When Research Replaces Reading

Confessions of someone who spends more time planning what to read than reading.

Hello! It’s a lovely Saturday afternoon as I sit down to write this post. It’s the first day of November. The weather is pleasant. And I’ve got a headache from all the researching I’ve been doing about what to study, read, and watch next. It’s what I do for large parts of the day. I know…It’s not good. I’m trying to fix it. If you’ve found a cure for it, do let me know in the comments.

And so, with that introduction, I’d like to talk about how I tend to research a lot on what to read next. The world of literature is so vast that there’s always this feeling of missing out on the opportunity to read some new book or some old book that I just discovered.

I keep watching YouTube videos on the best classic literature and tier rankings of fantasy books, and a lot more. I don’t even read horror and still managed to sit through a 30-minute video of the best Stephen King novels for beginners. Lol. There’s very little chance that I’m going to read a horror novel, yet I do manage to justify spending time on it.

This has led me to read a lot less than what I should ideally be doing. And so, I’ve been thinking about this. Does it make sense to create an annual list of books to read in December and stick to it for the whole of next year? Like, just not bother about what new thing I’ve discovered and just keep going after my goal. That way I know that I’ve got to finish a book in a certain number of days and can plan the pacing. This sounds like a good plan, but it can derail very easily once I encounter a book that is beyond my current level. What do I do then? Endure and keep going even when I’m struggling? Or give up and fit in some alternative to keep the show going?

These are hard questions for me. And probably you’ve faced the same. How do you get as much reading done in a year and as little planning of what to read? I’m hoping to try out various methods and see what sticks. But at least, I’m determined to fix it.

If you’ve faced the same dilemma, do reach out or comment here and let me know what your solution was.

Thanks for reading! See you again.