As of October 1st, I have read 51 books in 2026. That’s pretty good with three months still left in the year. I use Goodreads to track the books that I read across all formats: Libby, Spotify, Kindle Unlimited, and physical books. But my real tracking takes place in a spreadsheet on Google Docs. This is my third year keeping track, and I worship this document. It records more than just names. My columns are: Title, Author, Date Finished, a drop down Genre list, my rating out of 5 Stars (I’m much more honest on my spreadsheet than I am on Goodreads; I feel bad leaving a negative review just because a story isn’t my cup of tea; some books really do deserve only 2 stars though), my Review (which is usually just a small paragraph), it’s Series # (I just put a 0 if it’s a stand alone), the Medium with which I read it (Audio, Kindle, or Physical), and a box I check if it’s a reread. I used to have another check box for when I read a book with my book club.

The most important part of this spreadsheet is that I enjoy it. For some people, this may be too much documentation, and that’s fine. Keeping an itemized list does not make you a better reader. But I enjoy all the details; I enjoy running to my spreadsheet to update it every time I finish a book. (I also update this cute tracker my partner customized for me on Etsy; it says, “Quinn’s Library” and has little numbered wooden titles and is very magically themed; it’s honestly one of my prized possessions.) 

I also enjoy the ability to look back on how a book made me feel in the moment. Keeping my reviews short means there’s no pressure to make them perfect. They’re usually very disorganized, stream of consciousness commentary. 

And even though I’m much more harsh in my personal document, many of the books that I read are awarded 5 stars. (I just went and counted: 21 out of 51; only 12 are 3 stars or below). I see a lot of BookToker content creators who reserve their 5 stars for the “best of the best”, or they have the secret tier of 6 stars (which I’ve thought about using). But if I love a book, it gets 5 stars. If it’s got a few issues, 4. If I don’t love it or hate it, for whatever reason, 3. If I don’t like a book because of poor writing, bad character choices, or objectionable topics (like the super fucking weird almost relationship between the main character of Stephen King’s Billy Summers and Alice, aged 44 and TWENTY ONE), 1 or 2 stars. 

I’m trying to learn that it’s okay to not finish a book. In the past month, I’ve DNF’ed (did not finish, an industry term) two: “Love, Clancy” by W Bruce Cameron and “The Village Library Demon Hunting Society” by C M Waggoner. No matter how far you are into a book, it is okay to put it down and never touch it again. Books are here for our enjoyment; they’re not meant to be homework. There are so many wondrous stories in the world that there is no time to waste on something that doesn’t bring you joy. There doesn’t have to be some grand reason (a la Billy Summers). I put down “Love, Clancy” because I was annoyed at how passive the main character was (come on my guy, at least correct her when she erroneously and repeatedly claims to be your girlfriend).

Which easily leads into why I read. For some people, it’s educational. Biographies of the greats, self help books, instruction manuals for how to lead your life, advance in your career, or make money. I have no problem with people who read like this, of course. Reading for me though is purely escapism. If a book doesn’t make me happy, I don’t want to read it. That’s why I only got 46 pages into “Misery” by Stephen King (I either love or hate his books; he’s 2 for 4 so far, succeeding with “11/22/63” and “Fairy Tale” and losing HARD with “Billy Summers” and “Misery”.)

That’s not to say I only read happy books. I’ve been enjoying the Zodiac Academy series (love the character growth, love the magic, but it’s a little heavy) (and yes, of course, I’m there for the other benefits of the books as well). But I took a months long break after the 4th book in favor of things with a little more sunshine. I ploughed through the very depressing “Mistress of Rome” by Kate Quinn. I’m a sucker for ancient Rome, and even though the main character regularly self harmed (a topic I usually avoid), I stayed for the depth of the characters.

And I also enjoy educational or nonfictional content though. Learning makes me happy. I found “A Walk In The Woods” by Bill Bryson on the bookshelf in an AirBnB and absolutely devoured it over the course of a four day stay. Bill Bryson was already a nonfiction favorite of mine for his “At Home: A Short History of Private Life” and “The Body: A Guide For Occupants”. I read “Make Believe” by Mac Barnett (6/5 if there ever was one), “The Hidden Life of Trees” by Peter Wohllben, “A Marriage at Sea” by Sophie Elmhirst. I love reading historical fiction as well. It’s a wonderfully enjoyable cross between learning and exploring a new world. “24 Hours in Ancient Rome” by Philip Matyszak, “My Personal Librarian” by Marie Benedict. (These are by no means a recommendation of my favorite books, just things I’ve read this year).

I saw a TikTok recently where a woman did the math on how many books she’s likely to read in the rest of her life. If she’s 30, and she reads 1 book a week until she dies at 80, that’s only 2600 more books! That’s not nearly enough in my opinion. So don’t settle for what’s popular or what you feel like you should read or continue a book that you’re not enjoying because you’re already 46% of the way through. Find the ones that remind you why you love to read; read what makes you happy, read what fulfills you, and if visual progress is something that scratches your brain the right way, keep a spreadsheet. Being able to look back even a few years at everything I’ve read brings me immense satisfaction; I can’t wait until it’s 10 years and hundred of books.

I look forward to creating a more thorough breakdown of everything I’ve read, how I read it, and my ratings and review at the end of the year.