Knowledge Wasn’t the Reason I Read 126 Books Last Year
Books are often synonymous with knowledge. Everyone advocates reading. Billionaires, CEOs, Presidents and even online ads tell you to get off your butt and read a book. So when someone says they read over 100 books in a year, your default reaction is to think they are swimming in knowledge. Like knowledge is pouring out their skin like sweat. And you can’t wait to rub yourself in the musk emanating from their knowledge filled brains by asking them questions.
It is easy to sound dismissive when you join the club of bookworms that have crossed the 100 books mark. Super bookworms read as much as 200 books in a year. But that isn’t me. I read 126 books. I didn’t plan to read that much. My initial plan was to read 62 books: 52 books with 1 book a week for the year 2018 and 6 extra books to make up for reading 46 books in 2017. I ended up reading way more than I planned like the bookworm that I am. I bet you’re asking: why the medium post to brag about reading 126 books?
Trust me, this isn’t bragging. I might just get you to change your mind about what reading is all about. One of the most important functions of reading is to educate. For many of us, reading must impart some information or knowledge. It doesn’t serve any more purpose than that. So when people with this mindset hear you read more than 100 books, it seems like they just discovered a walking talking fountain of knowledge.
They often seem disappointed to find that I don’t know a lot.
So if I wasn’t reading to gain knowledge. Then what was I doing reading 126 books? The short answer: Escape.
I was reading as a way to escape the stressors in my life.
Since I discovered reading for fun when I was 13, I have never looked back. I will crack open a book or open my ebook reader app to get some of that “booky” goodness. Apart from the fun aspect, reading made it easy for me to escape the bleak and often mundane reality that I was always forced to endure. Just in case you can’t tell yet, I adore books.
There are actually whole universes inside with people, animals, mermaids and stuff.
2018 wasn’t the best of years. In fact, it sucked worse than my previous terrible year, 2013. There were so many upheavals in my life last year. Don’t quote any “change is constant” spiel near me and I won’t hulk out on you. Unexpected job change, too many disappointments to count, health issues, family drama and so many other things that made achieving inner peace an impossible challenge.
This was where books and reading came in. I love to delay confronting problems until I have looked at them from all possible angles and found an acceptable solution. Books gave me an avenue to escape, rest my brain and think up solutions to all that plagued me.
You may be thinking that 126 books amount to 2.4 books weekly. And you’d be wrong. The Nneka’s mathematical book formula wasn’t that simple. Sometimes, I read a book in one week if I wasn’t too stressed and the week was going well. Other times, I packed in as much as 6 books a week if the week was going terribly. Like I said, escape.
This is not to say I didn’t learn anything from the books I read, I learned a lot. You get educated whether you’re reading a book as a way to escape life or even for knowledge. I didn’t just read fiction, I read self-help books, nonfiction and several books from my favourite scientists.
By September, I had read about 100 books. That’s when I got distracted by anime. What can I say? I’m pretty easy to distract. As I’m writing this, I have already started on my first book for the year: George R.R Martin’s Fire and Blood.
PS: Can anyone ask GRRM when we are getting the winds of winter? The curiosity is killing me.
Here’s to 2019 filled with more books and writing. I might be doing another I read over 100 books post come January 2020, who knows?!
