University of Kwazulu-Natal

How I Read 100 Books In One Year And How You Can Too Book Riot

Bonisiwe Shabane
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how i read 100 books in one year and how you can too book riot

How I read 100 books in just one year while being a full-time student -- and tips for other readers to reach this benchmark as well. Having loved books since the age of four, Mya is a writer and poet who looks to explore the complexities of life through language. They attend Barnard College of Columbia University with their kitten, Ramen. Their reviews of independent literature can be found at Foreword Reviews. When they aren't writing or reading, they're playing video games with strong female characters. Twitter: @literallymya Blog: messmiah.wordpress.com

This article was co-authored by Grant Faulkner, MA. Grant Faulkner is the Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the co-founder of 100 Word Story, a literary magazine. Grant has published two books on writing and has been published in The New York Times and Writer’s Digest. He co-hosts Write-minded, a weekly podcast on writing and publishing, and has a M.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. This article has been viewed 65,434 times.

One hundred books in a year may seem like an impossible accomplishment. Where will you find the time? If you really examine your daily life and your schedule, you’ll probably find that you actually have quite a bit of time that is spent on activities that can easily be turned into reading... If you truly have a passion for reading and want to achieve the goal of at least 100 books in a year, you can definitely do it. "Audiobooks are a great option if you want to read more classics. Shakespeare’s plays, for example, are meant to be performed or read aloud, so audiobooks truly enhance the experience.

Hearing the narrator’s tone of voice and emotional performance also makes the language easier to comprehend and more accessible for a modern audience." March 6, 2022 • Mother Culture • Reading A few years ago, I was sitting around during those strange days between Christmas and New Years (when no one seems to know what day it is) and I saw a friend of mine... My first reaction was–NO WAY–she must have counted picture books or something, because she was in the same stage of life as I was with young kids, pregnant/nursing and homeschooling, etc. and I had, had the same three books on my nightstand for the last eight months without any progress. But, as I looked over the list of books she had read (which weren’t picture books like I had assumed) and chatted with her about how she did the impossible, I became completely inspired!

So inspired, in fact, that I set a goal for myself for the coming year: I was going to read 50 books! I don’t usually set goals for myself unless I feel like they’re actually accomplish-able but even 50 felt like a stretch. Imagine my surprise, when here we sit at the end of the year and I’ve read 100 books! I want to share with you how I did this, what I learned and what some of my favorite books were, and I hope you’ll join me in the future in setting a reading... Check out my complete list of 100 books read in 2018 (including my Top 10 and Bottom 10) At the beginning of 2018, I decided that I was going to read 100 books in a year and post all of the book reviews on my Instagram account.

Reading 100 books in a year might sound like an insurmountable challenge at first. You might be picturing endless nights buried in books, sacrificing sleep, and turning down social events just to make it through. But with the right approach, it’s a goal that’s not only achievable but can be a deeply enriching experience. Let’s dive into the strategies that will help you reach this ambitious target while still enjoying the process. Before you dive into this journey, it’s important to understand your motivation. Why do you want to read 100 books?

Maybe you’re looking to expand your knowledge, improve your focus, or simply enjoy more stories. Whatever your reason, keeping it front and center will help you stay motivated. Once your motivation is clear, it’s time to break down the numbers. Reading 100 books in a year means finishing roughly two books per week. That might sound daunting, but when you break it down further, it’s much more manageable. If you can dedicate about 30 minutes to an hour each day to reading, you’re well on your way.

The first book I ever read was Matilda by Roald Dahl. It had been a gift from my grandmother, who used to sleep with a book under her pillow every night. I don’t know if this was her intention, but that story sparked within me a passion for literature that still resonates deeply to this day. I remember reaching the end of Dahl’s story feeling both shocked and betrayed, yet intrigued. After reading an ending that was completely different from its 1996 film adaptation, nine-year-old me felt overjoyed that she knew a secret only a select few would understand. Thus started my love for literature, my love for worlds, characters, and stories that only readers could truly know and cherish.

