Reading Logs
Attempting to achieve my reading goal for the year 2025
Prologue
At some point in the beginning of this year I decided to set a very ambitious goal for myself, to read 24 books this year, and it’s going as any new year’s goal is canonically supposed to go i.e. not great.
y tho?
- I like reading and there’s so much I want to read, but I’ve never been able to build a successful habit out of it.
- At the end of the day I read (fiction) for entertainment purposes but I’ve noticed that brings me much more satisfaction than watching a YouTube video (the platform which I spend most time on currently, It’s not an addiction, I can quit any time).
- Sleep is important to me, unfortunately I am bad at it, and so far reading before heading to bed has been the best sleep aid for me.
Story so far
I’ve finished reading 7 books, and partially read 3 books (2 fiction (Stoner and Children of Dune) and a non-fiction (Sapiens)).
What do I need to do to achieve my goal?
Conveniently, as of writing this, there are 17 weeks left in this year and I need to read 17 books. That’s 1 book a week.
So if
- p = number of pages in the book currently reading and
- n = number of days I can read in that week, Then I should be reading p/n pages per day. If I am reading multiple (k) books, it should be (p1/n1)/k pages for book1, (p2/n2)/k pages from book 2 and so on…
“That’s simple… right?” I said to myself while shedding a tear.
This assumes that I am a perfect being, which I am far from; some days I might read more and some days I might read less (more likely). I don’t want to put such constraints on myself. And the main purpose of this thing is that I want to build a new habit that will last a long time, and I want to read books that are already on my shelf and reading list. I don’t want to read 24 100-page short stories.
On top of that, some books might not need 7 days to read and some books might take me a whole month. Cough cough…
I have to keep in mind that the number of pages from the above calculation is not my true end goal; they are just to provide direction.
The Plan
Weekly
- Plan ahead: pick a book (If not reading anything), see how many days you can read (I won’t be reading when I am on vacation).
- At the end of the final day of the week, update this blog.
- Write the daily logs for the week in the log section.
- Reflect on the successes and failures, how it went, see if you can learn something from the experience, and update the protocol if needed.
- Write a brief review of the book you read (privately, and mainly for fiction).
Daily
- Before going to sleep, read for at least 15 mins.
- Write a daily reading log: Read q pages from b book.
- In case of non-fiction books, take notes alongside reading.
- (Optional) For long books (fiction), it would be wise to write a brief summary every day.
Logs
To be updated every Wednesday.
Week-1
Started reading Speaker for the Dead, read until page 246 (+Intro) (66%) across 5 days (I was on a 4-day trip, 2 of the days I read during the flight). It’s a sequel to Ender’s Game which I had just recently finished. I am enjoying it very much (more than its predecessor).
| Date | Book/s | Pages Read | Chapters Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03-09-2025 | Speaker for the Dead | 50 | Intro, 1 |
| 04-09-2025 | Speaker for the Dead | 53 | 2,3,4,5 |
| 05-09-2025 | Speaker for the Dead | 63 | 6,7,8 |
| 06-09-2025 | Speaker for the Dead | 36 | 9,10,11 |
| 09-09-2025 | Speaker for the Dead | 63 | 12,13,14 |
Week-2
Finished reading Speaker for the Dead on the morning of Day 3 of this week. I loved it. I would rate it 5/5. Started reading The Handmaid’s Tale (About time. It has been on my shelf for more than a year, perhaps even two). And The Brothers Karamazov (I’ve always wanted to read it, but its length seemed daunting. It’s around 800-900 pages long. Next month, I am planning to view a play adaptation of the same that gave me reason to start this and also gave me a deadline to finish it by, hoping to finish it before watching the play.) Later half of this week, I didn’t read as much as I’d like to. I think it takes some time to settle into a new novel, and I’ve started two. If it gets daunting, I think I’ll just focus on the one I like more first.
| Date | Book/s | Pages/Percent Read | Chapters Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-09-2025 | Speaker for the Dead | 30 | 15 |
| 11-09-2025 | Speaker for the Dead | 50 | 16 |
| 12-09-2025 | Speaker for the Dead(Finished), The Handmaid’s Tale(Started) | 56, 20 | 17,18 | 1-3 |
| 13-09-2025 | The Handmaid’s Tale | 27 | 4-8 |
| 14-09-2025 | The Handmaid’s Tale | 4 | 9 |
| 15-09-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov(Started) | - | Introduction |
| 16-09-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 2% | Introduction |
Week-3
I wasn’t very disciplined with my readings or anything else this week, even though I am really enjoying reading The Brothers Karamazov and am thinking about it a lot, but I’ve noticed that I don’t have the habit of just picking it up and reading a chapter. Opening YouTube or browsing Reddit is much more easy, even though they don’t bring as much satisfaction to my life.
| Date | Book/s | Pages/Percent Read | Chapters Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17-09-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 9% | Book-1 (Ch1-5), Book-2 (Ch1-4) |
| 18-09-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 12% | Book-2 (Ch5-7) |
| 19-09-2025 | |||
| 20-09-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 14% | Book-2 (Ch8), Book-3 (Ch1,2) |
| 21-09-2025 | |||
| 22-09-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 15% | Book-3 (Ch-3) |
| 23-09-2025 |
Week-4
Stated reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami on the 25th. I’ve read and loved three of Murakami’s novels (I also listened to this audiobook some year back but never finished it), and recently I’ve been running regularly and ran my first half marathon. This seems like a perfect time to pick it up. (Also, it’s small and easy to read, which I could really use right now.) I almost finished reading it. This week, I regained my consistency for reading, which I had fumbled last week, hoping to continue this next week also.
