Can I Kick the Habit of A Lifetime?

Or, Watch Me Experiment on My Brain in Real-Time!

In 2023, for the first time ever, I kept track of the books I read during the year 

For convenience’s sake, I used Goodreads, and by Dec. 31, 2023, I’d copped to reading ninety-nine books over the past twelve months. I didn’t count manuscripts people asked me to read and, because I got bored, I forgot to add several titles from the last quarter of the year.

On Dec. 14, Goodreads sent me an email congratulating me for being in the “top 25% of readers” who bother to share their information with the site (and with Amazon, which owns it). Of course, I had it framed. Just kidding.

2023 was a  typical year for me, reading-wise. I read for pleasure, mostly, sometimes for specific knowledge or research. I’m not overly picky about what I read. If I see it, and it looks interesting, I’ll probably pick it up. I very rarely DNF.

It’s a habit I formed early in my life. 

Now, I’m trying to break it. In 2024, I will read only twenty-four books. 

My spouse doesn’t think I can do it, and frankly I’m not sure, either. Reading is what I do. It’s likely the only thing I could medal in. But I’m going to try. Twenty-four books, two books a month. 

A caveat: I will not count books I might be asked to blurb or manuscripts I’m asked to read. I also will not count DNFs, and I will not try to cheese my way into reading more by not finishing author’s notes, etc. Audio books, if any, will count.

I have not decided if this will be an exercise in ‘close’ or ‘deep’ reading. I might annotate or write about what I read, or I might not. Mostly, I’m curious what breaking the habit will do to my brain. (For a hot second, I was tempted to try not reading any books at all, but that was madness!)

Will reading less make me appreciate what I read more? Will I stumble into new realms of understanding and loving prose? Might I simply lose my mind? All things are possible.

I do vow here, not to replace reading with more gaming or television. I may write more. Maybe I’ll get serious (again) about learning to play guitar. I could start a sketchbook or keep a fitness journal. Perhaps I’ll try stop-motion animation again. Maybe I’ll take a class.

It will be interesting, or it will be supremely boring. Time will tell.

What do you think will happen? Has anyone tried something like this? Do you have any tips or warnings? 

NEWS: I’m THIS close to finishing my new book, a thrillerish sci-fi thing, and I’ll be sending it off to my agent in a week or so. I’ve signed up for CapriCon in early February and after that I’m Boskone-bound.

If you want to help a brother out, and you like my books, you could drop a review in one of the usual places. It makes the various algorithms happy and keeps my stuff in the mix. If you’ve not read a book by R.W.W. Greene, here’s a good place to find one. (Your local independent bookstore is even better!)

Happy New Year, friends. Until there is peace, 

Rob