Do reading challenges take the joy out of reading?
My thoughts on book-based goals.
It’s almost the end of 2024, and all over my Threads feed, people are publishing their reading challenge results and setting new goals.
And as for me, I’m in two minds about setting goals for the new year.
This year, I set (and surpassed) my goal of reading 52 books in one year. For some, this might seem like a rather lofty goal but to others, who manage to read over one hundred books in a year, it might seem a little unambitious.
Nevertheless, I didn’t find the challenge as enjoyable as I initially imagined. To start with, I was late to the party and I only began logging books this summer.
GoodReads has never appealed to me, partly because I don’t always have time to write intelligent reviews on the spot. So when I learnt about Fable and StoryGraph, I thought I’d try them out.
Signing up to both apps halfway through the year, then setting a 2024 reading challenge was a mistake on my part. It was surprisingly difficult to remember everything I had read, so I had to go back through my library borrow-list and rely on what I’d read on the Kindle for answers.
Then came the question, what actually counts? Since the read alouds I share with my daughter are all chapter books, I decided it was fair to include them, but what about any picture books that I shared with students? In the end, I decided to add them to my ‘read’ list since they did feature on the apps but by no means have all been included.
So has my challenge sucked the joy out of reading?
In short, it did - albeit briefly. That was when I decided to stop logging in to StoryGraph and Fable for a few months. I’ve only just recently starting adding books again during the lull between Christmas and New Years.
Setting a reading goal had a strange effect on me. I started race - reading and slugging through books that I would normally DNF. I understand why many book bloggers lament the fact that DNF books don’t count towards goals. It was pretty frustrating to DNF a book three-quarters of the way through and find it didn’t count.
Then came the comparison to others who would announce they had finished their reading goal months before December. Some reading over one hundred books which led me to question whether I could really call myself a reader.
However, now that the year is over, I have to admit that I have set a reading goal for 2025. It’s a fairly simple one this time: to read 25 books in 2025. I’ve also set the additional challenge of reading books I’ve purchased but haven’t started yet. This should keep me busy for a while because my Kindle is packed full of books that I have bought but forgotten. There’s something about buying books on my Kindle that makes me feel like I’m not spending real money.
Have I spent more money on books?
Speaking of money, have I spent more on books? Yes, I absolutely have. But it isn’t all because of the challenge - there is another factor at play here: I moved back to the UK at the end of 2023. Prior to that, I lived in Vienna, Austria and Canberra, Australia - in those 9 years away, I spent less on books due to the higher costs.
After years of relying on my Kindle, I’m enthusiastically adding to my physical library. In my defence, books are my only real luxury. I also regularly borrow books from my local library which has allowed me to try a wider range of books.
Whilst I do love aesthetic hardback books, which are usually more expensive, the challenge has little to do with my decision to buy them. Most covers available on the apps are not the covers I own.
Fable does have a social media function, with users sharing gorgeous book stacks but it isn’t something I’ve explored yet. Most week, I struggle to keep up on Substack!
Has the challenge changed my reading habits?
I’m more aware of when I’m reading but the challenge hasn’t really changed my habits. As a mother of three and private tutor, reading features heavily in my day-to-day. Even if I don’t read my own books, I’m always committed to a chapter at bedtime or a short picture book.
When I stopped taking the challenge so seriously and ditched attempting to add accurate dates, the act of logging books became much more enjoyable.
It’s interesting to have a log of everything I’ve read. I can see trends here and there - most recently, I’ve gone down a rabbit hole of biographies and autobiographies of famous children’s authors.
I’ll be sharing my December ‘read’ list in the next few days.
Have you set a reading goal for 2025?
I’d love to know if you set yourself a reading goal. Let me know by participating in the poll or commenting below: