#MyYearInBooks : 2020 Reading Challenge

COVID-19 has decisively made sure that 2020 is going to be a year that would be much better for us if we bother to stay indoors. And, reading wins the coolest indoor activity category hands down.

I used to be a regular visitor to Goodreads a couple of years back, but I had stopped in between. Today, I stumbled upon an interesting collection of Tejas Rao's 'Year In Books', and that got me excited enough to revisit the good old Goodreads. I don't know how long the feature has been there, and I don't know if it has been there almost forever. But, it doesn't matter, I found out about it today. I have to say, as I signed in, an involuntary grin was pinned to my face as my eyes crinkled in happiness. If you want to know why, take a good look at the picture below: a small part of the collection I had kept on Goodreads. 

Wait, did you smile too? I can see your lips faintly curving upward as your eyes soften fondly. It took me back to when I was actually keeping a track of the books I read on Goodreads, and the memories of those beautiful books came flooding back. Isn't that what keeping a record is for? It serves as a beautiful repository of fond memories, and Goodreads does that in a way that looks so nice! In fact, my blog began as an effort to keep track of the books that I used to read day-in-day-out. I just wanted to have a string of posts that I can look back on, and smile at. 

The "Year In Books" is another cool challenge (and a very cool display) of what you read through the year! You can set your reading goal, and keep tracking the books you read, and the stats of which are beautifully complied for you in your "My Year In Books" page. 

My dad's immediate reaction when I showed him the above progress bar: mathematics. If I had to read 100 books per year, then it had to be around eight and a half books a month. And, it is already three months with just 15 books. Tut-tut, Sandhya, you're lagging behind. True, but once I get in the flow, only the supply of the books matter. I usually finish books in a single sitting, or within the same day, mostly because most of them are highly compelling and unputdownable. 

You can check out "My Year 2020 In Books", as I keep adding to it, here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2020/5777749. Or, you can always find a new tab that I have added in the pages bar: "Year In Books- 2020". 

I thought this was a great idea to share the books that we all read, in order to read more, and hence decided to do a post on this! Even with an extensive repository like my blog, I have to say the Goodreads Year In Books page looks too attractive, with it's dynamic and modern design, to not try it out! If you take a look at the right hand column of tabs in my blog, I've added a super cool '2020 Reading Challenge' widget provided by Goodreads. So, as I track my books now, you can keep an eye on your home-girl (thanks in advance)! 

So, read with me, and share the books that you read. This is a brilliant way to showcase the books that demanded our awe and attention, and also get new suggestions and explore more through other people's Year In Books page on Goodreads! We are on a break now, and we don't know how it would be if we get back to school/college/work. It makes sense that we use this time to tick away all our pending wish-lists that we have as a community of bibliophiles. What are you waiting for? Just take the efforts to open a book, it'll take care of the rest!

Let it truly be a year in books! Happy reading!