University of Kwazulu-Natal

How To Read 80ish Books A Year And Actually Remember Them Level Up

Bonisiwe Shabane
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how to read 80ish books a year and actually remember them level up

Reading is a skill that once you’ve learned, you probably don’t spend much time trying to get better at. (Not all that different from, say, breathing.) And yet, many of us don’t have to look far to see signs that there’s plenty of room for improvement. We only read at the end of the day—and only for the three minutes between cracking open a book and falling asleep. We’re halfway through about nine books. And our bookshelves are littered with titles that we remember reading but don’t exactly remember anything about. Shane Parrish is not one of us.

He cannot afford to read at a lackluster level. His site Farnam Street has become immensely popular largely because of his ability to mine a deep library for ideas that will help “you develop an understanding of how the world really works, make... It means plumbing the roughly 4000 books in his office to aggregate ideas into posts like 109 mental models, The Feynman Technique: The Best Way to Learn Anything, and The Munger Operating System: How... (His list of annual recommended reads usually lands somewhere around 80 books.) It also means that Parrish is uniquely suited to give you some actionable advice on how to optimize your reading—to read more, to get more out of that reading, and, most importantly, to give... “When you think about it, other than your elementary teacher teaching you how to read words or sound them out phonetically, you've never actually learned what to do with that reading,” says Parrish.

He didn’t learn until he went to work as a cybersecurity expert (on Farnam Street, he writes that it was for a “three-letter-intelligence agency” and that he “can’t talk about anything interesting without going... Two power moves to read more books each year. A quick intro and/or refresher on me. I haven’t always been a reader, a book worm, or whatever you want to call it. I’ve only been tracking my reading (each book) since August of 2019. I need proof that I’m accomplishing things in life, that I’m moving forward.

It’s just how I am – I like to see progress – and I like to look back and see what I’ve read and when. It’s crazy how my reading life seemingly has a different timeline than reality – but that’s for another time/post. I’ve come to love and enjoy reading much later in life than most people who consider themselves “readers.” While I do have an English degree, after I graduated college, I didn’t feel like I... I am definitely the dumbest one of my tribe and the least educated. I’m also the youngest by six years, so I try to use those extra years to catch up. I read between 55 and 87 books per year (currently at 87 as of 12/28/24).

Some of those are on Audible, most are on Kindle, and some are traditional books, so when I say “read,” I mean finish a book somehow. Movies and videos, of course, don’t count. Not that I do much of those – I had to give up most TV watching when I started focusing on my writing. It doesn’t really matter why you want to read more. You might be trying to improve yourself, like I am, or maybe you’re just trying to fill the time with something more meaningful than the boob tube, or maybe you’re trying to learn something. The fact is, reading is good for you.

It’s great for your brain, and even if you’re reading complete fluff, it gives you a sense of accomplishment that binge-watching Netflix doesn’t. Over lockdown, many of my friends started reading a lot more, and as it's become a more frequent topic of conversation, I've increasingly been getting asked how I manage to read consistently throughout the... The biggest thing that helps me read throughout the year is that I have a GoodReads Reading Challenge each year. This is a goal that I set for the number of books that I'd like to read in that year. I'm a very goal-orientated person and love a challenge, so for me this is very effective. Throughout the year, GoodReads tells you if you're on track to reach your goal, and throughout my first and second year of university I remember being behind on my goals and using the tracker...

One thing that I've noticed, which I've heard various 'BookTubers' discuss, is that this reading challenge can take the fun out of reading for some people. For me, I set a number low enough that I can read longer books without 'falling behind', and spend my free time in other ways without feeling the need to constantly be reading. For example, in the last three years, my reading challenge goals have been 20, 26, and 40. I end up significantly surpassing my goal each year, but the whole point of the challenge is to be fun. It's definitely possible to read way more than 80 books; there are people who aim for 200+, and there are a myriad of ways to achieve that: you can only read very short books... I want to actually enjoy the books I read, and not feel that I'm rushing them just to hit a target.

