Do you do the reading challenge on Goodreads? I confess I love picking the number of books I want to read for the coming year and then trying to reach that goal.
Of course, I’ve been keeping spreadsheets for years that include “books read” column which I tally up at the end of the year.
I went back to see if the numbers for the past few years of Goodreads challenge compare to the years of tracking it on my own.
In 2006, the first year I tracked my reading, I read 59 books. I had a middle schooler and two high schoolers, all involved in sports. I stayed in that range of 55-65 for a few years.
In 2011, I jumped into the 80s, which is interesting because it’s the year my first book was published, and I was writing others! But also, two of my three children were at college.
2020 was my first year of over 100 books read. In fact, the number was 103. Not surprising, really. Not only was COVID happening, but we had other stressful things going on in our life.
Since then, I’ve stayed in the 90-105 range each year—until this year. This year, I’ve read a whopping 113 books—and we still have a couple of weeks to go!
I enjoy tracking my reading independently, but I love doing it through the Goodreads reading challenge. Goodreads tells me at the end of the year not only how many books I’ve read but how many pages! I would never be able to track that on my own. Or rather, I could, but it would be tedious and time-consuming! It also will tell me the shortest and longest books I read and a few other interesting stats.
If you are curious about what I’m reading, I share each month’s reads on Instagram and Facebook and do a mini-review blog post on my website about them at the end of the month. Or just be my friend on Goodreads are see my list as it grows!
So here’s my question for you: do you set a reading goal for yourself each year? How many books are you reading if you keep track?
I love to know what other readings are doing, so chime in!
Merry Christmas and happy reading!
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I started tracking my books in 2004 when I became a member of a book club. I have a running Word document. I joined Goodreads in 2014 when my daughter told me about it. That was also the year I retired from teaching and was able to read more. I think I started at around 50 books. I range between 55 and 75. This year my goal was 62, and I’m already at 68, so I think I’ll reach 70. I can’t see myself going much higher, but I’m happy with where I am and love seeing the progress on Goodreads. My daughter is already over 110, a much faster reader than me.
Merry Christmas!
Isn’t it fun to track over so many years? Congrats on surpassing your goal for the year! I love that you have established a number of books each year that works for you. Happy reading and Merry Christmas!
I read 70! This is a lot for me as I am a slow reader! And I do love thinking about how many and then I like looking back at the titles I have read! So fun!
Yes, it is! 70 is still a lot of books. More than probably most people, so congrats! Happy reading and Merry Christmas!
I’ve used GoodReads for a number of years now. It appears 2014 was the first year I set a goal on it. I used to set my goal higher, but the last couple of years I’ve set it to 52 figuring one book a week was realistic for me. I’m usually over that number, but I find this way that I’m less stressed about meeting my goal and reading remains fun. Surprisingly, 2019 was my highest year with 89 books. I’ve not come close to hitting that since. This year I’m at 66, but there’s a few books I’ve beta read that aren’t yet counted in that number so it’s a few higher, so probably 70. I tried finding you on GoodReads, but wasn’t able to. I’m Joy Tiff on there if you want to find me instead. LOL
Ah ha! I was able to find you after all.
Yay! I was going to go find you. 🙂
I love that 70 seems to be the average for those who have replied. It’s a great number of books per year. And so encouraging to authors that there are people reading!
Happy reading and Merry Christmas!
I’m part of two challenge groups, Eating Our Words and The Posse, both on FB. The challenges are to read a book each month with an occupation in the title, or a book written by someone whose name starts with the same letter as yours, etc., so if I get through those 24, anything else is a bonus!It’s been a bit of a rough year. Maybe over the holidays I can push back into my regular 40-count range.
Those kinds of challenges sound so fun! I’m glad you have been part of them. Kudos to you for 40ish books a year! Happy reading and Merry Christmas!
I keep a spreadsheet of all the books I’ve read going back to 2011, but joined Goodreads a couple of years ago, too. Thus far, I’ve read 127 books this year. Funny that my TBR stack only continues to grow instead of shrinking. Weird, right? 😉
Wow!! You are amazing! And, yes, no matter how many books we read that TBR pile keeps growing! I recently realized that even if I only read on my physical book TBR pile this year I still wouldn’t eliminate it. Sigh.
Happy reading and Merry Christmas!
I started goodreads in 2016, and usually set my goal at 100 books but I have consistently read more. Until now my biggest year was 2020 when I read 160, but this year I have read 180 so far. I started keeping my own spreadsheet in 2022 with a lot more information than what goodreads will tell me and it’s fun to have those stats. This year has been very stressful, as my mom and grandma both passed away and I have had to deal with some health issues. Reading has always been something I do for stress relief so it makes sense that it’s my biggest year yet.
I get that. I read for stress relief, too. But wow–you are a superstar reader at 180! You get a gold star! ⭐️
Happy reading and Merry Christmas!
I’ve been doing the Goodreads Reading Challenge since 2013. I don’t set super high goals. My lowest number of books read in a year was 36 in 2013. My largest number of books read was 137 in 2022. I’ve read 87 this year and will probably finish another two or three before the year ends. My pleasure reading time is limited, and audiobooks definitely help me read more than I would otherwise. Without Goodreads, I often forgot which books I’d read or what I thought about them. Liked or didn’t like was as good as I could manage. Now my rating and reviews are easy to find.
Yes, when we read so many, it’s good to have a record and remember what you thought of them at the time! I think you manage quite of bit of pleasure reading in your limited time!
Happy reading and Merry Christmas!
I think I joined Goodreads in 2012 and have set a goal every year since then. Most years I hit my goal, but a few times I have come just short. I set the goal of 75 this year and I hit it last week. I will probably reach at least 80. I’m really proud of this considering I have a 3 year-old who is a mommy’s girl. But she loves to look at books to so I have a feeling one day we will be competing to see who can read the most!
Won’t that be fun? My kids aren’t readers, which makes me sad, although my daughter has been reading more in the past few years, which makes me happy! (She’s in her 30s.) Over 75 books with a 3 year old is quite an accomplishment!
Happy reading and Merry Christmas!
I do set a reading goal for myself each year, yes. Like you, I love tracking it on Goodreads!
Sometimes my reading total for the year is a reminder of the time I’ve spent reading instead of writing. 😉
Merry Christmas!
I have been doing the Goodreads challenge for the last several years, since 2019. This year my goal was 80 books, and I have read 100. I too enjoy doing the challenge.
Merry Christmas!
My goal was to read 80 books this year and I have read 94. I enjoy setting a goal, some years I hit it and some years I have not been able to reach it, either way it is fun to keep track.