The benefit of reflecting on your reading life
I have engaged in a practice of yearly reflection and intention setting for the past decade and a half. I look forward to it and start early, often in September. About three years ago, I added reflecting on and setting an intention for my reading life. During that time, I have been struck by how my reading life is directly correlated to everything else that is going on.
I’ve borrowed frameworks and questions from a number of individuals who engage in reflection, from Danielle LaPorte to Gretchen Rubin, and our very own Anne Bogel. In fact, Anne’s three questions are the simplest and easiest way to complete a reflection process. They’re where I start: what worked, what didn’t, what do I want to be different?
Asking one more additional question allows me to go a bit deeper into the insights gleaned from answering the previous questions. And that question is: what lessons did I learn? Often, the lessons I learn apply across different aspects of my life: finances, wellness journey, parenting, and reading life.
Lessons I learned in 2024
Explore and experiment.
I should keep my mind open to books that pique my interest and not rationalize why I won’t like them. Belle Greene by Adrienne Lapierre was an MMD Book Club flight pick for February. Since I was already reading the primary selection, The Personal Librarian by Benedict and Murray, and Belle Greene was a doorstopper at 528 pages, I was hesitant. But I read it and it is one of my best books of the year.
If something isn’t working, stop!
While I am exploring and experimenting, I am going to read things that are not going to work. I DNF’d (Did Not Finish) a lot and that really worked for me this year. Actively stopping books (and other behaviors not serving me) has been so freeing. I have enjoyed clearing space not just from my physical bookshelves, but my mental space as well.
Get help.
Participating in a reading project with fellow team members Donna and Brigid has helped hold me accountable and responsible for my reading intentions this year. My goal was to read, DNF, or curate 24 books from my physical shelf. At the time of writing, I am at 33. External accountability has also been pivotal not just in my reading life, but in other areas as well.
I cannot do it all.
I want to release my incessant need to read everything: books for fun, books for my personal development, books for my work. However, I’d like to continue exploring and find what works for me. As Ramit Sethi has said “I am the solution.” I get to decide what works and what doesn’t. What books matter to me enough to read them and what don’t.
Annie Dillard said, “I don’t know what I think until I write it down.” Just thinking about the past year doesn’t work for me. I have to write it all down, either with pen and paper or typing it into a document. Doing this allows me to notice and then to follow the threads. As I write, a direction and/or theme will emerge that I ponder for a few days or weeks (another reason that I start early).
Reviewing the lessons I learn helps me to pinpoint 1-2 intentions for the upcoming year. Writing this post enabled me to finalize my 2025 reading project: “25 5-Star Reads in 2025.” I am choosing the number 25 because of the whole “25 in 2025” thing. To accomplish this, I will continue my new-found skill of not finishing books that don’t work (stop!). This allows me the freedom to read what piques my interest (explore and experiment) without feeling like I must finish them all. This will be my only reading goal this year (I can’t do it all) and our accountability group, spearheaded by Donna, is continuing in 2025 (get help). I have no idea what lessons I’ll learn at the end of this particular reading project, but I am excited to find out.
Here’s to a great year of reading!
What have you been thinking about and learning recently? Could these lessons direct your reading intentions for 2025? I can’t wait to read them in the comments. And if you want to help hold me accountable to my project, let me know that as well. We need all the help we can get.
P.S. Check out the Modern Mrs Darcy Reading Life Challenge, which serves as a reflection guide for determining what you want from your reading life this year.
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Jenn Warren says:
I’m curious if quitting books is your only strategy to read 5 star reads? My whole reading life I’ve read 50 pages to “try” books, but I’m going down to 25 when I turn 50 in March. Heard that idea from Librarian Supreme Nancy Pearl when I heard her speak years ago.
Amy says:
I love this! Thanks for sharing.
Shannan says:
Hello Jenn, yes, so far it has been my main strategy. But I am considering that another strategy might come into place in 2025. Stay tuned in the MMD spaces to find out what it is and if it actually works.
Kristin W says:
I never thought to set a page limit! I can usually tell if I’m resistent to picking up a book I’m in the middle of, it’s a sign it might not be for me at this time. I’ve abandoned books half way thru or even 3/4 if I lose interest. The only exception is I do make more of an effort for a bookclub book because I know I’ll want to be able to contribute to the discussion, even if it’s just to say that I didn’t enjoy it, ha!
Kay says:
Wow, 25 five star reads is quite a goal. I track everything on Goodreads and last year I read 160, of those only 14 were five star books and that included 7 rereads. My average score was 3.3. It takes a lot for me to give a book five stars so I would definitely love to know what books reached this for you so I can give them a go too.
Shannan says:
Thanks for reading and commenting Kay. I believe I can do it because I find I am not stringent (is that the word I want?) with my stars. I have a few things that a book needs to do to be a five-star read and if the books does that, it gets 5 stars.
Diane says:
How do you know whether or not a book is a 5-star until you finish it? I read several books in 2024 that I rated 4-stars but I didn’t decide that until I finished reading them
Denise says:
I agree! I read some books that I enjoy well enough, but then the ending is wonderful and that bumps the book up the scale. (And conversely – an apparent 5-star read can be ruined by the ending.)
However, if I am not enjoying the read, I DNF – I do not care how it ends.
Shannan says:
Diana, hi! Thank you for your question. I don’t know until I finish a book either but I generally can tell if it’s trending upwards as I am reading. There are SOME books that I read, that I know are 3-stars (for me that means I “liked” it) and I am happy to continue reading, knowing they will only be 3-stars. But generally, about 50% in, I can tell if it’s moved from 3ish stars to a 4-star and I am happy to continue to see if it will arrive at a 5 at the end.
Denise says:
These are great lessons that can be applied in so many areas of life. I am transferring these 4 points into my bullet journal so I can remind myself of them regularly. Thanks, Shannan, I always appreciate your contributions to the blog.
Shannan says:
Thank you so much, Denise! Yes, I am finding that my reading life is something of a microcosm to other areas as well.
Troye Hall says:
I wish Goodreads allowed a goal based on pages read or even minutes read because although I don’t mind putting a book down that doesn’t delight me at the time, I still want credit towards my goals. I see how your goal helps with that, but you also still get little to no “credit” for your DNF pile
Shannan says:
That’s true. But I have created an exclusive DNF shelf and I can check out the number of books that I have started there and add to any total, if I wanted to. Thanks for reading and commenting, Troye.
Kristin W says:
I really enjoy interviews with authors of or discussions around personal development books, but struggle to integrate them into my reading life. Audio is fine but I can’t take notes or sometimes I want to reread a paragraph. The bulk of my “eye” reading is done before bed and by the end of the day, I want my reading to be pure pleasure! So for 2025, I’m reading 10 minutes of a personal development book first thing in the morning. It’s only been 6 days, but so far it’s been great! I’m able to take notes and really digest what I’ve read. I’m really excited to enjoy some of these books that have been on my list for years!
Anne Bogel says:
Kristin, as someone who’s struggled to find a good time to work in informational nonfiction and personal development books, I’m chiming in to say that first-thing-in-the-morning approach has really worked for me this year. I’m glad to hear it’s worked well for you so far in 2025!
Shannan says:
Same, Kristin and Anne. My books on personal development, inspirations, etc. are more daytime reads and my night reading is the fun stuff. Thanks for sharing.