Since the start of the new year I have been hitting the ground running on a number of personal goals I want to achieve by the end of the year. Among them has been to read a lot of books. I don’t exactly have a process for how I decide which books I’ll be reading next. Some of it depends on mood, length, and what format I want to read it in (physical copy, e-book, or audiobook). Despite having quite the collection to keep me busy for the next several months or maybe years, I can never resist compiling a long running list of other interesting titles I hope to finally read.
As I mentioned before on this blog I find the Goodreads app a good source for keeping tabs on your progress with the books you’re reading or to maintain a list of books you want to read. My list has grown exponentially since having the app, and I’m always finding books of note through book to movie adaptations, best of lists on websites, or good old fashioned book recommendations from trusted friends and family.
Scrolling through my list of Want to Read on the app I have about 162 books I ideally want to read at some point in my life. Whether I’ll actually get to read all those books on my list is an entirely separate question all together.
For every book out there in the world there will be at least one (or several) you’ll never be able to read in your lifetime. With that in mind, how does one choose which books to prioritize on your to be read pile and which ones to chalk up as maybe never going to happen? Again, I don’t have a real strategy behind what I’ll read next. It’s usually based on what I either bought or I’m able to read for free through my local library or from my Amazon Prime account. You’d be surprised how many classic literature books are available to download temporarily for free on Amazon.
As impossible and insurmountable reading all the books on your personal list sounds, I also find comfort in having this list on hand, a go-to place when I need to find the right book to cuddle up with. There’s a level of excitement I feel whenever I scroll through my list. Maybe it’s the way the book covers are queued up just so to entice you with the next great read the cover seems to be teasing you with, or maybe it’s knowing I won’t really run out of things to read when I already have possible titles waiting to be held in my hands.
In a lot of ways it’s my attempt at creating my own list of 100 Books to Read Before You Die that plenty of websites have written. Which books make it onto the list are all subjective and depends on what your personal preferences are. It makes me wonder how the panel of judges, who decide these Before You Die lists, land on the selections they have deemed worth making time for during your natural born life. Not everyone will agree with those top 100 lists and will opt to make one that’s better suited to their interests, though, I must agree with some of what’s on that list since I can tick off a number of those books as ones I’ve already read.
I suppose it’s the organizer in me who loves having everything in one organized place, and creating a list of books I want to devour in the future is my way of having some control in our crazy and unpredictable world. The next time I’m looking for something new to read I’ll be glad to have my list of 162 books to refer to at a moment’s notice.
How do you keep track of all the books you want to read? Do you create a list or start by buying or borrowing what you’re likely to read over the next few months?
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