Oct 9, 2024
From 80 to 60: Why I slowed down my reading speed
Have you ever finished a book and struggled to explain it to a friend? That happened to me often. I was speeding through books but losing sight of why I was reading in the first place.
When I was 15, I read 74 books in a year. Reading was my bedtime ritual. Sometimes, I’d pull all-nighters because the book was just so good I couldn’t bear to put it down. But once I started university, my book count plummeted to ~20 a year, where I barely made it through a page before falling asleep.
After graduating and moving to London, I found a new way to bring books back into my life — audiobooks. They fit perfectly into my daily 1-3 hour commute. By early 2024, I was already halfway to my goal of 30 books.
So, I raised the goal to 40 and continued ploughing through books, such that by June, my reading goal was up to 60.
Every time I marked a book as “read” on Goodreads, I felt a hit of satisfaction. The counter went up, and I’d get a message like:
“Good job! Read 1 book a week for the rest of the year to complete your challenge.”
I was killing it at the pace I set myself, but then I started to wonder: What the hell am I doing?
Cheating myself
It wasn’t immediately clear to me that something was off. I’d zone out for a few minutes during a nonfiction audiobook and think, "It’s fine. Nonfiction is repetitive — I’ll still get the gist.” But soon, I found myself speeding up the narration, eyeing the remaining minutes in the book, just to cross another title off my list.
I even fell asleep on a plane while listening to Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and convinced myself that the three hours I missed didn’t matter. “You weren’t interested in that part anyway,” I thought.
But this wasn’t just a one-time thing—I was speeding through all my books. I couldn’t remember what I’d read, or worse, I’d forget I even read the book at all.
I was hitting my goal while killing the joy behind reading.
The intervention
I started imagining how good it would feel to post a collage of all 80 or 100 books I’d read at the end of the year. Instagram praises, “intellectual” recognition — it was all enticing, just like the little dopamine hit of watching my Goodreads counter go up.
But what was the point of claiming I read all these books when I couldn’t tell you anything about them?
That’s when I decided to cap my reading challenge at 60. I wanted to refocus on the real reason I set myself the challenge instead of chasing numbers.
Why I read
Growing up, all I ever wanted for my birthday was books. Fiction, especially stories of strong female protagonists, shaped who I aspired to be. Those stories showed me who I could be and that I wasn’t alone in my experiences.
As I got older, I gravitated toward memoirs and books about characters navigating adulthood. I wanted to understand how others dealt with life after university—the lack of structure, the uncertainties, the freedom. Books allowed me to dip my toes into different ways of living and expand what I thought possible for myself. I particularly loved What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo and Educated by Tara Westover.
I also let go of my aversion to non-fiction. I started to appreciate how much I could learn from reading books about history, cooking, product management or coaching.
Reading was a source of entertainment and growth, and I wanted this to replace my less mentally stimulating habits like mindlessly scrolling Instagram or endlessly looping the same playlist.
Focusing my intentions
By capping my reading challenge and reminding myself why I read, I’ve found that I’m more engaged with what I read:
- I double back when I forget where I left off or zone out.
- I pause audiobooks when I’m distracted and switch to music until I’m ready to focus.
- I take 5-10 minutes after finishing a book to jot down takeaways in my Goodreads reviews.
I could still do more to align my reading purpose with how I read. For example, I could find an app to help me take notes while listening. Or I could write my own book summary. Or set aside 5-10 minutes each day to reflect on what I’ve read instead of waiting until I finish the book.
I’m still figuring out my new reading habits, but at least I’ve started to be more intentional about them.
Now, I remind myself that I’m reading for me—not the 20 friends I have on Goodreads or for the satisfaction of watching a counter go up.
I’d like to throw it back to you. Why do you read, and how are your reading goals helping to serve that why?
💡 You can check out what I’ve been reading on Goodreads!