Five reasons I feel good about reading fewer books this year than I usually do:

5. I’ve always wanted to learn to do something sort of artistic, like sew. Sewing didn’t really work out, but I’ve learned to knit this year and I really love it.

4. I’ve discovered the joy of audio books, which I rarely listened to before.

3. I felt a lot of pressure to keep reading everything and to blog about it…it was like I’d said, “Oh, I read 150 YAs a year” and I was holding myself to that even when I didn’t feel like reading. The pressure has lifted!

2. Without a huge pile of Must Reads, I’ve allowed myself to browse a bit. I’ve read a fair amount of adult fiction this year, which has been kind of nice. There’s some great stuff out there, and the break from teen troubles has broadened my world too!

1. I’m really enjoying what I’m reading instead of just ploughing through it like I’m on some sort of mission!