Hi folks,
Part two of my 2020 reading recap - today's post focuses on understanding the events that impacted the overall year.
Reading in 2020 - just another way to describe a pandemic?
I ended up at 46 books, which despite my reduced expectations is a shockingly low total. For context, in 2019 I read 75 books... actually, let's just look at the whole picture while we're on the subject, and go back to 2011, which was the first year I tracked my reading:
- 2011 - 74 books
- 2012 - 85 books
- 2013 - 68 books
- 2014 - 100 books
- 2015 - 101 books
- 2015 (Animorphs series) - 64 additional books
- 2016 - 129 books
- 2017 - 87 books
- 2018 - 65 books
- 2019 - 75 books
- 2020 - 46 books
For those struggling with the math - it's complicated, maybe, because I don't include my 2015 Animorphs reread - that's 830 books, or 83 per year, which is one way to contextualize 46. I think a reasonable annual goal for me in 2021 and beyond - after I factor in writing book notes, posting TOA reading reviews, and incorporating the information into my daily routine - is somewhere in the range of 60 to 72 books, which is a lower number than above (but still much higher than 46).
Those tempted to blame the pandemic will have some support from the data. By February 23rd I'd finished 16 books, which felt like a fast pace at the time, but of course in hindsight we know one-eighth of 2020 represented one-third of the year's book count; it's no coincidence that the pandemic reached America just a couple of weeks later. The ensuing nine and a half months were marked by various realities that had mostly negative repercussions for my reading, with perhaps the most notable being the way I fell completely out of established routines that included time dedicated for reading.
The possibility that my annual total decreased because I finished larger books than usual in 2020 is not supported by a cursory glance at my list - in fact, it actually seems like the books were slightly shorter than average, though I should note that I finished 90% of an unusually large book for my standards (Thinking Without a Bannister by Hannah Arendt). While I'm on the subject, the fact of incomplete books is a factor - I'm currently carrying ten half-finished books into 2021, six of which are currently on my bedside table - but when compared against historic standards it becomes clear that this is a small contributor rather than the underlying cause of my year-over-year decline, as I often close the year with three or four unfinished books.
It feels unfashionable to exonerate the pandemic of all blame when assessing my personal failures in 2020, but I'd say that a more important culprit for me to consider is the one I raised on Thursday - distraction. No matter what I say about the pandemic, the reality is that there were still twenty-four hours in each day and I spent one or two of those doing something other than reading. This isn't the first time distraction has had an effect on my book count - the rise in 2014 was partly because I stopped using the internet outside of work; the biggest change to my behavior at home in 2020 was being constantly plugged into the internet. I think some period of adjustment was inevitable, but I also fell for the trap of allowing "quick checks" online to become the digital quicksand of the mind.
It's also important to remember that even if I'm not precisely correct about the role of distraction in this problem, it's perhaps the most appropriate one to consider because having better control over distractions will pay off across a wide range of pursuits for the rest of my life. There is no doubt in my mind that digital distraction is establishing a new normal in many aspects of life - paying attention, staying connected, getting around, even planning ahead or settling small debts - all of these and more are being redefined due to people adjusting their own expectations in a world increasingly polluted with digital "solutions". My reaction in 2014 was clearly a temporary measure, like turning on the air conditioner when the smoke starts creeping in under the door; it's time to learn how to use the fire extinguisher so that I can live safely with the new reality.
