92 Books Read in 2018

Even though I still have a week left in 2018, I know for sure that I won’t be able to finish Jill Lepore’s These Truths: a History of the United States before the New Year. The book is almost 1000 pages and I only just got started.

Still, 2018 sets a new record for the number of books I have read. This year I read 92 books—two more than last year, according to my reading history.

This year, I continued to switch between English and Vietnamese. In English, I read mostly non-fiction. I only read a few books on design, typography, and technical. In Vietnamese, I read mostly collection of essays because those are the ones that are available in the new-release section at the libraries. I was getting weary of them.

I also had an issue with too many books and too little time. I was overwhelmed with the number of books and started to lose my concentration. At some points, I simply just returned all the books and only kept one or two I really want to read.

In 2019, my goal is to focus on what I read. I will choose books that are at least 400 pages. I will read slowly to soak in rather than to speed through the content. I will give myself as much time as I need to read them; therefore, I won’t pay attention to the number of books.

With the lightning speed in this new digital age we are living in, reading thicker books will train me to be more patience. I will spend less time reading online and checking social media. At least that is my hope for 2019.