Reading Challenge

How many books can you read in a year?

Some reading rock stars include Warren Buffet (5-6 hours reading per day), Bill Gates (50 books per year), Mark Zuckerberg (1 book every two weeks) and Oprah Winfrey (she brought book clubs to the next level). But what if you’re not a billionaire?

According to Pew Research, “Americans read an average (mean) of roughly 14 books during the previous 12 months and the typical (median) American read five books in that period, according to the survey.” People are reading in a variety of formats too, including e-books and audio-books. (Old school print is my favorite.)

According to Malcolm Gladwell’s book, “Outliers – The Story of Success“, it takes 10,000 hours of intensive practice to become an expert in something, whether you’re playing basketball or learning a new business skill. Part of that learning often involves reading.

Ever since I started writing my historical fiction, I’ve read an average of 20 books per year. (Prior to that, it was probably 5-8.)

Just about any writing teacher will tell you something along the lines of, “writers write and writers read.” Well, I’ve been writing (and re-writing!) for the past two years, so this year I’d like to up my reading game. I’m going to aim for 35 books. Considering I have a lot of research to do on Scottish highlanders, 18th century history and how to be a better novelist, that should be within my grasp. Also, I want to read more fun books. (All research and no play drives Lisa #$%! crazy!)

How about you? How many books will you read this year?

Lisa 😉

Here’s my story (available on Amazon)

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