From then on, I read childhood classics like Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney; then soon moved up to the YA genre, with... The truth is, I read A LOT as a child. The last Divergent book Allegiant had almost 600 pages and I loved every second of it. I especially enjoyed getting to say the magic words in every book-to-film adaptation I watched in theaters: “That was different in the book.” Or, my personal favorite: “The book did it better.” And then came the stage that every reader DREADS… the infamous reading slump. I don’t think I looked at a single book in two years, and honestly, I didn’t even care to.

Books were so far off my mind during this phase of my life. It wasn’t until 2019, during my sophomore year of high school, that I decided to resume this hobby. It was a time when power outages were far too common (although sadly, they still are) in Puerto Rico, and most times, there was nothing to do. So, on one of those mindless days, I picked up a book series that had been collecting dust on my shelf for years: The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. This book series is extremely well known, at least in the YA reader community, and, although my love for it was definitely not immediate, by that sixth and final book I was hooked. After finishing this one, I immediately jumped to its prequel trilogy before starting the sequel series (The Mortal Instruments comprises more than 15 books, and it’s still not over).

Once I had finished reading the published books of this world, I needed more, and my love for the written word was reignited. Trips to the bookstore became common again, and for birthdays, graduations, Christmases, and the like, that’s all I asked of my family: books! As the end of the year approaches, many of us begin writing down our New Year’s resolutions. Among these goals, reading more books often makes the list—but it’s also one of the hardest to accomplish. Why do so many people struggle to reach their reading targets? Let’s break it down and discover practical strategies to help you read over 100 books in just one year.

The first reason we fail to meet our reading goals is that the goal itself can feel overwhelming. For my 2024 resolution, I ambitiously decided to read 100 books. It sounded impossible at first, but I made it happen by breaking the goal into smaller steps. I began by setting a much smaller target: just 10 books. Achieving this felt manageable and gave me the motivation to set another goal of 10 books—and then another. By focusing on incremental progress instead of the big picture, I was able to maintain my momentum and end the year with over 100 books under my belt.

A common mistake when setting a reading goal is sticking to one genre, author, or type of book. To keep things exciting and avoid burnout, explore different genres and styles. Don’t limit yourself to bestsellers or the works of a single writer—give lesser-known books a chance, too. You’d be surprised how much variety can make reading feel like an adventure rather than a chore. I’ve talked about this a few times, but I got back into reading in the past twoish years. It’s been really nice to escape into worlds instead of doom-scrolling on social media; however, lately, I’ve been scrolling through Substack versus my Instagram or TikTok.

It’s been so fun to discover new and different writers! I know a lot of you are like, Becca, how is it possible that you read all of these books in one year? Did you process all of them? How did you do it? Can you teach me how to do it? This post is gonna be full of all the hacks you need to hit your reading goals for 2025.

Make sure to share and subscribe for more content like this! For me, listening to audiobooks has been completely life-changing. At least ten or more books that I “read” were audiobooks last year. I just learned how to track audiobooks properly on Storygraph! I have an NYPL card, and I am also a Spotify premium member, so I have access to them. If you do not have a library card, you need to get one!

Not only can an NYPL card give me access to books of all formats, but it can also give me access to a lot of NYC landmarks, and that will be another newsletter. Spotify premium members get 15 free hours of audiobook listening time every single month. Once I realized that was a thing, I started to take advantage of it. A majority of books I’m interested in are 9-11 hours. If you run out of time, you can top off for an additional fee. This is not sponsored by them, however if Spotify sees this, I would love to work with you!

After reading 100 books in a year, I learned a lot about myself, my reading habits, and why I won’t read that many books in a year again anytime soon. When I first got serious about reading, I was not interested in the process of rating my books. Instead, I decided to use a really simplified version. If I would recommend the book to the right audience, I would give it a star. If I wouldn’t recommend it, no star. Originally, I was afraid that I would overthink a 5 star rating process, but about halfway through the year, I realized that I craved a more nuanced rating system.

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