I read an unsettling, if not disturbing, article from Quartz recently. It was a data-driven, statistical take on the big/small picture of your life, how many years you have left and the amount you can physically and intellectually consume, the few meaningful relationships you can expect to still create and the number of books you may complete between now and the day you die. The numbers were shockingly and distressingly low across the board. And it made me regret the little I’ve read since I graduated from college almost 15 years ago. I realized I’d been wasting too much time, probably on social media. It inspired me to connect with more stories and the authors who created them. Now I have a book near me at all times. Whether it’s an audiobook on pause on my iPhone (currently Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson), or a book on the Kindle, or a few paperbacks on my nightstand.

Part of my new commitment to reading is to visit classics which I may have somehow missed in school. I just finished “Wuthering Heights,” which I’m embarrassed to admit, I can’t remember if I ever read. I expected to like it more than I did, but that’s what I’m here for: to learn.

I stumbled upon the following quote recently, and as an aspiring author, it is a good reminder that reading more can only help hone your craft: “Read 1,000 pages for every page you write.”

I showed up at my local library to inquire about “renting” books on my Kindle. As I was leaving I caught a silver bookmark on a bookshelf of gifts for the bookworm and it was aptly named “50 Books to Read Before You Die.” Perfect. I’m now keeping track of this list and plan to get through every one of them. I got my Goodreads account all caught up and I signed up for the 2016 reading challenge. Fifty books. I’m probably out of my mind, but I really really want to try and read a book a week. Come find me on Goodreads. And take a look at the 50. What books would make your list?