University of Kwazulu-Natal

The Biggest Secrets To Reading Over 100 Books A Year

Bonisiwe Shabane
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the biggest secrets to reading over 100 books a year

If you wish you could read more, you’re not alone. I frequently have that “so many books, so little time” feeling, especially when I’m browsing at my favorite bookstore or on NetGalley looking for Advance Review Copies to request. No matter how much we read, there will be wonderful books that we don’t get to. It’s just a fact of life. But, we can find ways to read more and experience more wonderful worlds and characters! These are the steps I take to read over one hundred books in a year and rock my Goodreads challenge.

We have a lot of dead time in our days where we’re doing a mindless task that needs to be done, but doesn’t fully engage us. Whether it’s a daily commute to work, cleaning the house, doing the dishes or waiting for a grocery pickup order, we can use this time to listen to audiobooks. I prefer to listen at normal speed, but I have friends who speed it up to listen to it even faster! You might experiment and see what speed is right for you. My favorite source for audiobooks is Audible, but you can also get them for free through your local library’s apps like Libby’s Overdrive or Hoopla. Check out their website for their offerings.

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." Welcome back. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Reading is one of my very best, well-established habits (and joys!) of my adult life. Back in 2020 (like many of us) I started reading again for fun. That year I flew through 41 books and from that point on, I never stopped reading.

I averaged 50ish books from 2020-23, last year I read over 100, and I’m already at 108 books read so far this year. I share these numbers NOT because the specific number of books that you read matters (because it really doesn’t!) but as proof that I AM a pretty consistent reader lol, despite having three young... And one thing that I’m asked fairly frequently when people hear how much I read is, “How?” So for those of you who WANT to read more— this post will provide my answers to... I hope it will be helpful for those of you who want to read more, and if you’re already someone who reads a lot—maybe some of these tips will help you get out of... Anddd if neither of these apply to you—I hope you’ll find some inspiration to make your reading life even more fun and enjoyable. I’m going to be sharing 12+ tips, starting from the most simple (perfect if you’re trying to read more!) then moving on to more “extra” suggestions (try these if you’re in a slump, or...

Give audiobooks a try if you haven’t already and maximize their potential. Here’s what I mean. First, if you’re trying to get more reading in, audiobooks are your best friend. Listen to them whenever you’re doing something that you already do (habit stack!)— I love to listen to them when I’m doing mundane tasks, like cleaning, or dishes, as well as on my daily... To maximize their potential, I love using an audiobook to continue reading my physical book. I pay attention to what chapter I’m on, and then start at that point on my audiobook and then switch back and forth between the two formats.

I use my Spotify premium account or Libby primarily to listen to audio books and almost always increase the reading speed. A Harvard study found that top-performing CEOs (and most billionaires) read more books than average, up to four books a month. Last year, I managed to double that number. I love reading… and often have multiple books on the go and sometimes read more than ten books per month. It is one of the few “guilt-free” luxuries that I allow myself to indulge in relentlessly. I am a member of a book club with friends from school.

I enjoying reading biographies of founders, inventors, and business leaders. I am a sucker for all the usual suspects in the non-fiction best-sellers aisle. There is no end of information, adventure, and entertainment to be found within the pages of books and over time I have accumulated a bunch of great tools to help me find new books... As this is often a new year’s resolution, I thought I would put together my top book hacks. "The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read," - Mark Twain Audible, Amazon's audiobook platform, lets you listen to professionally narrated books anywhere.

There are over 200,000 titles. It's perfect for multitasking - I listen while commuting, exercising, or doing chores. Reading 100 books a year sounds like a fantasy for anyone juggling a 9-to-5 job, family commitments, and a social life. But what if I told you it’s not only possible but achievable without sacrificing sleep or sanity? As someone who went from struggling to finish 10 books a year to consistently hitting the 100-book mark, I’ve learned that the secret lies in strategy, not speed.

This guide shares the exact system I use to read voraciously while keeping my career and personal life intact. Before diving into tactics, it’s crucial to reframe how you think about reading: I’ll be honest, I used to think reading 100 books a year was only possible for people who had endless free time, no jobs, and definitely no Netflix account. But a few years ago, I challenged myself to try, and surprisingly, I actually managed to pull it off. It wasn’t about speed reading or skipping sleep, it was about building smart habits, staying consistent, and knowing how to enjoy the process. If you’ve ever dreamed of hitting that magical number, here’s exactly how to do it without burning out.

Before diving into the “how,” let’s talk about the “why.” For me, it wasn’t about bragging rights, it was about growth. Reading this much changed the way I thought, expanded my vocabulary, gave me new perspectives, and honestly, made me more creative. And let’s face it, if you read 100 books, you’re basically carrying a mini-university in your head. When I first saw “100 books a year,” it felt impossible. But then I did the math: That’s it.

Suddenly, it didn’t feel so scary. It’s not about racing, it’s about steady progress. Prolific reading is a habit practised by many of the most influential leaders of our time. This includes Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Warren Buffet. Consistent reading doesn’t have to be hard. I’m sharing how I went from being “not a reader” to reading 100 books a year.

Last year, I shared how I read 60 books a year. I’ve been reading at least a book a week for years now. What I didn’t share at the time was, that in 2023 I had a new goal. To read 100 books in the year. I’ll preface this blog too by saying that the number is purely a vanity metric. Don’t get caught up on yours.

The reason I made the significant leap was that I noticed something shift. Reading has brought me peace and insights I wouldn’t otherwise have for many years now. But, it didn’t necessarily always come easy. Despite my best intention, time and focus were nearly always a challenge. After reading consistently for many years, I eventually found the habit started to become easier and easier. So, in this blog, I’m sharing my top tips not so you can also read 100 books.

But, to share how I made the reading habit come more easily. I believe storytelling is your greatest opportunity to learn from those who have gone before you. Those who felt a duty to help pave the way for those to come. 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.

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