I use to mainly read physiological thrillers, but after reading a few they become very repetitive, so since starting university I have tried to expand my horizons: as you can see from my GoodReads,... I also enjoy reading other people's favourite (or highly-rated) books as I think that this can tell you a lot about a person. With 2017 complete and 2018 well under way, time is up on my reading race. I set out to read 100 books in a calendar year. Ultimately, I came up short, but I did finish the year having read 80 books. Overall I am thrilled that I read so many books.

I set such an extravagant goal so that I could feel proud even if I didn’t reach it. That being said, I wanted to reflect on my quest and what prevented me from achieving my initial goal. Reading 100 books in a year requires finishing over 8 books a month. Looking back at my monthly totals, I wasn’t surprised that I didn’t hit the target. For the first half of the year I read 6 or 7 books per month. I reached 8 books only once, and more than 8 books three times.

Although November and December are certainly outliers, I noticed an interesting correlation starting in July. That month, I shared my monthly reading totals to build outside pressure to attain my goal. I am fascinated with learning new things and understanding concepts that help me be a more complete, productive human. One of the best ways I have found to expand our minds is through reading, which is perhaps the best way to learn the greatest ideas of all time. I think we can all agree that reading is important to personal development, keeping our minds sharp, and in general learning concepts that make our lives better. But with all the other distractions around us, it feels like there is never enough time to read.

Life is busy. How can we find time to read? In 2021, I read 100 books. This was while I was working full time, finishing my college degree, working on the house my wife and I are building, and hosting various podcasts. To say the year was full is an understatement. Yet I didn’t feel stressed or that my ability to learn new things was hindered.

I learned that how busy we are is not the reason we don’t read more; the real issue is whether we create the proper habits and frameworks to make reading a natural part of... Here are four, practical habits I use to read more books. Have a dedicated time each day you read. For me, carving out time each morning for reading has been huge. The key is making this into a habit, something that naturally fits into the flow of your day. If I’m going to read that morning, I make sure I leave my phone on silent and clear other distractions away.

I find a quiet place where I won’t be interrupted and have a set amount of time committed to reading. When you’re first building the habit, you can start small, such as only reading one or two pages till you get in the flow of the habit. I also pair the reading by making myself a latte, to associate the habit of reading with something else I enjoy. This connects the habit of reading with a reward to ensure I do it (a concept from Charles Duhigg’s book The Power of Habit, which I highly recommend). Make it as easy as possible to read. There are so many ways to consume books that having it always accessible is straightforward.

Remove social media apps off the home screen of your phone and replace them with an ebooks app. Use a tablet or Kindle to read. I personally prefer physical books when possible, so I always have good books I’m reading laying at various strategic parts of my house; whenever I have a few minutes available, instead of mindlessly scrolling... Simple tricks you can apply to get more reading done Most people don’t believe it when I say I read 80+ books each year. This wasn’t always the case.

I embarked on my reading journey back in school, but then lost track of what I loved doing in college when long evenings spent with a book were replaced with movie nights with friends. Things got worse when I started working, and I trudged on through life like a robot, knowing I missed reading, but unable to do anything to bring back books into my life. And then, at the beginning of 2018, when this void in my chest grew wider, I decided enough was enough. That year, made a pact with myself that come what may, I will read 20 books. By December 2018, I had read 24. Encouraged by my dedication, I aimed for a rather ambitious 40 books in 2019.

I reached this goal by mid-August, and by December, I had read 23,901 pages across 81 books. How to Read, Enjoy, (and Quit) 80 Books in a Year First of all keep in mind that some years this will be easier than others! 2022 was a hard year for me to read 80 books. I stopped tracking in July, had a bunch of duds in a row, and by November I had read only 38 books! So I put together the best tips that I use to achieve my reading goals.

I am taking my own advice with these tips on how to read 80 books per year. These are not tips on where to buy books, although as an environmentalist, and a book-minimalist, I always find myself recommending the library and second hand book stores over buying new. There are so many sustainable – and accessible – ways to read 80 books every year! This section is for folks who don’t know what title or author to read next. How do you find new books to add to your TBR – to be read – pile? Where do you look for recommendations?

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