The year was 2016, and I had been in the midst of pregnancy, babies, and toddlers for the past 7+ years. I hadn’t read a non-board book in ages, except for the handful of parenting nonfiction I sampled over the years (did I ever even finish one?). I was pulled so thin I didn’t even have the mental bandwidth to miss reading books.

I don’t remember what caused me to do this, but on New Years Day I signed up for the 2016 Goodreads Challenge – my goal was to read 12 books for pleasure that year. That’s one a month – doable, right? No page number minimum, just a desire to get back in the habit of reading.

This is a story of a new year resolution that changed everything. It was slow at first, but then I found a series I devoured. By that summer, I was nearing my 12 books and so I extended my goal to 24 – which I did meet. The next year, I tried for 24 books again, but that was the year we moved to Lilburn and so I only finished 17 books. That’s okay – I resolved to not get discouraged, and focused instead on moving forward. In 2018 I started a book club which ran for several years. Through that book club, I challenged myself to read more classics and more “meaty” books. (I also had everyone drop out of the book club, but that’s a story for another day.) In 2019 I had eye surgery and discovered the wonder of audio books, and now in 2024 I ended the year having read 75 books – hard to believe there was a time when I struggled to read only 17!

I say all this to encourage you. There was a time when 12 books was a challenge for me, and maybe you are there too. Don’t worry about where you are starting, but rather on whether you’re moving upward. Reading books is a worthy investment of your time! It stretches your brain, opens your mind to other worldviews, and is a wonderful example to the next generation. I’ll never forget when, early on, my daughter spotted me reading and said with surprise, “Mommy! I didn’t know you could read too!” (Oops!)

Maybe this is the year that changes everything for you, too! I encourage you to set an achievable goal and work towards that. You won’t regret it, I promise. Please also know we at Cornerstone Living Library are always here for you to encourage you and offer quality books. Come see us!