Uh oh. It’s November 27th, at time of writing. That means I have a measly thirty-four days to conquer my TBR mountain.
That’s just 816 possible reading hours.
At least a third of those will be spent sleeping. Another third of that will need to be cooking, cleaning and – God forbid – going to work. So, I have an approximate 250 hours to crack through a list of *checks list* approximately 250 books. That’s a big, big uh oh.
Of course, I’m massively exaggerating that ‘250’ number – sort of. I do have 250 titles on my TBR list on StoryGraph but I don’t even own the vast majority of them, let alone, actually wanting to read them all. We’ve all got books that someone-or-other mentioned at the pub, that a celebrity name-dropped on a red carpet to look impressive or even books that are on your bookcase, despite the fact you don’t remember putting them there.
So yes, the actual number is 250, but I should be able to work those down into an achievable list. In fact, most bookworms compile such a list for their New Year’s Resolutions, me included, at the start of 2024.
But now we return to the title of this blog post: “I’m Going To Fail My 2024 Reading Challenge.” Yep. It happens every year. I over-extend my reach and aim to finish more titles then I really know I can. January is always a time of optimism and new opportunities. November on the other hand is full of dread and darkness.
I aimed to finish 24 titles for 2024, an embarrassing target for the literary machines of the world but a modest target for me and my reading capabilities. I am at 15 titles currently, with two soon to be finished and at least one more title on the cards before the end of December.
I’ve picked up the gorgeous Penguin collection of Christmas stories, which I’m looking forward to reading daily throughout the month of December. Therefore, I could argue that I’ll smash through the 24 titles list with each individual short-story I read but the reality is that I’m not reading as many of the TBR books as I would like to.
The gamification of reading has resulted in me actually reading more (BIG POSITIVE) but has now led to me being annoyed at the fact I’m not reading enough (BIG NEGATIVE). Let me offer a quick shout-out to StoryGraph for a second, who offer a progress bar for your ‘Current Reads’, allowing you to get little wins with each reading session. It sounds extremely silly writing this down, but it is exciting to see the bar move along at the end of a chapter. Completing the bar? Pure euphoria.
The important caveat to fill here is that my main pleasure derived from reading comes from the stories, the characters and the worlds I get to explore, not the digital blue line I watch slowly fill on my mobile phone. It’s still a fun part of the whole experience though and one that has encouraged me to push through a few more pages at the end of a working day.
Despite setting this annual challenge up in January, I had a recent reading revelation which has made these final months a joy – and therefore less of a worry. At the beginning of November, I worked out a list of four books that I wanted to finish by the end of the month. Not a 365-day challenge, but a simple 30-day one.
Those books were: Autumn by Ali Smith (a re-read but a seasonally appropriate book); Chéri by Colette (to accompany me on my trip to Paris); Orbital by Samantha Harvey (originally following its Booker nomination, but then following its Booker win) and Butter by Asako Yuzuki (something I started in the summer, got distracted from, but still wanted to finish).
Autumn is a stunning and emotionally resonant read, only enhanced by the autumnal leaves and colours visible from my reading nook. Its reflective central character encourages readers to themselves reflect on past friendships and relations. Elisabeth’s millennial outlook should be opportunistic and upbeat, but it is in fact Daniel – the 101-year-old dreaming lucidly in a care home – that offers the greatest exploration of life’s myriad possibilities. In a short 272-pages, Smith takes readers through a politically-sensitive contemporary narrative, with a timeless approach, making this destined to become a modern-day classic – something you could argue it already has become.
Chéri was started but never finished. It’s always fun to carry a location-appropriate book on vacation with you and at the start of November, I spent the weekend in Paris. Now the problem arose quite early on the trip where we planned out everything we wanted to cram in our 72-hour stay – let’s just say, it was quite a lot. Despite my best intentions, I could only muster a couple of chapters whilst abroad. Back on the TBR pile Chéri went.
Now reading Orbital was a completely different journey. I devoured this slim-little book in less than 24-hours. How Harvey managed to condense so much philosophical pondering, familial bereavement and interstellar amazement into a slick 144-pages is truly beyond me. The actual events of the book are fairly mundane - a team of six astronauts and cosmonauts go about their monotonous days, drifting 250 miles above the Earth's surface - but as every review of the book will tell you, the introspection and mediation on what it means to be human is simply too gripping to not finish in less than a day.
My final read is Asako Yuzuki’s Butter, the sumptuous TikTok sensation of 2024. According to my StoryGraph progress bar, I’m 58% of my way through the book and on-track to finish it come December 1st. A delectable tale of intertwined misogyny and feminine desire, reinforced with a thrilling criminal case that is less unravelled, instead almost defended and picked apart in the complex gender-politics of the 21st century. I am loving this read, despite the fact I always end up starving for rice, soy sauce and butter, and I’m looking forward to watching the rest of the story melt away.
Three of those books were conquered in one month, quadrupling my total reading output for the entire year in just 30 days! With the aforementioned Penguin classic, as well as the constant festive partying and celebrations filling up most of my December, I’m not expecting to massively dent my 24-book target before the end of the year. However, setting monthly reading goals, which reflect my current reading mood, as well as the mood of the world around me, encouraged me to actually knuckle-down and slowly conquer my TBR list.
Come January 1st, I implore all our readers and those of you looking to set reading challenges to think more short-term. Approach each month as it comes and reassess your reading pile each time. This will allow you to easily add the books you’ve just uncovered; you’ve just been recommended; and the ones you can’t wait to read.
It was also nice to stack a couple books on my desk at the beginning of November and watch it slowly trickle down – again, the gamification of reading has really impacted my life, for better or for worse.
Sure, I’m going to fail my 2024 reading challenge but let’s see how I get on with my January 2025 challenge next year…
