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Third year in a row where I surpassed my reading challenge on Goodreads! And this year was quite amazing as I finished my 50th book in July, making the total count a decent 54 for 2018, yay! If only I could have maintained my reading pace till the year-end :D!

2018 was special as I extended my experiments into reading as well! And no surprises that it was super exciting and rewarding! Here are some of my experiments (hope I remember them all!!):

  • I am astonished that I read 26 (out of total 54) non-fiction books this year! Almost 50%, whoa! It was possible to reach that number because of what I was required to read professionally! But I discovered that it’s not impossible to read as many non-fictions! The count is only going to go up in the next few years!
  • I gave ‘speed reading’ a trial this year and it broke another myth for me. It is doable and it’s NOT an injustice to the books, LOL! More non-fictions will be speed read in future 😉
  • I have had many people roll their eyes when I used to tell them I don’t own a kindle! I finally bought one this year. Again, I am not unhappy! I remember carrying 5 books on a week-long vacation last year and that shall remain a once off thing! Now, I have multiple on-the-go books with me, I save a lot of money as well as space! Not so bad, aye!
  • I read multiple books at any given time this year, eight being the maximum in ‘currently reading’ status! I always wondered how could anyone do something as crazy as this! Not anymore!! Few books I am currently reading will make their way to 2019 Goodreads challenge!
  • I also ventured a little bit out of my comfort zone in terms of genres! Read few travel books, couple on World history, politics etc, few cooking books! It worked well as I could read multiple books at any given time and all the genres stabilised my mood swings 🙂
  • I also started using blinklist this year and ‘listened to’ few book summaries. Those were not included in the 54 that I read this year, after all, I DID NOT read them!
  • I also started taking elaborate notes for my non-fiction reads this year! Needed a bit more than reviews, again for professional space!
  • This year has also seen the maximum additions to my TBR list! Not an experiment TBH but something that I observed!

And, some reading  highlights from this year:

  • Best Non Fiction: Leading Change by John Cutter! Not only did I read this book, but I also applied the 8 Step Model to a couple of scenarios personally and professionally and presented at a meetup talk!  
  • Best Travel Book: There’s a tie! Love with a Chance of Drowning and Two Steps Forward! Two amazing real love stories that revolve around travel! Highly recommended for wanderlusters who enjoy cute yet intense romantic books!
  • North Korea undercover made me so much more thankful for the world I live in!
  • Buy Me The Sky brought so many insights into the one-child Generation of China!
  • Quite a few books on Coaching and Feedback broadened my horizon in the professional space!

All in all, it was a great year, given that I only read religiously for about 8 months! Looking forward to 2019!

Happy Reading 🙂