How I started reading 100 books a year
4 simple things I did to read more
I came across a study a while back that freaked the crap out of me. According to the Pew Research Center, the average American reads 12 books per year. However, the median number is much low, sitting at a meager 4, and me even lower than that. In fact, up till that point in my life, I was finishing about 1–2 books per year (and that included my time in high school and college… unless you count CliffsNotes, then it would be a bit higher, but not by much).
The thing that scared me wasn’t that I was so far below the average—it was coming to grips with the number of books I would read in my lifetime if I maintained my snail’s pace.
According to this random website with a shady black background, the life expectancy for the average American is just under 79 years old. That means the average American reads 732 books in adulthood.
I was 31 when I came across all of this, so for me, I was on pace to read 72 more books in my life. Even if I got a bit more serious and got up to the average, I would only have 576 books left… both were discouraging thoughts.
Do you know how many books I have on my Amazon wish list?! Honestly, I think about 5,000.
