New Year, New Resolution

Yaaay resolution! I used to be a big fan of new years' resolutions but after many attempts, I found the only real success I had with one (read: my only resolution that lasted past February) was when I was 14. I went on a soda/cola/pop/fizzy drink fast with my older brother and whomever broke the fast first lost. We lasted until about May when my brother sheepishly called me to tell me he had given in to some Dr. Pepper.
A worthy drink to break your soda fast on, indeed.

The last several years have not included a new years resolution for me. Sure, I joked about one now and then but I haven't really committed to one at the beginning of the year in at least 5 years, that I recall.

I have decided on January 1 that I would like to have a new years resolution this year, and share it with you here on my blog!

Drumroll please...


buuuudududududududududududududududududu *symbols!*

I would like to read 100 books.

(image source)

The way I figured it, that's almost two books a week. Great!

I got busy.

My Christmas present from my sweet husband this year was a Kindle, and so, with an arsenal of ebooks, I sat down and began to complete my goal.

Yesterday, I finished my first book. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
It was fantastic! It was beautiful. It was... long. And the worst part? It took me actually more than a week to finish it. The US paperback has 835 pages (according to Wikipedia). I think it took me about two weeks to actually read the book.
Tonight, I started reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson and I am 13% in after a couple hours of reading.

*hangs head in dispair*

For about half an hour, I fretted about the fact that at this pace, I would not reach my goal.
I thought about lowering my goal to 50 books... but cutting my goal in half sorta broke my heart. Then! I thought of my mom. She used to finish an average sized novel in a matter of 1-2 days just reading in bed before she went to sleep. She was a speed reader.

I am not. I don't even know how to read fast and retain whatever it is that I read... so I downloaded a book called The Complete Idiot's Guide to Speed Reading by Abby Marks Beale and Pam Mullan.

This evening I learned that I am indeed, considered a slow reader, clocking in at 197 words per minute. Why do I have such a low reading speed? I subvocalize! I literally read to myself vocally in my brain. Apparently the quickest speed that someone can read while subvocalizing or reading aloud is 240 words per minute. I need to speed it up!

The book offers several techniques for doubling and even tripling your reading speed! And bonus! It counts toward my 100.

There will be a tab, above, showing my progress, if you want to follow along! What are your new years resolutions?