Do you set any kind of reading goals?
Do you try to read a certain number of books a year?
Do you want to read more of a certain genre? Or just more of a variety of genres?
I am curious to hear about any kind of reading goals you may have.
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No, reading should be fun, not a task.
That’s totally fair, some folks like it, some folks don’t. As long as you are content, that’s all that matters.
Not sure if entirely appropriate for the community (or fediverse really) but last year I came close to reading each issue of the Economist cover to cover. This year, I want to do it including all the special reports plus my couple issue backlog.
Though in these turbulent times, that may get too depressing.
In our bingo challenge for example, we try to make it so it fits for any recreational reading (recreation being activities you freely choose to engage in when there are no other pressures on your time).
I’d say this counts unless it’s required for work or studies.
Good to know! And yup, absolutely recreational.
That counts in my book! I hope you do reach that goal, but I also completely understand the hesitancy 💚
Thanks!
To read books I enjoy? Why should I have reading goals? Sounds like a great way to put me off reading.
That’s totally fair! Some folks like to make goals while others don’t. As long as you are happy with what you read, that’s all that matters.
Every year, my goal is to read more than I did during the year before. Last year, I aimed for two books a month and I ended up going over so this year, I’ll shoot for 3 a month, or 36 books.
I want to read more but life makes it really hard to find time. Audiobooks are my saving grace.
I think that’s a good goal. I’m not much of an audiobook person myself, but I do like that it helps others read more so I can discuss books. Good luck!
The last couple of years I’ve been trying to read stuff in 4 languages. This year I want to read books equally spread out across those languages. I’ll probably go for 16 books, 4 from each. Finding interesting books in my target languages is also part of the challenge
That’s a really cool goal and a fun way to learn other languages. Is there a certain genre of book you like to read in other languages?
That’s part of the fun actually as different countries prefer different genres. So there’ll be much more sci-fi in English than in Spanish for example where I’ll read mostly horror and drama.
That does sound like fun. Now you have me considering trying to read some horror in Spanish, but I’m not sure my Spanish is that good yet.
If you do try it Argentina has many good books (even though their Spanish may be a bit harder).
I make my goals low enough to be slam dunks. Last year it was 6 and the year before that it was 8. The goal of the goal is to just keep going even after I hit it. What threw my 2022 goal WAYYYY off was reading Count of Monte Cristo. Took me 8 months to complete, making ‘22 a 3-book completion year.
I’ve heard Count of Monte Cristo can be kind of slow. I like that your goal is to keep going you hit your goal. As long as you’re reading something 😊
In 2024, I set a goal of 52 books and by the end it felt like a chore. In 2025, I scaled back to a goal of 25 books and ended up easily reading 52.
For 2026, I decided my goal is to go through some of the unread books in my personal collection. Specifically, I would like to get through some of the book series I’ve been carrying around for a while. Some of these are:
- Sekret Machines by Tom DeLonge and A.J. Hartley (3 books)
- The Legendborn Cycle by Tracy Deon (3 books)
- Uncharted Hearts by Constance Fay (3 books)
- Dune by Frank Herbert (I have 6 books)
- The Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu (4 books)
- The Protectorate by Megan E. O’Keefe (3 books)
- The Otherland series by Tad Williams (4 books)
Do you set any kind of reading goals?
Nope. I know in advance many of the books I will read this year, that’s about it.
To be honest, I never worried much about how much I read, I worry more about what I read. Nowadays even more than ever as I’m getting old, with serious health issue. I know (my remaining reading) time is scarce ;)
That’s totally fair. I’ve started trying to consider more of what I read this year as well. Good luck and I hope you find more time than you think to read.
Thx, I will do my best to find more. And congrats on focusing more on selecting what you read. I hope you will appreciate the change it should bring :)
Atleast one per month not counting my books for school ideally
My goal is to spend 20 bucks a month on physical books. I’ve been reading exclusively on eReaders since 2009, and I’ve become a little insecure about my shelves being filled only with plushies and comic books now that I’m in my 30s.
I don’t want to accumulate too many books, but a few just to signal to guests that yes I do in fact read might be a good idea, even if it feels a bit vain.I get it! I have a lot of books because I often shop thrift stores and library bookshops. Most of my books were between 1-3 dollars. I do place some books strategically for friends to see and hopefully get them to read more.
Don’t feel too bad about the plushies and comics. I’m in my 40s and I have lots of both.
Yeah I am a big fan of Cormac McCarthy and I haven’t read The Passenger yet so I will be.
Probably find some more dystopian fiction since that is great as well. Maybe it will be The Hunger Games
If you don’t mind romance, I thought The Mercenary Librarians series by Kit Rocha was a really good dystopian story.
In just the last 6 months, I have found an interest in books and audiobooks. My husband and I have made listening to audiobooks as a common hobby which has really been a great addition to our usual routines. Starting with Dungeon Crawler Carl series, John Scalzi books/series, and the Bobbiverse, we are steadily expanding our exposure to literature mediums. My only wish is to continue to find great authors and/or narrators so we can continue to enjoy out time together listening to old and new stories.
Have you tried Mistborn? A former coworker recommended it to me like 8 years ago and it got me to kickstart my reading addiction back in June 2023.
I have not, but will add not to my list. Thanks!
That’s a fun thing to do with your partner. John Scalzi is one of my top authors, he has a lot of good stuff. I think Kaiju Preservation Society was my favorite book of his I have read. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Dungeon Crawler Carl books and I’ll probably get to them eventually.
I recently won a copy of Project Hail Mary, so I’m hoping I can grind that out before it comes out in theatres. Other than that I’d be happy if I can find the time to start/finish The Fellowship of the Ring this summer.
Hail Mary was a short book for me. I read it over the course of a few days. Once it hooked me, I couldn’t put it down!
It’s an amazing book. You’ll sail through it.
That’s awesome! I’m jealous you get to read Project Hail Mary for the first time. That one hooked me and I tore through it in a few days. You should easily get through it before then!
The way you guys are putting it I’m feeling kind of antsy to start!
Just more. I used to read a lot. The last book I read cover to cover was Horrorstör by Hendrix. I started A Little Life and was really enjoying it but something came up and I just haven’t picked it back up. I’m also two books behind on Stormlight Archive.
Sometimes just getting back into it can be hard. I always try to read at least 10-15 minutes right before bed and that helps me keep my reading habit up even on slump days. Hope you find something good!
I know that I’m an on-and-off reader, so I put down 12. Sometimes I’ll blitz through a 1000 page book in a week, sometimes I’ll not read for months.
I’ve got a StoryGraph account and have joined some reading challenges, but I don’t think I’ll be able to stick to them. I plan to read certain books, then I see something else and go “Oooh! Shiny!!” and then the planned reads are forgotten.
I have found that I like to have two books on the go so I can switch between the two depending on my mood. I did this with two fantasy/dragon genres, and I probably shouldn’t do that again. I started mixing them up.
Ive just finished a book and about 2/3 of the way of another, so I’m looking for another to fill the gap. Just cracked Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang, but it hasn’t hooked me yet.
I use StoryGraph for mobile tracking, then I move the data into an excel file. I like it mostly to compile an image of the covers.
I also sometimes read 2 books at a time, but I try to read different genres because I get them mixed up in my head. I’ll read a scifi and a romance or a fantasy. Or I’ve also been fitting in a graphic novel or middle grade novel as the secondary read.
