I may be reading 50 books this year.
Ever since I discovered reading challenges and Booktube a few years ago, I’ve wanted to have a 50 book year. It’s a very common goal online, and for avid readers it’s pretty attainable. I’m not necessarily an avid reader, but I’ve managed 24 books a year two years in a row, so it’s not an insane idea.
However I’ve recently realized that setting goals and sticking with them is only helpful so long as the goals are aligned with your interests. I’ve had a number of occasions where I stuck with a goal for far too long (usually to completion) without acknowledging that I didn’t actually want it anymore. I think I want to read 50 books this year, but more than that I want to read as much as I can while still enjoying it. I don’t want to start reading “cheat books” just to get my numbers up, and I don’t want to push myself to finish something terrible just to say I did.
So I’m setting my Goodreads challenge at 30 books, and I’m planning to read three and a half books in January. Assuming I participate in BookTubeAThon and #ReadingBingo again this year, three and a half books a month will get me to 50 and then some. So if January feels good, I’ll up the Goodreads goal a bit. If I still feel this way in a few months, it will go to 50 books.
Part of what I like about reading challenges is the way it gets you to switch up what you might normally reach for, so I decided I wanted to have a challenge list for this year as well. But in the spirit of setting goals that are aligned with my interests, I wrote my own list. It is purposely not 50 items long, and I’ll probably double up on some anyway. This way I never have to refuse a book I want to read just because it’s not on the list. If you’re looking for a challenge I’d love for you to try mine. Or better yet, write your own.
Katrina’s 2018 Reading Challenge
- Read a book you’ve already read
- Read a political or religious book you think you may disagree with
- Listen to an audiobook
- Read a book that’s over 500 pages
- Read a book your audience or friend group won’t be interested in
- Read something by Stephen King
- Quit a book before you’ve finished (or at least skim the rest)
- Read a book you were given as a gift (and didn’t specifically ask for)
- Read a book about (or with heavy themes on) race
- Read a book about (or with heavy themes on) mental illness
- Check out and read a library book
- Read a non-fiction book about your career/hobby (or a career/hobby you are hoping to get into someday)
- Get rid of a book immediately after reading it
- Read a book you “should” read
- Read a book you “shouldn’t” waste your time on
- Read a book immediately after acquiring it or hearing about it (before it even makes it to the shelf or TBR)
- Read a book you think might make you a better person
- Read the second biggest book on your shelf (or TBR)
- Read The Princess Bride (yes, literally that specific book)
- Read a book you’ve been “really meaning to read” for way too long
- Read a book of short stories
- Read a book with a cover that bothers you
- Get rid of a book without reading it
- Get at least 2 books behind or ahead of schedule at some point in the year
- Decide not to do one of the challenges on this list
Good luck and happy reading!
This is an amazing list and I am totally doing it.
Then it is already a complete success.
I started keeping track of every book I read (excepting textbooks in law and theology) in 1967 and have maintained those records every since. That adds up to 1407 books in fifty years or 28 books per year. The high was 91 in 1989. The low was zero in 2001. I read 30 books in 2017. You are a nerd and I am, too. That is why we even think about things like this.