I planned to read 50 books this year, but I’ve read only 10! 10 books! Can you imagine???

I start every year with a plan to read more books than I read the previous year, so it seemed achievable when I planned to read 50 books. After all, I’ve read 35 books in a year before, so 50 shouldn’t be unachievable. Last weekend, my friend and I were discussing our progress on our vision boards, and that’s when I saw my reading goal. I laughed straight for five minutes because I had totally forgotten about this particular goal.

To be fair to me, I haven’t really read books for leisure this year because I’ve been studying (trying to study) for the most part. Also, work had been so busy until this month, so it was hard to read between work and studying. I’m actually surprised I made it to 10 because that’s an achievement. I hope to get to 20 before the end of the year, and I believe it’s achievable. I’ll update you guys at the end of the year.

Here’s the list of books I’ve read so far.

1. Thank You For Arguing by Jay Heinrich: It’s about the art of persuasion using rhetoric to win arguments and getting what you want. It wasn’t an easy read but it was worth it.
   
2. Fine Boys by Eghosa Imaseun: This book was gifted to me by a friend for my birthday. It was refreshing reading a new book by a Nigerian author. I liked the author’s narrative style of writing. He took me there with him.
   
3. Dear Ijawele by Chimamanda Adichie: I should have read this manifesto last year because it’s such a small book. I like how honest it is. I think everyone should read this book.
   
4. Lawless & Other Stories by Sefi Atta: Who doesn’t like a book of short stories? It was an easy read.
   
5. Wouldn’t Take Anything For My Journey Now by Maya Angelou
   
6. Even The Stars Look Lonesome by Maya Angelou: This was a delightful re-read.
   
7. A Song Flung Up To Heaven by Maya Angelou
   
8. Letter To My Daughter by Maya Angelou: I was thankful for this book. And of course, I got a lot of quotes.
   
9. Powerful (Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility) by Patty McCord: I learned so many things from this book that I can apply to work and our Company culture.
   
10. Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work by Paul Marciano: It didn’t hurt learning more about employee engagement even though the previous book I read said I didn’t need to focus on it.

Let’s hope I reach my new goal by the end of the year.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss

Mariam Shittu

Image: Abhi Sharma / Flickr