Do you believe it’s important to have reading goals? What is your number one reading goal?
I’m linking up today with That Artsy Reader Girl for Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Reading Goals Update.
Honestly, I only participate in one reading goal challenge: Goodreads Challenge. When I first started blogging, I tried to participate in several challenges but I found that the tracking was time-consuming, cumbersome, and lacked consistency. So, I retained Goodreads and let the rest go. This is not to say that I do not have reading goals. I have listed my goals in this post, most are not in the form of official challenges. Look for my January data-based update post.
It’s beneficial to revisit goals frequently. Do you have reading goals?
(In no particular order)
GoodReads Challenge
Each year I set a goodreads goal of 100. I met this goal in September, so a higher number is simply a bonus. 100 is a very doable goal for me since I’ve retired and I read like it’s my job. It may not be a reasonable goal for you for various reasons. It’s all good. I only keep this goal for my own accountability. Reading is not a competition!
More Diverse Reads and “Own Voices” Authors
This is a goal that is a permanent fixture on my list of goals from year to year. I’m always on the lookout for books that match my reading tastes and also support this goal.
More Nonfiction
Each year I try to improve my nonfiction to fiction ratio. I seem to hover around 20% but I wouldn’t mind raising it. I’m intentional about including at least one nonfiction on my seasonal TBRs (this fall there are 2). I also enjoy participating in Nonfiction November.
Balance
Because my preferred genre is historical fiction and my reading often contains heavier and more dense content and historical information, I do strive to maintain a reading balance. I enjoy reading “uplit” for enjoyment, entertainment, and escape. Very often after an especially difficult histfic read (looking at you Lady Tan’s Circle of Women and The Covenant of Water), I will purposely choose a light women’s fiction/romcom/romance/uplit for balance (looking at you Three Holidays and a Wedding and Bright Lights, Big Christmas). I wrote this post about a balanced reading life.
Tick off the Classics
I do have a loosely held goal of reading Classics. I try for one reread and one first read each year. This year I reread To Kill a Mockingbird and I finally read Passing for the first time.
Enthusiasm is Optimal
I love talking about books. I love talking about books I’m enthusiastic about. I’m a book evangelist. My goal is to find books that generate enthusiasm. I am quick to DNF if I’m not experiencing the joy. You might enjoy this post about DNFing. And these posts about popular books I DNFed here and here. Life is to short to read books that you are not enjoying. Do you DNF?
Support Women Authors
Knowing how difficult it was for women in history to publish under their own names or to publish at all, encourages me to support women authors because we haven’t always had publishing rights.
Support Debut Authors
I do enjoy supporting debut authors when I am presented with the chance and when the content reflects my reading tastes. A few debut authors I’ve especially enjoyed are Abi Daré, The Girl With the Louding Voice; Yaa Gyasi, Homegoing; Fatima Farheen Mirza, A Place For Us; and Cara Wall, Dearly Beloved.
Read Widely
Well….this is tricky because, you see, I’m also a picky reader (in that I have definite reading tastes). This does not stop me from attempting books outside of my comfort zone when the content is right. For example, I despair at the thought of missing out on (the audio format of) Project Hail Mary because I might have refused to read scifi.
Reading to Learn
Last, but not least is my continuous goal of reading to learn about different cultures, about differing abilities, about differing perspectives, about historical time periods and events, and about the difference makers.
QOTD:
Do we have reading goals in common?
What is one reading goal you have?
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I think these are all excellent goals. The older I get, the more I love the classics.
I’m slowly gathering a small list of fav classics!
Historical Fiction is my go-to as well. Here’s my TTT: https://bonniereadsandwrites.com/2023/10/03/top-ten-tuesday-reading-goals/
Fab list Carol!I also take part in the Goodreads Challenge every year and also a few other reading challenges, but that’s about it for bookish goals.
Thanks Nicki! When I first started blogging I felt like I had to participate in challenges. The logistics drove me crazy!
DNFing is so important. I’m glad you can do it so easily!
Here is my Top Ten Tuesday post.
It took some practice, but now it’s almost too easy!
I usually stick with 100 for my GR goal, too. I’m going to pretty much demolish that this year, but that’s okay, too! Balance is something I need to work on, too, since I read a lot of murder mysteries.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
Demolishing a goal is so much fun! 🤞
You have some great reading goals. I predominately read women authors so one of my goals has been to read more male authors this year. It’s hard as I am also a picky reader, LOL! And, yes, I do DNF books. I agree, life is too short to read what we are not enjoying!
Thanks Cindy! It’s hard to believe that at one time women could not publish!
That’s funny we have opposite goals! Women vs men authors! 😂
“Book evangelist” – I love it! And I love that you DNF if you’re not feeling joy from a book. Very interesting. I also like what you say about balance. I do that, too, except I use cozy mysteries more than romance or women’s fiction to provide a buffer between heavier reads. It’s always fun to compare/contrast my reading style/preferences with other bloggers’. Super interesting to see how we’re all alike and different.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Yes! I love to talk books and reflect on our unique reading lives! The idea that no two people read the same book is fascinating to me…..just as we each look to something different for escapist reads to balance our reading lives.
Check out the #ClassicsClubSpins for a fun way to tackle the classics. https://theclassicsclubblog.wordpress.com/club-events/cc-spins/
I’ve thought about it!
I love that your reading goals are specific, yet general. You do read a lot based on these goals and that is amazing Carol. I love that you are a “Book Evangelist”
My “evangelism” knows no limits! 😂
Great quesiton, Carol.
I don’t have any official reading goals, but I do belong to two (previously five) bookclubs, cohost ‘What’s On Your Bookshelf’ and I write a review on Goodreads for every book that I read. The combination of these three things helps keep my reading varied, tracks my progress and helps me to dialogue with others about what I’ve read (which is my favourite piece of all). <3
Sounds like a perfect plan! 🙌
I want to read more nonfiction too. A lot of my favorite books are nonfiction, but for some reason, I rarely reach for that genre.
It requires deliberate determination for me!
I do have lots of goals in common with you, as a general rule.
And am also done with my Goodreads goal: 126/120.
So if I keep the same pace for the last 3 months of the year, I hope I can break my record (since I have been counting, thanks to Goodreads) by one book and reach 166. Yes, I’m one of these crazies, lol