✨️I read loads of books in 2025! Am I “well-read” now?

2025 was the first year where I read over one book a week. This was not a goal of mine but has been extremely satisfying and I’m proud of myself. For me, this is a reward of daily reading habits. In 2025 I read on pretty much every journey on public transport, including my bus rides to and from work, and every evening before bed. And these are habits I want to take with me into 2026.

In this big reading year, I noticed my reading speed – how many pages I can read in, say, an hour – increase, which is cool. I also noticed that without long stretches of time between books, I need to insert reflective periods where I can process what I’ve read. So, by taking a moment to sit with a book (one thing I consistently like to do for this is write a review), I open up the brain space to pick up my next book sooner.

And these observations and practices mean I am capable of reading (and absorbing) more books in a year than ever.

So, I’m reading more books, and yet, I still don’t feel able to call myself “well-read”. That elusive term which surely should be the goal of any reader… right?

I took to the internet to explore some ideas on the topic and see if I can write my own answer to the question: What does it even mean to be “well-read”?

Reading lots of books

There’s a reason that reading more books in a year than ever led me to question whether this means I am now “well-read”. This is a common definition, but I don’t think that’s the only thing to it.

Having a lot of knowledge from reading widely

This seems to be a common dictionary definition for being “well-read”. And it surprises me because there is no mention here of books. You can gain knowledge from reading pretty much anything: is it talking about articles, or textbooks, fiction, or non-fiction? I guess it means anything counts! And for that reason, I wanted to include it. I feel like reading (books and wider reading) has allowed me to explore many more worlds and perspectives beyond my own, and so, I guess, I do feel I have gained knowledge from all sorts of reading.

Reading critically and remembering what you read

I know the importance of reading for pleasure and so I don’t want to say everyone should read critically all of the time. However, I do spend a minute reflect on each book I read because I want to remember the stories and ideas and unpick my own thoughts about them. I would say you can absolutely just enjoy a book and forget what it was about the next day, but to be “well-read”, there seems to be this underlying theme of being able to discuss the books you read, and in order to talk about a book, you need to recall the books you’ve read and their themes.

Reading books everyone is talking about and joining in with the conversation

I like this definition! So often we think of being “well-read” as reading the classics and the literary prize winners. But when this shifts to the books people are talking about right now, that still includes the prize winners and nominees – the latest ones at least – but also expands to include the popular books; the books that catch people’s imaginations without necessarily coming under ‘literary fiction’. Suddenly, the importance is reading is to engage, and this could be reading the big books on BookTok and then jumping in with your own thoughts, or reading the new releases in the genre you enjoy and finding the people that love it too. If you can join in with the book discussions of today, you are “well-read”.

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I think I’ve found my winner! You are “well-read” in my eyes if you are engaging in book discussions and keeping up with at least some niche of the book world. But from this exploration, I also don’t feel like being “well-read” is the ultimate goal – although it is still very cool.

Reading is something I do for fun, and I don’t want to lose that. I’m not going to force myself to read through any list just to be “well-read”, whether that’s a list of the classics or all the books that blow up online in 2026. I’m going to read for me. I’m going to read the books and the genres I enjoy. And I’m going to keep going to book clubs because that’s my favourite way to engage in bookish conversations. Maybe see you there!