Like wellness before it, cultural consumption has become yet another opportunity for us to measure, analyse and optimise our lives using cold, hard data.
Yes, it’s possible to let tracking your reading become a performative thing, but showing off to others is not the only reason to track what you read. There are a lot of reasons I track what I’m reading:
- To keep track of what I’ve already read — I read a lot, and can’t keep track of what I’ve read and what I enjoyed
- To be thoughtful about what I’m reading — I try to read books with a wide range of representation and by diverse authors, and if I don’t track what I’m reading, it’s easy to fall into reading mostly white cis male authors because they are published more (and white cis women in the romance world) — I also like to try out new authors, not just read the same ones
- To diversify my reading — by tracking what I read, it’s easier to look back and see trends so I can switch it up if I’ve been reading the same thing for a while (or choose to continue with intentionality)
- To pay attention to my mental state — if I’m not reading, there might be something going on
- To prompt myself to reflect on what I got out of a book by writing a review, and to think more critically about a work — while I’m reading I can get sucked into a story and it’s only when I surface on the other end I start noticing the problems
- To keep myself honest — I can look back at what I’ve read, and use that to truth what I think I’ve been reading — for example, I say I read a lot of sci-fi, but in review I read as much or more fantasy, and my fantasy TBR is longer
- To get better at picking books to read — I can compare what I actually read (and what I DNF’d) with my “to read” list, and adjust future book selections based on what I liked or didn’t like
I stopped keeping track of the numbers of books I read during the year (I add it up at the end to evaluate stats), and don’t participate in Goodreads’ reading challenges. Reading isn’t a competition. I’m not reading to make myself feel smart or “well-read”, I’m reading to enjoy myself and to learn (non-fiction, self-improvement, market research, and story craft). Reading keeps my brain moving, coming up with ideas and connections, and I use what I’m reading as a mental prompt to put thought into a particular subject or pathway.
Why read in public?
But why do I make my reading public? This is to share with other people — I find a significant portion of the books I read through recommendations from other people, directly, on their website, in articles and newsletters, and on social media. I like looking through other people’s websites and wanted the same on mine 😊
As part of the IndieWeb philosophy of owning your content, publishing my reviews on my own website means I won’t lose them if Goodreads shuts down. I wanted to use my own website to improve on what Goodreads offers — and my reading page full of lovely book covers fills up during the year, so I don’t have to wait till December for their “Year End Review” page. I also added extra information that I think enhances the value compared to what Goodreads makes.
My public reading qualms
I do have a few concerns about making my reviews and reading public:
- judgment about what I’m reading — I read a lot of romance, which is culturally belittled and dismissed, so that could affect people’s impression of me — but I am owning what I read because I know how much I get out of reading romance, and maybe I can help dispel prejudice against the genre by writing thoughtful reviews — plus anyone who would judge me based on what I read I probably don’t want to be friends with anyway 🤷♀️
- offending other writers — I’m planning to self-publish, and don’t want to offend people who’ll be in the industry with me if I didn’t like their book or posted a critical review — I stopped giving star ratings other than 5’s because anything less apparently hurts authors (though it is a little annoying to me to not have a quick reference of how much I liked a book) — I haven’t figured out the rest, I might make some reviews where I was critiquing storytelling technique private?
See also: When Did Reading Become a Competitive Sport – The Cut
6 replies on “Why I track my reading”
Replied to ‘It’s dopamine’: Why we love to track our watching and reading habits (irishtimes.com) Like wellness before it, cultural consumption has become…
This Article was mentioned on tracydurnell.com
What I Read in 2022
I read 212 books in 2022, compared with 175 in 2021.
All the books I read
My 20 favorite books from the year
2022 Reads by Type
122 novels
32 novellas
39 non-fiction books
7 graphic non-fiction books
12 graphic novels and art books
2022 Fiction by Genre
Of the 154 novels and novellas I read, here’s the breakdown by genre:
141 romance
27 contemporary romance
53 sci-fi romance
23 fantasy + paranormal romance
38 historical romance
5 I missed when I counted and I’m not doing it again
2 sci-fi
6 fantasy
2022 Reading Stats
I changed up my stats this year — it’s kind of fun to look at something different, plus I didn’t feel like doing the data entry 😂 (Why I track my reading)
Did I read widely?
50 new-to-me fiction authors
46 new-to-me non-fiction authors
49 re-reads
DNF’d 44 books
I’m including Did Not Finish (DNF) books here because they’re often a sign of trying to give a new author or something outside my usual interest area a try. But, I’m not going to make myself read something I’m not enjoying. Quit early and often.
Who published what I read?
As someone planning to self-publish, I’ve been trying to read lots of self-published works.
71 self-published books
Who wrote what I read?
I read a lot of romance, which is heavily dominated by female authors, but in non-fiction find it easy to fall into reading more male authors than female.
Non-fiction:
23 non-fiction books by women
15 non-fiction books by men
1 non-fiction books by openly non-binary and trans authors
When was what I read written?
33
86
96
02
03
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
All but three of the books I read were published since 2000. I read six books from the 2000s, 104 from the 2010s, and 99 from the 2020s.
How I Read
Reading Habits
When did I read?
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
I took two weeks off in May so I read a good bit extra. I quit my job at the end of June, and October is when I started doing a substantial amount of work again.
