While updating my Goodreads, I saw on the side bar of all my reading challenges. What I saw was a bit disappointing. I haven’t completed a Goodreads Reading Challenge since 2018.
My 2018 Reading Goal
Before I get into some of the reasons why I haven’t completed one since then, it is important to talk about 2018. That was the year when I aimed for the moon. The goal I set for myself was a 100 books. Well, technically, it says 40 but I was aiming for a 100. And I was going to reach this goal no matter what.
One of the biggest reasons I was able to surpass it with 102 books was that I had a lot of books on my to-read list. Before then, I never picked up the Harry Potter books (I was always intimidated as a kid by the size of the final books in the series) and found multiple series that kept me busy.
In my experience, finding books to read is a big challenge. Even now, I have droughts when I can’t find a book to read. After achieving my goal of a 100 books, I aimed for 80 books. That was a big mistake. I did not have 80 books lined up to read. I was able to read 66 books which is still really good but I had failed my reading goal.
Aiming Too High
In 2020, I wanted to redeem myself and aimed for 80 books again. I only read 55 books which is still more than one book a week. My biggest issue was not finding books that I couldn’t put down. There were a bunch of unread books that year. The following year, I aimed for 50 books to read considering that I was missing my goal but surpassing 50 books every year.
That backfired and I read only 31 books. As the years went by, my droughts of reading books picked up. Either I couldn’t find a book to read or I was doing something else that was time-consuming. In 2022, I only read 31 books and missed my goal of 50 books once again.
My 2023 Reading Goal
This year, I once again aimed for 50 books. You might be wondering why I keep aiming very high. If I choose anything lower, I feel like I am cheating. Do I have 50 books lined up? Nope. But unlike previous years, I am planning much better. Whenever I finish a book, I have another one that I am eager to read. I hope that is enough to keep me reading because I do not want to fail another reading challenge.
As someone who prides himself on reading a lot of books, failing to meet my reading goal seems like a big failure. I will be reading more this year and unlike previous years, there are a lot of amazing books that I want to read. Making reading lists has helped me find new books and authors that I can’t wait to read. And hopefully, surpass nmy reading goal too!