommendations –
If you are feeling inspired and need help deciding which book to pick up. Here are Top 5 books that I feel made the most impact on my life in 2019
- Atomic Habits — Science of habit formation distilled into one book. Loaded with practical advice to introduce a new habit in your life.
- Dot Journaling — A practical guide — This book helped me build a BulletJournal practice that was my go-to way for managing my projects, to-dos this year.
- Why We Sleep — I used to be proud of being able to survive with less than 6 hours of sleep. This book changed my perception of that and now I strive to find more time for sleep in my schedule.
- Don’t lose out, work out — I never lifted weights in my life, until 2019, and this book pushed me to do that.
- When breath becomes air — Autobiography of Paul Kalinathi, a surgeon who lost his life to lung cancer. A heart-touching memoir that will leave you with tears in your eyes.
If you are interested in checking out the other books I read, you can see the complete list on my Notion page here.
Lastly, if you have some book recommendations, please leave those in comments.
Originally published at https://linkedin.com