We’re coming up to that time of year where people post their yearly wrap-ups, along with their reading goals for the next year. While reading wrap-ups can offer insights to a reviewer’s personal taste and can be a fun way to distinguish which books made a real impact on a reader that year, reading goals have a less than desirable effect. At least for me. Hot take alert!
Before I discuss the issues I personally have with setting reading goals, it is important to note the benefits of setting one. As I am sure you have seen, many readers will set a reading goal of how many books they wish to read within a certain year. Oftentimes, this is a large amount of books, reaching 100 or even surpassing 200. This is a great motivator for any reader to prioritise reading as a hobby, and it can be incredibly rewarding to watch your ‘books read’ slowly creep up to that of your desired goal. The sense of achievement upon reaching your goal, can offer immense relief and satisfaction at the end of the year, allowing yourself to feel proud and accomplished.
If reading goals have the sole purpose of encouraging someone to read more, then how is that a problem?
The problem with numerical reading goals is based upon the intent in which they are set. Within the bookish community there is always the pressure of feeling as though you are not reading enough, and that perhaps you would be more of a ‘reader’ if you consume more books than previous years, or that of other people. Such is the comparable nature of humans. We can’t help but to compare ourselves with others, which can lead to feeling deflated and unmotivated when discovering your 30 books read pales in comparison to that of your favourite content creator on Booktube or Bookstagram. This goes against all initial intent of motivating yourself to read more. Furthermore, the ever increasing pressure to consume as many books as quickly as possible creates a competitive culture, which takes away from the joy of simply having your nose in a book, and being whisked away.
Setting an ambitious reading goal will no doubt motivate you to read more, but at what cost?
In the past I have set reading goals, and oftentimes find that it affects the books I chose to pick up and read, especially towards the end of the year. If I find myself falling behind on my reading goal, the chance of me picking up a large epic fantasy book diminishes greatly, no matter how long I’ve been dying to read it. Instead, I would opt for a shorter book, which I could perhaps not be quite as motivated to read, just to catch up to my reading goal. This has undoubtedly had a negative effect on my reading habits in the past. It is my belief that you should simply read whatever you are drawn to in that particular moment, away from any outside noise. That big book staring at you on the shelf could well be the start to your new favourite series.
Do people really care how many books you read?
Quantifying the number of books you read has always seemed fairly odd to me. I understand the sense of accomplishment one may feel upon completing a certain number of books, however it is never this feeling of completing a book that satisfies me, but rather the journey I have been on. People don’t actually care how many books you read, but rather what books you have read, especially those which have stuck with you this past year. It is not the impact of how many books you have read which holds importance, but rather the impact of the stories told. Nowadays, there are several people who will set an absurdly high reading goal and spend the year devouring stories as fast as possible. This is often evident in their reviews, which lack passion or nuance, and cover a generic spoiler-free surface-level opinion, lacking any personal response. But that’s a hot take for a different post…
The negative effects of reading more.
Every reader wants to read more. There are more books on my TBR than I could possibly ever read in my lifetime. The amount of high quality books out there is infinite and this will never cease to be the case. Upon realising this fact, my intentions have shifted from reading as many books on my TBR as possible to being very purposeful with what I chose to read at any given time. With each book, I try to purposefully give it as much attention as I can to truly digest the story, and get the most out of it as possible. In the past, when I have set reading goals I found that I read a lot more books, but this had a negative effect on my overall retention. By taking my time with a series, I allow myself to be fully immersed in a particular world, vastly increasing my enjoyment. In short, the more books I read, the more details are likely to be forgotten over time. I am not saying that I purposefully want to read less, but rather that I don’t want to purposefully read more. This takes away any unneeded pressure regarding the quantity of books I read and eliminates any desire to read a certain number of books in a given year.
For 2026 I won’t be setting a numerical reading goal. I want to focus on the books I want to read, regardless of how long they may be, how challenging the writing is, or how long it will take me to get through. Having said this, I still have intentions regarding what I wish to read in the upcoming year. So at the risk of being a massive hypocrite, here are my 2026 reading goals. LOL!
My 2026 reading Goals:
- Finish The Wheel of Time…
It’s getting ridiculous now… I first started my Wheel of Time journey back in 2017 and have since reread instalments several times without ever actually reaching the end. This year I want to focus on continuing the series without rereading any instalments. I’m determined to get there! I’m not too bothered if I don’t reach the very end in 2026, but I, at the very least, want to make noticeable progress. Keep a look out for a future post regarding my Wheel of Time Journey (so far).
- Start Sun Eater.
The Sun Eater series is everywhere at the moment, and I have yet to be fully invested in a sci-fi series. Could Sun Eater be the one? I really don’t know, but I want to find out! We’ll see how far I end up reading, but I at least want to give it a shot, by reading the first book - The Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio. The only issue is that I much prefer the US covers to the UK ones, so I may have to do some digging to find the edition I want!
- More Historical Fiction.
2026 will be the year I delve deeper into Historical Fiction. Out of all featured genres on this blog, Historical Fiction is somewhat of a weak point of mine, despite my keen interest. This year I read The Wolf Den Trilogy by Elodie Harper and absolutely loved it. I have a weird craving for an Arthurian tale, so I’m leaning towards The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell for my next Historical Fiction fix, starting with The Winter King.
- Finally finish The Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu.
When I first read Grace of Kings back in 2018 I was blown away by this Chinese history inspired Silkpulk fantasy. I quickly went on to read the sequel - Wall of Storms, which I loved even more than the first book. Back then, the third book wasn’t out yet so I eagerly awaited to continue with the series and then… Everything changed when the reading slump attacked.
My Dandelion Dynasty journey was cut short! Disaster. In 2026 I plan to rectify this and binge the series in its entirety, and I have no doubt I will love every page. Besides I have these sexy Broken Binding editions luring me in, so I’m sure this will happen!
- Read the Broken Binding Fantasy sub books.
Speaking of the Broken Binding, this year I finally got off the waitlist and onto the Fantasy sub. Therefore, every month I will receive a new special edition of a fantasy book, which is very exciting! I want to make a conscious effort to read the books as they arrive, as a quasi book club type thing. I don’t want these books to arrive, just to remain looking pretty on my shelves unread… Nope.
- Reread some old favourites.
This one is less of a priority, but still an idea I like the sound of. I had a very long break from reading whilst I was at university and then again afterwards, when I started working. Therefore, I can’t help but wonder how I would feel about certain books I fell in love with back in 2017. My memory is horrendous, so it really would be like reading them for the first time, and that’s exciting. There's always the danger of it not being as good as you remembered, and perhaps my reading tastes have changed a lot over the past decade, but there's only one way to find out!
Old favourites I’m thinking of revisiting include:
- Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor.
- Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanne Clarke.
- The Moontide Quartet by David Hair.
So there we have it. My unsolicited rant on why setting reading goals are bad followed by my own reading goals.
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