You've seen them on social media, in Facebook groups or #bookstagram, with their piles of books, proudly posting, "My top 10 reads of the month", or "Made it to my goal of 100 books this year - and it's only August!"
It is at about that time that my eyebrows bunch up in that way that's already giving me wrinkles before I'm 40. (I call them my teacher wrinkles - they form where my eyebrows come together in a state of constant perplexion.)
And then I remind myself of three truths:
1. Most people who read that much either are retired or do not have full time (heck, more than full time!) jobs, or other time-draining hobbies or commitments.
2. Other people are probably impressed by my forty or fifty books a year (or even twenty...).
3. It isn't a friggin' race, it isn't a competition, and it doesn't matter in the slightest.
I make a reading goal every year. It's actually become one of my favourite "new year" activities: setting my yearly reading goals. I pick a number and one or two other goals.
This year, the number was forty (after falling shy of my more typical fifty last year). I largely keep track of it via Goodreads, but also in my journal.
In 2018 I had a lot of reading goals; it was a big focus for me, especially in the online realm of reading goals. Some of them I completed, and some I didn't. I had goals for reading books from my TBR, for reading books related to obscure words, for slowing down with books (and pairing those read with tea), for reading all of my books from a particular shelf, for writing reviews about the books I read, and my annual book count goal.
If you're interested, my overview (and links to each of my challenges) can be found here.
It was a lot of fun, but it was probably too much.
So, this year I kept it more simple. My book count goal (which I took down to forty after not making my fifty goal for the first time in a while, the year before). And two smaller, simpler ones: A "classics" goal, and a "sci fi/dystopian" goal.
As you can see, I'm currently not doing fabulously with either.
But you know what? That's okay.
Let's say that again.
That. Is. Okay.
Because like I said, it isn't a competition.
I like reading goals. Ah hell, I love reading goals. I like competing with myself to reach those goals.
(Plus, it's probably the only New Year's Resolution I work to keep all year long... ahem...)
But I know that others feel stress with these goals. They feel like, if they fall short of their objective number, or don't cross off all the authors from their list, or whatever, then they fail at reading.
Um, what?
How do you fail at reading?
Some goals encourage you to read different authors, or cultures, or genres, or from different time periods. Even if you don't finish them all, you got to experience so many awesome new authors and works! Pieces you'd never have picked up otherwise!
I like TBR (To Be Read) challenges, since I have (literally) hundreds of TBR books on my bookshelf... okay, maybe I have an entire bookcase of TBR books. But if I don't finish them all in one year, that's okay. They will be there next year. And if I do? Well, I collect books (mostly from gifts or lent ones) faster than I can read them, so there will be more waiting for me!
And if it is, oh, I don't know, September, and I'm only at 22 books of my goal of 40 (just as a hypothetical situation, mind you...)
That's okay, too. Maybe it will inspire me to spend a few "happy reading days" catching up on those numbers. And if I make it, awesome! And if not, well, that's okay too. Less awesome, but still okay.
So if reading challenges and goals stress you out, why do them? Reading is fun. Enough of life is a stressor. Books? Nah. Books are a haven, a window, an escape, a mirror, a million other things. They don't need to be a source of anxiety, just because you didn't read a certain number in a certain time frame by a certain author from a certain place.
But if, like me, you like the challenge, but don't agonize over whether or not you reach those goals, then don't worry. Just set your challenges when you're all doe-eyed looking forward to the new year (or whatever), and then let life happen as it will, and try to reach those challenges, accepting when you don't, but celebrating when you do, and enjoy every little new piece you're exposed to on the way.
Now excuse me while I go read a lot of shorter, quick reads... for totally unrelated reasons, I'm sure.
Do you set reading goals and work on reading challenges every year? Which ones do you love? Which ones, not so much? Or do you avoid them?
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