The Road to 100+: One Chapter at a Time

“The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
— Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

Growing up, I constantly heard the saying:

“If you want to hide something, put it in a book.”

I never knew exactly how accurate that saying was, but one thing I did know was this: if someone tried hiding something from me inside a book, there was a pretty good chance I was going to find it.

I’ve loved books for as long as I can remember. Reading has been my escape, my entertainment, my classroom, my curiosity, and sometimes my much-needed vacation without actually having to pack a suitcase.

Years ago, when I first began challenging myself to read 100 books annually, I wondered about the future of reading. I watched technology become an increasingly larger part of everyday life, especially for younger generations, and questioned whether video games, social media, smartphones, streaming services, and the internet were slowly pushing books out of the picture.

Now, years later, I’ve realized something.

Maybe technology wasn’t killing reading. Maybe it was simply changing how we read.

And, apparently, giving me approximately 47 more ways to add books to my TBR list.

From Bookshelves to Digital Libraries

My love affair with books started with physical copies. There is still something about walking into a bookstore, wandering through the aisles, picking up a book, reading the back cover, and deciding whether those first few pages are worthy of coming home with me.

That experience will probably never get old.

But the digital era has opened an entirely different literary world for me.

I’ve discovered authors and stories through digital reading platforms such as Galatea, MyNovel, LeReader, Novellair, Dreame, JoyRead, AnyStories, NovelOasis, WebNovel, NovelFlow, FatedNovel, NovelBar, GoodNovel, and many others.

And I LOVE IT.

These platforms have introduced me to independent authors, international writers, serialized fiction, emerging voices, unconventional stories, and genres I may never have discovered while browsing a traditional bookstore.

My reading world didn’t become smaller because of technology.

It exploded.

Suddenly, there wasn’t just a bookstore shelf.

There was an entire digital universe of stories sitting inside my phone.

And let’s not even discuss what this has done to my TBR list.

At this point, my TBR list is less of a “list” and more of a long-term commitment.

Then Audiobooks Entered the Chat…

Just when I thought I had perfected my reading obsession, I discovered another love:

Dramatized audiobook adaptations.

Oh, this was dangerous.

A traditional audiobook was already convenient. But give me multiple narrators, sound effects, music, dramatic performances, and characters practically coming alive in my headphones?

Now we have a situation.

Audiobooks have completely changed the way I think about reading time because they allow stories to follow me into parts of my day when physically sitting down with a book isn’t possible.

Driving?

Audiobook.

Cleaning?

Audiobook.

Working on something around the house?

Audiobook.

Running errands?

You guessed it.

Audiobook.

And yes, there are absolutely days when I am reading a physical book, have another digital novel going on my phone or tablet, and have an audiobook in rotation.

Three completely different stories.

At the same time.

Do I occasionally need a moment to remember which fictional family is currently fighting, falling in love, hiding a secret inheritance, plotting revenge, or discovering that somebody’s supposedly dead relative isn’t actually dead?

Absolutely.

But that’s part of the fun.

So…When Exactly Do I Find Time to Read?

That is an excellent question.

I would also like the answer.

I’m a mom of four and a dog mom. I mentor youth. I coach cheerleading. I operate a book blog. I manage multiple businesses. I write. And I still work a full-time job from home.

Somewhere inside all of that, I continue finding time to read.

Needless to say, I don’t really know what “downtime” is.

At this point, multitasking isn’t a productivity technique. It’s basically a personality trait.

But reading remains one of the things I intentionally make room for because it gives something back to me.

Books allow me to disappear into another world for a little while. They introduce me to perspectives I haven’t considered. They challenge me. They entertain me. They inspire my own writing. Sometimes they frustrate me enough that I want to have a serious conversation with a fictional character about their questionable life choices.

And sometimes they’re simply fun.

That matters too.

Maybe We Need to Rethink What “Reading” Looks Like

Looking back at my original thoughts about young people and technology, my perspective has changed.

I still believe we should challenge young people to read. Parents, educators, mentors, coaches, and communities can play an enormous role in helping children discover books they genuinely enjoy.

But perhaps the conversation shouldn’t only be:

“Are kids reading books?”

Maybe we should also ask:

“Are we helping them discover stories in formats that actually interest them?”

A teenager reading a serialized novel on a phone is still reading.

A child listening to an audiobook while following along with the printed book is engaging with literature.

A young person discovering an independent author online may be developing the same lifelong relationship with storytelling that previous generations developed inside libraries.

Print books aren’t going anywhere.

Neither are ebooks.

Neither are audiobooks.

And I don’t think they have to compete.

They can coexist.

If anything, today’s technology has given readers more opportunities to find the stories, authors, characters, and genres that make them say those magical words:

“Just one more chapter.”

Which, as every experienced reader knows, is one of the biggest lies we tell ourselves.

The 100+ Book Challenge Continues

So here I am, continuing the challenge I started years ago, only now I’m calling it:

The Road to 100+: One Chapter at a Time

The goal is simple:

Read at least 100 books every year.

Physical books count.

Ebooks count.

Digital novels count.

Audiobooks count.

Serialized fiction counts.

If I’m consuming the story, meeting the characters, experiencing the author’s world, and making it to THE END, I’m counting it.

Throughout the year, I’ll share updates on my progress, the books I’ve completed, new authors I’ve discovered, stories that surprised me, books I loved, books that made me yell at fictional people, and probably a few that made me question why I stayed awake until 2:00 a.m. finishing them when I knew perfectly well I had responsibilities the next morning.

I’ll also continue sharing reviews and recommendations here on Trulee V’s Spot, because discovering a great book is wonderful, but telling another reader about it?

That’s half the fun.

The TBR List vs. The READ List

Every reader knows this battle.

You finish one book.

READ LIST: +1

Then someone recommends another book.

You see an interesting cover online.

An author announces a new release.

A digital platform recommends something based on your reading history.

You walk past a bookstore.

You open Goodreads “just to look.”

Suddenly…

TBR LIST: +17

So yes, I’m celebrating every book that moves onto my READ list while simultaneously continuing to add books to my TBR list.

Is this counterproductive?

Probably.

Am I going to stop?

Absolutely not.

Because I’ve learned that reading doesn’t have to look the way it did when I was growing up.

Sometimes it’s a hardcover sitting beside my coffee.

Sometimes it’s an ebook glowing from my screen at midnight.

Sometimes it’s a serialized story I’m impatiently waiting to update.

Sometimes it’s an audiobook playing through my headphones while I’m handling everything else life has decided to throw onto today’s schedule.

The format may change.

The love of stories doesn’t.

So here’s to another year of discovering authors, exploring new worlds, supporting storytellers, reading across formats, adding entirely too many books to my TBR list, and somehow managing to keep everything else moving at the same time.

And if anyone is still trying to hide something by putting it in a book…

You might want to find a new hiding place.

I’m probably going to read it.