#95: On Reading Goals
49 days remain in the year. What shall we do with them?
Happy Friday friends,
The year is almost over, which has me asking myself the big questions:
Have I met my reading goal for the year?
If not, do I have enough time to meet it?
The answer to both questions is, unfortunately, no.
Normally that would stress me out, but not anymore. I have seen the light! Let’s talk about reading goals.
My Reading Goal for 2022
My reading goal in 2022 was to read 52 books authored by women.
How am I doing?
I have read/listened to 52 books, but only 36 were authored by women. I’m ok with this! I’ve read great books by women and men this year. The purpose of the goal was to read more books by women and that for sure happened.
A companion goal was to read female authored books that have been on my TBR for ages.1 I curated a list that included several of those.
And did I read what’s on the list?
I did not. Only 22 of the 52 books were from the list! I knew I’d be tempted by new releases and book club picks that weren’t on the list, but 30 feels like a significant deviation.
Why I’m not calling 2022 a failure
Gayla Gray, whose bookish newsletter I love, recently shared a Book Riot article entitled “Coming to Terms with Reading Less.” Reading that article put a few things in perspective and I’m going to beta test the following ideas for the next several months:
Ditch time-bound constraints.
There are 15 books2 totaling ~6,500 pages that I still want to read before moving on to reading fantasy. I have liberated myself from the idea that I have to rush or cram these 15 books into a certain time frame.
Abandon the annual Goodreads reading challenge.
While I love the Goodreads reading challenge, it mostly stresses me out. Reading should be enjoyable! I’d like to be savoring the books, not rushing through them. I won’t be joining the challenge in 2023.
Pursue a fun reading challenge if the fancy strikes.
Even though I’m not holding myself to any time constraint, I'll still enjoy a creative reading challenge.3 I’m excited about the list of fantasy books I’m putting together, and I'll be publishing that in a few weeks.
What do you think? Am I crazy? Leave a comment and let me know if you’ve had similar feelings about your reading.
Thanks for being here,
Kyle
TBR = To Be Read
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - 491
The Secret History - 559
The Wonder - 291
Devotion - 464
Heart Berries - 140
Rebecca - 380
Voices of Chernobyl - 240
The Poisonwood Bible - 543
Jane Eyre - 596
Gilead - 297
A River of Doubt - 353
Sharp Objects - 252
Team of Rivals - 754
Middlemarch - 754
Tiamat’s Wrath - 534
Kyle, thanks so much for the shout out. I enjoy reading your newsletter and enjoy our interactions on both newsletters.