Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly series created by Rukky at Eternity Books and hosted by Aria at Book Nook Bits. The full list of February topics can be found here
This week’s topic is Are Reading Goals Worth It?
Most readers I know set some sort of goal at the beginning of the year to guide their reading. I think there will be different responses to this depending on the person.
Let’s get started!
How are you feeling about your reading this year?
I feel pretty good about my reading goals so far. According to StoryGraph I’m ahead by 2 books. I’ve also completed 2 of the prompts for the Rory Gilmore Book Club.
Do you have a yearly reading goal?
My yearly reading goal is to read 50 books and to complete all the Rory Gilmore Book Club prompts (12 total).
Do you think that those kinds of goals help you to feel motivated to read more books, or just causes stress?
I think it’s a little of both! On the one hand they encourage me to read more which is always a good thing. At the same time, it always ends up feeling like a competition once the words “goal” and “challenge” are involved. If you know the secret to not feeling behind in your reading please share with the rest of us 😉
If you set yearly reading goals, when and why did you start setting them? Would you consider reading without aiming for a number?
I didn’t start setting them until I began using Goodreads which was around 2015. Goodreads is hyper focused on that annual total and constantly reminding users to work towards it. Alas, reading should not be synonymous with work. At this point, reading toward an annual goal is so burned into my brain that I can’t imagine not tallying my totals at the end of the year.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately I think reading goals are worth it. In choosing to participate in reading challenges, I’ve discovered many new authors and genres to love. I also like they they encourage you to get creative with the books you choose and in turn you become more intentional about what you read.
Hannah's Library 