Dear Bookworms,
Happy New Year! It’s an exciting time isn’t it? The start of a new year is always filled with such hope and anticipation for what the next 12 months will bring into our lives. We turn over new leaves, we make resolutions, and we set goals. For avid readers, it is likely that at least one of those goals will have to do with books. But how exactly? Setting the right kind of goal for yourself can be very motivating, but a wrong one can become overwhelming and unappealing by March.
So if you’re interested in setting a reading goal, here are a few types to help you choose what’s right for you in 2017.
- The All-Powerful Number
Probably the most common type of reading goal, The All-Powerful Number is the flat count of books that you want to read over the course of the year. This is the goal that keeps you obsessively checking your Goodreads account, constantly monitoring your number of books read and percentage achieved toward your goal. Depending on how ambitious you were, this is also the goal that may find you bingeing through picture books on December 31st.
My recommendation for this type of goal: Don’t go too high with your number. Quantity isn’t everything. Estimate how many books you normally read per month or year, then pick a number that is just a couple of books higher than your usual annual count. The point is just to keep reading, not to torture yourself.
- The Monster Book
War and Peace. Moby Dick. All the Lord of the Rings books. Some books are so massive, they are a sufficient goal unto themselves. The trouble with monster books like these is that they are a commitment. We frequently pick one up with the best of intentions and then forget about it, going on to other titles before realizing that we don’t remember what was happening and need to start it over from the beginning. Several times, I’ve ended up reading just the first couple of chapters of a book over and over again.
My recommendation for this type of goal: Pick just one and make it your priority. Reading other books is good too, but not if you forget about the big one. It’s no fun if you can’t remember what was happening or who the characters are. The point is to enjoy the book, not to torture yourself.
- The Genre Challenge
If you’ve ever thought, “I should read more ____” this might be the kind of goal for you. Maybe it’s nonfiction, or poetry, or plays. You fill in the blank. Whatever your most neglected genre is, every so often we get inspired to fill in the gaps of our personal bookshelves and tackle it. The trouble with this kind is that it’s usually a genre we avoid for a reason. Either it’s difficult to engage in, or just plain uninteresting to us.
My recommendation for this type of goal: Balance your reading list. Read one from your goal genre for every two of your favorite genre. And do your research on the ones you pick. Read summaries and get recommendations so that what you do end up reading is actually enjoyable to you. You don’t have to like everything. Nobody does. The point is to discover something new that you do like, not to torture yourself.
Keep reading!
Live, Love, Learn
Elise and The Write Teacher(s)