You Only Get So Many Years to Read. Choose Wisely (September Posting Challenge)

If I live 36 more years, that is only enough time to read around 1800 more books. I read 70 books last year, but I think 50 is a realistic average for the rest of my life. That only turns out to 1800 books. I get that figure from the life expectancy for males in the USA--76.

There are so many books published every year. More than I have time to read. If I cared to skim books, I could probably triple that number. That's still not that many compared to the number of books in a normal library.

I've been thinking about this lately. It encourages me to choose carefully. 

People should read what they want. There are better and worse books, but there's no list that everyone should read. If you only have so much time, then you should read what you want. 

I can easily get caught up in the latest books. There are a lot of podcasts that feature interviews with authors about their latest books. If I listen to those interviews, then I feel like that book has to be the next book that I read. I stopped listening to those podcasts because I don't want my reading to be bound by what feels urgent.

Take the number of books that you read last year. Multiply that by the number of years that you are likely to live. That is the number of books that you likely have left to read. Read accordingly.

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