A Moment of Clarity

I was reading this wonderful post by Calico_Reaction yesterday. Okay, mainly it’s journal maintenance, but this here is the wonderful bit:

My novel-reading goal is always 50 books a year. That's the minimum. Obviously, getting to 100 is a perk, but I'd really like to SLOW DOWN and read some stuff I just can't speed through. So instead of killing myself to reach 100 books for 2010, I'm going to aim for 75. That's a fair compromise.

It was like my eyes were suddenly opened.

I had already decided that I want to do some rereading and get through some of those “big fat fantasy” books I have to read (although they actually cover more genres than just fantasy). But at the same time, I still had this magic number of 100 in my head. I wanted to read 100 books in 2010.

But which is more important, reading the books I want to read, or the number of books I read?

So I’m going to do what Calico_Reaction has done. I’m going to concentrate on WHAT I read. I’m going to SLOW DOWN and enjoy the books I choose to read. I’m going to read some of those long ones that have been scaring me – and I’ll take as long as I need to read them, savouring the story instead of worrying about all the other books I’m not reading and whether I’ll make that 100 goal or not.

I still like the idea of having a number in my head, but I’m going to make it 75 and keep reminding myself that it isn’t set in stone.

Thank you Calico_Reaction for that moment of clarity. I think I needed it.

Edited to attribute post to the right person. Oops and sorry.