Thoughts on Reading 300 Books in My Life!

Posted On October 17, 2021

I have officially read 300 books in my lifetime!! Can I get a Hurray?

I’m so stoked to achieve this number. Sometimes it feels like a BIG number, but sometimes it feels like a very small number. I keep oscillating between the two, but reading 300 books only makes me want to read more & more.

~~JOURNEY TOWARDS READING WHAT I LIKE~~

Since 2019 itself, I’ve read 167 of these 300 books, which is the the thing I am most proud of. I gave up reading generic books pretty quickly & started exploring different kinds of genres. After a lot of reading, I found my favorite genres to be Historical Fiction, Thriller/Crime/Mystery, Fantasy, Mythological Fiction, Short Stories & Modern Poetry.

After even more reading, I knew who my new favorite authors were. They are Khaled Hosseini, Hanya Yanagihara, Jhumpa Lahiri, Kristin Hannah, Madeline Miller, Fredrik Backman, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Paulo Coelho.

Soon I got acquainted to all these prestigious book awards. Before being an official book blogger, I had only heard of a few book prizes. But soon I got acquainted to the Nobel Prize of Literature, Women’s Prize for Fiction, JCB Prize (which is an Indian book award!), British Book Awards, The Walter Scott Prize (which is solely for the Historical Fiction genre!) And of course, the ones I already knew were the Pulitzer Prize, Booker Prize & Goodreads Choice Awards! I soon started to love reading Pulitzer Prize winning books. I still read the books shortlisted for these other awards, but none of them have quite made my top 25 list.

~~JOURNEY TOWARDS READING WHAT I WANT~~

When it comes to reading, everyone is of the belief that there are certain standards to adhere to with respect to what qualifies as ‘LITERATURE’. A reader is always asked about their favourite classics. Many people frown upon readers leaving a book unfinished if they don’t like it. DNF as we call it in our bookstagram culture. There is also so much stigma surrounding grown ups reading Young Adult Fiction & about belittling people who read Women’s Fiction. For all those readers out there who filter their reading choices based on what a reader a supposed to read, please break free!! Read whatever you want to! Read what gives you joy, fulfillment & pure content. I used to be caged by these stigmas too, but I soon realised that I cannot read if I continue like this.

I hate reading classics. It is just not for me. Not everyone needs to be a philosopher quoting William Shakespeare. Most of these classics have not aged well, so reading it in the 21st century simply makes me uncomfortable & not in a good way. Just because I dislike reading classics, does not make me a casual reader. Just because I can’t quote lines from my favourite books from my favourite authors, does not make me a fraud. Just because I decide to DNF a book, does not make me a pretend bookworm. It simply makes me human. It simply means I refuse to continue reading books which I don’t enjoy.

I started reading many years ago with Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone. At the time I only used to read your typical Indian romance books. But then some time 4 years ago, there was a shift. Suddenly books became 90% of my personality & I was a walking breathing talking human made up of multitude of characters who contributed to making me the person I am today. From choosing the books which I know I will love, to refusing the books which are popular, to being my own authentic reader has been an eye-opening journey for me. Because I broke some barriers, I now fully love the books I read. I am SUPER HAPPY on reading 300 books. Here’s to reading MANY MORE! Thank you for staying with me & Mindscape in Words throughout this journey!

Until next time,