| Date | Book/s | Pages/Percent Read |
|---|---|---|
| 24-09-2025 | ||
| 25-09-2025 | What I Talk About When I Talk About Running(Started) | upto 27% |
| 26-09-2025 | What I Talk About When I Talk About Running | upto 42% |
| 27-09-2025 | What I Talk About When I Talk About Running | upto 48% |
| 28-09-2025 | What I Talk About When I Talk About Running | upto 54% |
| 29-09-2025 | What I Talk About When I Talk About Running | upto 67% |
| 30-09-2025 | What I Talk About When I Talk About Running | upto 91% |
Week-5
Finished reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. Continued reading The Brothers Karamazov.
| Date | Book/s | Pages/Percent Read | Chapters Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01-10-2025 | What I Talk About When I Talk About Running | Finished | |
| 02-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 15% | Book-3 (Ch-4) |
| 03-10-2025 | |||
| 04-10-2025 | |||
| 05-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 18% | Book-3 (Ch-5,6,7,8) |
| 06-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 21% | Book-3 (Ch-9,10,11) |
| 07-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 25% | Book-4 (Ch-1,2,3,4,5) |
Week-6
Continuing reading The Brothers Karamazov though not with consistency as I would have hoped. The reason for that is I suspect the way my mind works whenever I think about starting reading, I would look up the length of the chapter and number of chapters remaining in the book, I set a lofty goal and then I procrastinate.
I know what I should do is just read just a bit for lots of bits throughout the day but my mind refuses to work this way. It’s either sit down for a few hours and read or nothing. I should work on this.
Regardless, I am enjoying this book a lot and I don’t want to rush and I want to give it the time it deserves. I am taking notes (summaries of chapters) which I hadn’t needed to refer to so far (perhaps because once you write it down you also commit it to memory).
| Date | Book/s | Pages/Percent Read | Chapters Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 29% | Book-4 (Ch-6,7), Book-5 (Ch-1,2) |
| 09-10-2025 | |||
| 10-10-2025 | |||
| 11-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 33% | Book-5 (ch-3,4) |
| 12-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 36% | Book-5 (ch-5,6,7), Book-6 (Ch-1) |
| 13-10-2025 | |||
| 14-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 39% | Book-6 (Ch-2) |
Week-7
Happy with the consistency this week. I started reading The Myth of Sisyphus it’s a bit tough to read in the sense that it is a Philosophical book and If I don’t write my understanding and thoughts alongside reading it, reading it would be pointless.
| Date | Book/s | Pages/Percent Read | Chapters Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 43% | Book-6 (Ch-3), Book-7(Ch-1,2) |
| 16-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 47% | Book-7 (Ch-3,4), Book-8 (Ch-1,2) |
| 17-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 54% | Book-8 (Ch-3,4,5,6,7) |
| 18-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 55% | Book-8 (Ch-8) |
| 19-10-2025 | The Myth of Sisyphus (Started) | upto 9% | |
| 20-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 59% | Book-9 (Ch-1,2,3,4) |
| 21-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 65% | Book-9 (Ch-5,6,7,8,9), Book-10 (Ch-1,2) |
Week-8
Finished reading The Brothers Karamazov, man. I know I’ve read something great, but I just can’t put into words what specifically I like about it, If someone were to ask me would I recommend it I would say yes without a thought, but at this point I don’t know specifically why! This books is so many things:
- It’s about human nature and various aspects of said nature.
- It’s a philosophical dialogue on topics such a faith and lack of faith.
- It’s a family drama.
- It’s a murder mystery.
I had gone through so many different emotions while reading this, but when I finished it I was just blank. All I know is that I just want to read more Dostoevsky.
Also resumed reading The Handmaid’s Tale which I had started (6 weeks ago) and briefly read but decided to put on hold and read B.K. instead.
| Date | Book/s | Pages/Percent Read | Chapters Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 71% | Book-10 (Ch-3-7), Book-11 (Ch-1,2) |
| 23-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 78% | Book-11 (Ch-3-8) |
| 24-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 83% | Book-11 (Ch-9,10), Book-12 (Ch-1-3) |
| 25-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | upto 87% | Book-12 (Ch-4-8) |
| 26-10-2025 | The Brothers Karamazov | Finished | Book-12 (Ch-9-14) Epilogue (Ch-1-3) |
| 27-10-2025 | |||
| 28-10-2025 | The Handmaid’s Tale | 12 (upto page 72) | 10,11,12 |
Week-9
| Date | Book/s | Pages/Percent Read | Chapters Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29-10-2025 | |||
| 30-10-2025 | The Great Gatsby | Ch-1,2,3 | |
| 31-10-2025 | |||
| 01-11-2025 | |||
| 02-11-2025 | The Great Gatsby | Ch-4,5 | |
| 03-11-2025 | |||
| 04-11-2025 |
Week-10
| Date | Book/s | Pages/Percent Read | Chapters Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| 05-11-2025 | The Great Gatsby | Ch-6 | |
| 06-11-2025 | Watchmen | Ch-1 | |
| 07-11-2025 | |||
| 08-11-2025 | |||
| 09-11-2025 | |||
| 10-11-2025 | |||
| 11-11-2025 |
Week-11
| Date | Book/s | Pages/Percent Read | Chapters Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12-10-2025 | |||
| 13-10-2025 | |||
| 14-10-2025 | |||
| 15-10-2025 | The Great Gatsby | Finished | Ch-7,8,9 |
| 16-10-2025 | The Handmaid’s Tale | 75-90 | |
| 17-10-2025 | The Handmaid’s Tale | 90-102 | |
| 18-10-2025 |