Bookish Ramblings: The Pressure of Reading Challenges

Raise your hand if you’ve set yourself a reading goal/challenge this year. Is the deadline approaching and you’re not sure if you’re going to achieve it, have you abandoned it or have you achieved it already?

Why I no longer set challenges with deadlines

In short, I closed down my previous Goodreads account because of that bloody reading goal. I usually read between 50 and 70 books a year so I was happily achieving my goal each year, life was good. Last year, I set myself a reading goal of 75 books, my highest ever goal set – I did not achieve it. Now while I got over it, reading slumps happen, life happens, what I couldn’t get over was every time I opened GR’s, it looked me dead in my eye, taunting me “2 books behind schedule….10 books behind schedule….” And the number continued to grow, so in a fit of rage I deleted GR’s and started keeping a written journal of books read instead.

I know what you’re thinking, why not just delete the reading goal instead of the whole account? My friends, that is a good question, one that I have no good answer for except, I was not thinking rationally. I felt under pressure to read quickly as I hate failing (at school, if you were on my team for sports, it was not just a P.E lesson, we were there to WIN!).

I now have a manageable goal in my head of 1 book a week and that’s doable, I don’t feel pressured to read and reading is fun again. So much so I am currently reading my 76^th book of the year (so FU last year’s reading challenge!). I am now back in my rational place and a few months ago, opened a new GR’s account.

Reading Challenges – Keeping it Fun

A challenge without a deadline is my definition of a fun reading challenge.

Presenting my new reading challenge: Amazon UK’s 100 Crime Books and Thrillers to read in a Lifetime. To see the full list of books included and take the quiz to see how many you’ve read click here.

What makes this fun – there is no deadline! Or if you want to be a dick pedantic about it, there is a deadline and that’s before I die! But should I die before completing this challenge, am I really going to be able to care?

I chose this particular challenge as I love crime books and this challenge helps me read more widely within the genre, discover new books and re-read some of my favourites.

Since starting this challenge just over a month ago, I have read 7 out of the 100 books and I’m okay with that, I have a lifetime to get to 100. When I fancy reading a book from the list, I do, it’s as simple as that.

I still have a reading goal, now it’s fun.

On the website (listchallenges.com) there are all kinds of different challenges, you can even create your own.

Do you set reading goal/challenges?

Do they have a deadline?

Let me know in the comments below.