“@500BooksIn5Years” Reading Challenge

Guest Post by Authors Alycaria and Amber

Friends Laura Nicole and Amber celebrate the halfway point on their journey to read 500 Books in 5 Years.

In 2023, we began keeping a log of the books we finished reading, and it wasn’t long after that when we boldly proclaimed that we could read 100 books each year. But could we really? To set ourselves up for success, considering some years might be more challenging than others, we backpaddled and loosely proposed reading 500 books across 5 years. Like everyone we’ve shared this idea with, we had some reservations:

Could we really find 500 books worth reading?

How much time would we invest in reading 100 books each year?

How could we afford that many books?

And where do we start?

Despite our misgivings, we accepted the challenge, set some ground rules, and dove straight in, knowing we’d figure it out as we went along.

The first step: define what constitutes a ‘book’ and establish rules:

1. The book must be recordable on Goodreads (meaning it has an ISBN).
2. Must be 500 unique books (no repeats within the list of 500, but can be a re-read from outside of the challenge).
3. Audiobooks, eBooks, physical books, and anyone reading aloud all count.
4. No more than 10% (50) books can be considered “children’s” books (we lump most books <150 in this group).
5. Every word has to be seen or heard (no skimming or skipping sections).

How do we find and afford books? There are infinite ways to find your next read, but following like-minded content creators on Bookstagram or BookTok minimizes the effort. Book apps and websites post lists of books based on themes and genres, such as historical fiction or the highest-rated books of the week. Once we identified authors we liked, we added the rest of their publications to our To-Be-Read (TBR) list. Some websites help you find similar authors and books labeled as Readers Also Enjoyed, which can aid in discovering niche and nuanced themes.

Adhering to a book budget can be disappointing. Still, it encourages us to utilize free or low-cost resources, such as local libraries, free library apps (Libby and Hoopla), Little Free Libraries, YouTube, Spotify, Kindle Unlimited, and borrowing books from friends. Sharing Audible and Amazon Music accounts helps tremendously with the cost as well, allowing for prioritization of splurges on decorated, new editions, or newly released books not available on other platforms.

How do we build good reading habits? While we evolved to devour over 100 books a year, our mood can shift throughout the day or week, and the books need to keep pace. That’s why we don’t shy away from replacing one book with another and why we often consume multiple books at a time. Sounds unhinged, but it works. Palette cleansers—switching genres, themes, or story length—provide variety and welcome change between reads. When that doesn’t work, we fall back on our recent favorites (rereads don’t count toward the 500) and comfort reads. Having an audiobook for house chores, arts and crafts, driving, and walking while also having an eBook or physical copy for before bed, waiting room, or those pesky social gatherings, helps prioritize reading and mental well-being.

What have we learned and gained?

1. It’s okay to (Did) Not Finish (DNF) a book. Life’s too short to read books that don’t add value to our lives or hurt our mental health. Listen to what calls you.
2. On the flipside, this challenge has pushed us to finish books we’d never have otherwise. The incentive to keep pace with a couple of books each week is motivating and addictive.
3. New genres are worth exploring. If there wasn’t at least one good book in every genre, that genre wouldn’t exist. Be open-minded.
4. Books are a medium to meet new people and forge friendships. Your interests might better align with someone else we know, and we’d be thrilled to introduce you. Otherwise, convince us, we love a challenge.
5. Diversifying our reads has allowed us to explore other cultures, histories, and perspectives. Growing empathy and reassessing our assumptions broadens our respect for other world views.
6. Read the book before watching the movie.

Welcome to the challenge: Reading isn’t only trendy, it’s healthy. We invite you to accept the challenge and modify it to fit your life, whether that’s 500 books in 4 years or 20 books in 20 months. Take the plunge and pick up the story gathering dust at home, or branch out for an uncharted adventure from a friend or the library. Reading is growing, it’s experiencing the otherwise unobtainable, and it’s building a library of conversation topics. Pass on those good vibes through connections and promote literacy in the elderly and the youth you meet. Thrive in the world of written words.

Laura Nicole Dorrell (Alycaria) and Amber Martin, avid readers and writers, review and promote novels in order to encourage literacy by supporting readers in finding the books they can’t put down. Laura Nicole fights fraud by day while Amber, mother of two, tackles triage as an ER nurse by night. They review every book they read on Goodreads and post highlights related to the #500booksin5years challenge on Instagram.

Image Courtesy of Laura Nicole