So today I’m trying something new in more ways than one. I’m participating in a very late discussion post, and writing a blog post on my phone.

Some background information

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme that was originally created and hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books starting in August 2019, and was then cohosted with Dani @ Literary Lion from May 2020 to March 2022. Aria @ Book Nook Bits has been the host since the beginning of April 2022.

Prompts: We’re two months into 2023 – how are you feeling about your reading this year? Do you have a yearly reading goal? Do you think that those kinds of goals help you to feel motivated to read more books, or just causes stress? If you set yearly reading goals, when and why did you start setting them? Would you consider reading without aiming for a number? If you don’t set reading goals, why not?

First of all…

So I came across bookish blog memes a couple of years ago and discovered that they’re a really amazing way to interact with other bloggers. They’re also awesome for finding writing prompts. So let’s see how this one goes, I know I’m technically a few days late but I wanted to participate in any case.

We’re two months into 2023 – how are you feeling about your reading this year?

I’m actually feeling quite confident about my reading this year and I feel quite satisfied with my reading choices as well. Last year I started working full time for the first time in what feels like millennia. It was a bit of an adjustment in all areas of life, but I knew from the getgo that I would have a lot less time and energy for reading.

I wasn’t wrong. In 2022 I set my reading goal at one book a week or 52 books for the year. I had a very slow start but eventually I managed to up the goal to 75 and I ended up reading 75 books in total. I know that’s a lot of books in the grand scheme of things, but my personal record was reading 278 books in 2020.

So for 2023 I have decided on a reading goal of 72. A bit lower than what I read last year but I didn’t want to push my luck. I already had a bit of a moment this week where I was falling 3 books behind and wanted to lower my goal a bit. I’ll see how the first few months of the year go and adjust if necessary, but I did manage to catch up and I believe I’m only one book behind on my goal at the moment.

Do you have a yearly reading goal?

Yes, as I mentioned above I have been setting a yearly Goodreads Challenge goal since 2016. That was the first year I really started to use Goodreads around December and then in 2017 I used the Goodreads app for the entire year and I haven’t looked back since.

I quite enjoy participating in the challenge every year and I find it extremely motivating to collect all the badges. I also like how it simply shows you your goal, a nice collage of the book covers, and whether you are on or off track in terms of meeting your goal.

I also like that the goal is editable so you can make your goal lower or higher depending on what happens throughout the year. It would be extremely annoying if you could only set the goal once but then have a 6 month reading slump.

Do you think that those kinds of goals help you to feel motivated to read more books, or just causes stress?

It’s a bit of both, probably for me and everyone else. But I have learned a lot about myself through setting these goals. I have learned how much I can accomplish when I put my mind to something. I read so many books during 2020. It was my first year on Booktube and participating in readathons. It was a great distraction from other things that happened that year and I am grateful for the motivation the reading goal instigated.

At times it can also be a little bit stressful, but those were the moments where I really learned how to develop self-compassion and -kindness. At first I didn’t handle it too well and would try read some shorter books that I wasn’t particularly interested in, just to be able to add to my goal.

But eventually I reached a point where if I saw myself falling slowly behind on my reading goal I took the time to reflect about why. I investigated what else was occupying my reading time and my mental space.

Was it social media? Sometimes, yes, and that became a wakeup call to reevaluate my routines and priorities. I remember the times when I read the most I would make an effort to read every morning and every night for at least half an hour.

At other times it was studying or work or other priorities that were taking my time and energy. Sometimes even when I tried to read I was so exhausted I couldn’t retain anything at all. So those moments I forgave myself for and surfed the wave until reading wasn’t feeling like a chore anymore.

Sometimes stress can be an excellent motivator to get you back on track, but it’s important to think critically and holistically. I was able to have really high reading goals while I was still a student. But now that things are a bit higher-stakes I had to readjust accordingly and focus on keeping up with my marking, work, and savings goals first and foremost.

Why did you start setting a yearly reading goal?

I actually can’t really remember how I came across the Goodreads app back in 2016, but it probably had to do with Fangirl. I had had a very long reading slump in my last year of highschool and the two years just after I graduated. The first book that really captured my interest and helped me beat the reading slump was Fangirl. I was a major fangirl back in the day and I ended up reading more Fanfiction than books.

It was also during that time that I was still describing myself as a “reader” but I realised I wasn’t actually doing much of the reading part. I felt a bit of societal pressure to read differently now that I was older and it kept me from reading much of anything at all. I also had a lot more drama in my social life which was quite entertaining and time consuming. Eventually I was drawn back to the written word and realised it was a lot better use of my time than getting drawn into other people’s repetitive repertoire of social games.

It was extremely comforting finding the online book world. I started writing and blogging around the same time and I suppose that’s probably how I found Goodreads too. The goal was an unintended bonus of my digital explorations. I realised along the way how much of an anchor reading was for me. My real world went through so much change, but I always managed to find comfort in the consistency of books.

In a strange way I feel the same way about Goodreads. Amongst other apps having constant updates and drastic changes, I find a lot of comfort in how consistent Goodreads has remained over the years, another anchor. My reading goal has become one too – the number I return to when it feels like life has gotten away from me.

Would you consider reading without aiming for a number?

Probably not. At least not at this stage of my life. Like I’ve said, I find the number extremely comforting and grounding. I am not the best when it comes to time perception and having the number there as a focus helps me be more aware of time in general. Without the goal to check in on, I could let months pass without remembering whether I’ve read or not.

In fact, this year I have taken it one step further and I am tracking my daily pages read through my spreadsheet that I created. It’s been extremely motivational to see my daily reading tracker graph show me how my reading fluctuates. If has also made me want to read more consistently again.

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To sum up…

I love setting a reading goal, but I also don’t think it should be something that takes over your life or demotivated you. Having a reading goal is a personal decision and the number is only a guideline. Not all goals are equal. They can be general or more specific. Perhaps you only count novels to your goal, or perhaps you have multiple goals to real books in different languages or across age ranges. Goals are great for sparking reflection and introspection.

They are also a great way to look back on one’s life. I can take a glance at how much I read in a year and know exactly which parts of my life made it possible. I also know when I prioritised quality over quantity and vice versa and how each made me feel.

If you have never set a reading goal before, I encourage you to try it out and see if it works for you. You might be surprised what you learn about yourself along the way.

Keep thinking, Inklings!

xoxo

Bianca

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