Happy New Year!
Over the years, the way people read has changed, especially when the Internet came. Reading books is even more memorable and exciting when reading websites and apps appear. One of them is Goodreads, a social cataloging website. Millions of readers worldwide use Goodreads to record their books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. One of its features is the reading goals: every New Year when the clock strikes midnight on January 1st (Pacific Standard Time), you can set the number of books you want to read for the year.
My Reading Journey
I started reading books seriously in 2020 but it wasn't until 2021 that I began setting reading goals on Goodreads. In 2024, I am grateful that I reached my goal of 50 books; in fact, I read more than 50 books. What I like about setting goals in Goodreads is that I can adjust the number of books I want to read that year without pressure and judgment. I changed my 2024 reading goals several times within the year, from 50 to 30, then 40, until I reverted it to the original number, 50. For the past 4 years, I’ve been hitting 40-60 books per year and if you told me about this before 2021, I wouldn’t believe you.
I have loved reading books ever since I was a child and reading is like connecting with my inner child. I am so glad that I found my way to reading books voraciously again. But, reading 50 books and more can be challenging especially when the year ends in a few weeks, and the fear of not hitting my goal is bothersome. That's why, I am changing my strategy this year.
My 2025 Reading Goals and Strategies
This year, I will slow down in reading books to enjoy the stories or the ideas more, have more time to gather my thoughts, reflect more on the lessons I learned, and curate my book reviews.
Instead of 50 books, I aim for at least 25 books so as not to get pressured into hitting my reading goals by the end of the year. This is a great relief for me. However, I will still try to reach 50 books if I can.
One of the things that I'd also like to do is to get to know the author of the book I am reading. In this way, I can garner more insights about the topic or the story by knowing the author’s background, motivations, and any other interesting details. I think this will make my reading experiences more memorable and fun.
Why These Goals Matter
Reading is an important part of life because it connects me to my past and guides me to the future.
I grew up knowing that my grandmother had two big shelves of books in her living room. My siblings and I would grab any books even though we didn’t know how to read. We sometimes brought them home, just looked at the pictures, and even drew on the pages, something I feel guilty about now as I look back on it. I also started loving stories at the time. My uncles and cousins who were active church teachers would read Bible stories to us such as Jonah and the Whale, Noah’s Ark, and Daniel in the Lion’s Den. Books and stories are close to my heart. When I read, I am connected to my inner child who enjoys literary activities.
After I graduated from the university, got a job, and started a family, life became so hectic. Reading books was pushed down to the bottom of the list of things to do. Then, the pandemic happened in 2019 when my anxiety levels went through the roof and I needed something that would help me divert my attention from the things I couldn’t control. This was the reason why I went back to reading and dabbled in writing book reviews even though I was shrouded by doubts about how I could do it. Well, everything can be learned, can’t it? And I am not aiming for becoming an influencer–just a book lover and and risk taker. I learn a lot of things from books and I wanted to share my thoughts, hence, this blog. I also permitted myself to write badly and just be myself. In a natural progression of things, you get better when you keep doing one thing, and I could say, I write better now than before, and this is something that I am grateful for. There’s personal growth after four years of reading books and writing book reviews.
Setting my reading goals every year helps me reach my other goals which are staying connected to my inner child, gaining knowledge on how to manage my thoughts and myself to combat anxiety, and improving my reading and writing skills.
Staying Accountable and Realistic
Okay, now that I have set my goals, what would happen next? My response to this question is more of what I feel. I am a bit scared and doubtful.
My life is not all about reading books, sharing on social media about my reading experiences, and writing reviews, I also have my responsibilities at home and work. But I am thankful to my 2020 self because she started the habit of reading that I couldn’t easily shake off. My day feels incomplete and uncomfortable if I don’t read for at least 30 minutes. It’s a balancing act that needs a lot of practice, which I have been doing since 2020, so I believe I could push through the challenges and reach my goals.
This year, I will use two book cataloging apps, Goodreads and The StoryGraph. I am excited to try new things to enrich my reading life.
For me, reading is fun, cathartic, and life-saving. I learned a lot of lessons from fiction and nonfiction books that offer different perspectives on life that could guide me to know myself more and teach me how to live a better life. This is one of the benefits of having a reading life and this can be sustained by setting goals every year. It can be challenging for me to reach these goals but, remembering the other reasons why I am doing this, I can make this happen.