The Last 100 Books I've Read - A Wildwood Story

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I love reading, discussing books, books about books, book lists, podcasts on books: all things books. Even the aged and sweet smell of paperback perfume. I save book recommendations on Instagram, look them up on my favorite blogs, add to lists on my phone, in my planner, and am generally always thinking about what to read next.

At some point I thought it would be a grand adventure to see how long it would take to read 1000 books. {Hint: a lot longer than I thought!} I began keeping a record every time I completed a book. Not long ago I reached my first milestone of 100 books read {insert 100 exclamation points}! As you’ll see, I like to read from a variety of genres.

{New friends who think I’m an innocent… please don’t be too shocked.}

You Should Know…

I faced a hard truth here: It took me seven years to read 100 books! I began this reading adventure in 2010, and finished in 2017. That’s just a little over 14 books per year. I have friends who easily read that many in one month, even 100 or more books in a year! I was honestly surprised that, as voracious a reader as I once used to be, it took me so long to reach this first milestone.

However, instead of berating myself for not reaching some non-existent standard, I decided to be grateful. Grateful because at a time in my life when I wasn’t reading as much as I had in previous years (oh to be 15 and absorbed in the work of Dickens!) and was struggling with depression and grief, I chose to start, somewhere. I picked up one book, and then another. I may not have felt capable of much, but I could read and engage my mind in life-changing literature and was changed in the process. It’s about the journey, not the time it takes to get there!*

Most of these books I read the traditional way-you know, with an actual book in hand. A few I read on my Kindle, mainly while traveling. I am just now at the cusp of the world of audio books…we’ll see where that takes me!

A couple books here are re-reads. For example, every few years I re-read The Hiding Place and the Harry Potter series. As a teen I read all of the Anne of Green Gables novels (favorite: Rilla of Ingleside) and then recently read aloud the first and well-beloved one to my children.

This list does not include the Bible, devotionals, or countless children’s books and homeschooling material (The Story of the World, Vol 1-4!) I’ve read aloud. It also doesn’t include a large stack of books I’m almost, oh-so-close to finishing. I’ve counted only the books I’ve read completely cover-to-cover, even if some are waiting for me to finish just two more pages before being added to the list.

Many of these books have become a part of me and changed or expanded my thinking in some way. A few were forgettable; others I wouldn’t recommend. One last thing-it may have taken me SEVEN FREAKING YEARS to read 100 books, but many of them were over 500 pages long! So, there’s that. #somewhatjustified #bookbrag

I’ll give you an update on my top ten favorites from these 100! For now, here is the raw list: