So. Close.

I am one book away from reaching my Goodreads goal this year. 

One. Book.

I have four days, so that's totally possible.

But? I am kinda impressed with myself nonetheless. 

When I set out my goal for 50 books in 2013 I knew I was reaching a little high. Really. In 2012 I barely made by 30 books. And in 2011 I barely made my 25 books. 

I'm a quick reader. Really. And for the most part I try to take time out to read every single day. Sometimes I get too tired before bed and the thought of cracking open a book gives me a headache, but for the most part I read. But I don't read so fast that I skim over things. I don't skip words, or paragraphs, or chapters. In fact I don't really get how (or why) people do that. If you're one of those people, I'm not judging - I swear. I just can't do it. Seriously. Sometimes I try to skip a few sentences ahead or something if I'm getting bored with a book - and then I promptly go back and read what I just skipped. I just can't do it. If you are one of those who can, care to explain your methods to me? I'm honestly interested.

The thing is: I like to savor the words the author chose. To see how they piece things together. To watch the magic they use when they weave a story from pieces and snapshots into memories and moments. It really is magic to me. And I love it - especially when the author is amazing at it. Or those lines that make you just stop and think "why have I never thought this way about something before" - when their word choice or descriptions are so perfect that you're awe struck and have to convince yourself you're not actually there in that moment in the real world. When your reality blurs together into your books reality. And sometimes those moments come in the most unexpected places of a book.

So, no. I can't skip ahead for fear of missing something profound. 

So 50 books? Well, that seemed like a pretty lofty goal in light of both my reading habits as well as my reading records from the previous two years. The thing is, I had a lull in reading in 2011 and 2012. Both coming after reading a book I desperately needed to savor for a little while combined with other assorted things that took time away from reading (namely: work). So a reading lull is something I knew I was going to have to watch out for. 

And it still happened. This summer I barely read anything. Really. I think I went with two books in a three month period. Which royally sucks (it was not the best summer by any means, so reading more probably would have helped a lot). I was prepared for a lull and it still crept up on me!

So, in light of that lull I am fairly surprised I still managed to meet my goal this year (knock on wood, since I'm not exactly there yet). It just makes me think that I could have read so many more had I not taken three months off!

So, yay for me! And here's to another year of delightful reading ahead of me.