What format did I read in?
I only read art books and graphic novels and non-fiction in hard copy. But I’m willing to read fiction novels and non-fiction books in either e-book or hard copy.
I prefer to read in e-book on my Kindle Paperwhite, where I can increase the type size and read in the dark thanks to backlighting. However, I’ve recognized that some non-fiction books benefit from being read in physical format, and have been shifting some of my non-fiction reading away from e-books. I do like being able to highlight quotes and send my notes to my email, allowing me to save them on my mind garden, but have seen evidence that we are more likely to recall notes we’ve hand-written.
For fiction, I read:
152 books in e-book
11 books in hard copy
For non-fiction, I read:
19 books in e-book
31 books in hard copy
How much did I read from my TBR list?
At the start of each year, I curate a list of diverse books to read. The exercise forces me to look back through my long list that I add to throughout the year, and helps me resurface books I’d forgotten about. I never read strictly from the list, but intend for it to help guide my reading.
In 2022, I picked 102 books and started reading 44 of them (43%):
Read 21
DNF’d 13
Marked 7 as ‘not interested’ or ‘try again later’
Currently reading 3
Only just over half of the books I tried turned out to be for me. In 2023, I’m going to forgo making a to-read list at the start of the year, and just read “at whim” and see how I do at reading broadly.
Where I got the books I read
I mostly borrow books from the library, and subscribed to Kindle Unlimited for a few months in the spring. I also acquired indie books this year through giveaways and newsletter signups.
How many books did I buy?
I’m limited by bookshelf space, so I tend to only buy physical copies of reference books, cookbooks, graphic novels, and art books. In recent years, I’ve expanded that to include some non-fiction for authors that I want to support. The fiction I buy is mostly pre-orders from my favorite indie authors and favorites I want to reread.
Bought 14 e-books on Amazon
previously read 5 (borrowed from library and Kindle Unlimited)
Bought 9 physical books: 1 from Amazon + 4 from Bookshop + 3 through Kickstarter + 1 direct from author
previously read 4 (borrowed from library, webcomic and puchased copy I regifted)
Given how much I read, I should probably buy more books. But, I prefer to borrow books from the library rather than buy or acquire them because having a deadline makes me actually get around to reading it.
Did I read the books I bought?
Of 14 e-books purchased, I started reading 10 (71%):
read 8 in 2022
currently reading 2
Of 9 physical books purchased, I started reading 4 (44%):
read 2 in 2022
currently reading 2
How many books did I get for free?
Acquired 76 free e-books: 65 through Amazon giveaways and 11 through newsletter giveaways
Borrowed 197 unique e-books from the library, with 26 additional borrows of the same titles
Borrowed 112 physical books from the library
Did I actually read free books?
Self-published authors debate the pros and cons of giving away books. It’s a no-barrier entry point to your work, but also there are so many free books, will people bother to read what you gave them?
Of 76 free e-books, I started reading 19 (25%):
read 15 in 2022
DNF’d 4
Of 186 library loan e-books, I started reading 131 (70%):
finished reading 82
ran out of time on 9 I’d like to finish eventually
DNF’d 40 (some I might try again)
did not start reading 57
Of 112 physical library loans, I started reading 62 (55%):
finished reading 38
currently reading 5
ran out of time on 6 I’d like to finish eventually
DNF’d 13
rejected 17 that weren’t what I wanted
did not start reading 33
For library books, I don’t consider it a failure that I didn’t read everything I borrowed — I like to keep a wide variety of options available so I can read whatever I feel like, and so I can quit books easily because I know I’ve got something else that scratches the same itch. I would like to read a higher proportion of free ebooks I download, so I think I need to be more discriminating about which I try.
What’s the best way to consume information? Last updated 2024 May 19 | More of my big questions Sub-questions What’s worth reading or learning about? How much should I guide my own reading versus pay attention to what others are talking about? How should I decide what to read next? How can I ensure I…
Replied to 8 Ways to Read a Lot More Books (hbr.org)
I read a lot of books. I agree with several of this author’s suggestions for reading more*:
Quit more books, earlier
Make your space comfortable for reading, and set it up to encourage you to read books over other activities
Always be bringing in new books and cycling out others
Track your reading
But I think he forgot an important thing: you should read books you actually enjoy. Reading will become much easier when you recognize that not everyone’s reading tastes will match yours — even your family and friends. Just because someone recommends a book directly to you doesn’t mean you’ll like it, or even that you have to try it. Just because a book is on a “best of” list doesn’t mean it’ll be meaningful to you.
Don’t treat reading as a chore, the brain equivalent of eating your spinach. Honor your own interests and read at whim, for pleasure. That means you need to learn to know yourself as a reader. The more you read, the better you’ll learn your own tastes, so you can choose books you’ll enjoy in the future and feel confident about quitting books you don’t.
*And if if turns out you’re actually not that into books as a storytelling medium, that’s totally fine too! There is nothing inherently virtuous about reading books versus watching video or listening to podcasts. If what you’re worried about is your ability to pay attention to long-form storytelling, you don’t have to win back your attention through books.
Replied to 15 Books with the Most Impact by Lou Plummer (Living Out Loud) I think you can figure out a lot about a person…