Features | New Year, New Reading Goals

Features | New Year, New Reading Goals

• Friday, 5 January 2018

Can you believe it's this time of year again already? It feels like only a few weeks ago I was writing about suggested reading goals for 2017 and saying exactly the same thing about how fast 2016 went. Time truly is a flat circle.

Now, on to more important things. Reading goals. Love them or loathe them, most readers have them. From something as simple as 'get through my TBR' to the more specific 'read more classics' or 'read more diversely', we all have some kind of challenge in the backs of our minds to improve our reading in the new year. Personally, I'm hoping to read some of the Brontës' novels this year, keep reading as much of my TBR as I can, and reread some old favourites. Nothing too stressful or demanding. (Hopefully the rest of my year will be the same!)

As for the Goodreads reading challenge, which I became somewhat obsessed with last year, I've set myself the same goal of 52 books again this year, mostly because I surpassed it quite easily last year and my real goal is not to get quite so obsessed with it this time. Wish me luck with that...

The thing about reading goals is that they should be fun. Now matter how challenging or not-so-challenging your goal, the idea should never be to make reading a chore. Remember this year, whatever your goals, that the most important one should always be to enjoy your reading. By all means, read more diversely, try to read more books than you've ever read in one year before, try your absolute hardest to read every unread book you own, but remember that as much fun as it is to challenge yourself, reading a book you really love is usually even more fun.

So, my reading challenge for you this year is to read books you know you're going to love. Read books whose descriptions mention all your favourite things, read books by your favourite authors, re-read books you've read a hundred times before. Enjoy your reading year as much as you possibly can. And throw in one or two other challenges too, because that's probably the best way to find those books that totally surprise you with how much you love them.