It’s the beginning of a new year and time to set your new reading challenges. Regardless of whether you track your reading through Goodreads or via spreadsheet, whether you have decided to stick to a single genre or expand your horizons throughout the year, many readers have a reading goal they want to reach by the end of the year. How do you track your reading habits?
In terms of a book count, I use Goodreads. I have been setting reading challenges ever since the site introduced them, but I never thought to track what books I read each year before then. It simply didn’t occur to me to track my reading until I realised it was a thing I could do.
Last year I set a goal of 60 books, but managed to read 102 (yes, I’m still bragging). I honestly am not sure I would have reached that number if I didn’t have a goal set in my mind. However, I decided to lower my reading goal for 2018 in order to focus on longer and more complex books. I feel like I really missed out on some amazing books last year, particularly in the last few months, because I was so desperate to meet my goal. Instead of reading as many books as I can in 2018, I plan to track the number of pages I read instead (something you can also do on Goodreads). This way, I can expand my reading beyond the young adult fantasy that dominated my 2017 reading list.
I’m aiming to read more non-fiction and longer fiction books in 2018, as stated in my reading resolutions post. I miss the unwieldy adult fantasy tomes that took over my life a few years back. I don’t want to shy away from reading giant historical fiction novels. I don’t want to pass over non-fiction titles while fretting over my reading goals. 2018 will be the year of expanding my reading horizons
So, how do you all track your reading? Do you aim to stick to a single kind of book or is your goal to read many different kinds of books? Are you planning to finish all those series you’ve started? Let me know how you plan to tackle 2018’s reading!
102 books! Very impressive 🙂
I want to read more non-fiction books too. I think because I watch a lot of films and TV shows that are based on real life, I want to read autobiographies and the books that the films are based on.
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Thank you! I really want to read more autobiographies too, but I have to pick my subjects really carefully. I’m really loving non-fiction science at the moment though!
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So many cats 😍 102 books is amazing! I think I need to read shorter books this year, I read less books last year but they were a lot longer, so my page count was higher in 2017 compared to 2016, so I’m thinking shorter books equals more books equals more chance of reaching my Goodreads goal (although it will never be as high as 102!)
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I’ve found that around 300 pages is a good length if I want to read shorter books. However, this is coming from someone who was consecutively reading 600+ page books! There are tons of great novellas out there that totally count toward your reading goal!
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Yes absolutely! 300 is a good length for me too, but I do find, if I’m reading a series, books start short and tend to get longer the further in you get! Novellas and quick contemporary/YA reads are perfect!
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Well done on reading 102 books!! My goal this year is similar to yours – I don’t want to read so much YA fantasy (although there’s so much good stuff out there!!), but expand my readings a little, especially non-fiction, historical fiction and science fiction!
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Thank you! I am happy to hear I’m not the only one looking to expand their reading horizons! I love fantasy and sci-fi, but there’s so much good stuff in other genres that I want to read too.
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Definitely! By the way, your Youtube channel is pretty great, I love how soft your voice is! Very pleasant to hear.
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Thank you!! My voice sounds so loud and deep in my head 🤣🤣
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102 books is very impressive! Keep on bragging! I have no plans for how i’m going to tackle books. I want to read 100 this year and I think the best way to do that is read multiple books at once if something I’m reading is slow. It will keep me going so I don’t slow down!
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Thank you! Audiobooks may be the key for reading multiple books! I set mine at a slightly faster speed and whiz right through them.
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I’ve gotten into audiobooks a little more over the last few months. Sadly my library doesn’t have a whole lot to offer though, but they still have a few 🙂
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Same! It’s a little disappointing, but I think my library’s collection is slowly growing.
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I like to track my reading bc I feel like I end up reading more. I have done it through goodreads bug I also want to try and keep a track on my blog by maybe doing wrap ups more frequently.
My goals aren’t very strict but they’re usually there to encourage me to read more books that have been on my the shelf for a long time. Some books have been on my shelves for like 2+years!
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Yes! I completely agree. I love having a goal to work toward, and I really like to look back and see what I’ve read.
I feel you on having books lurking on the shelves for ages. I’m trying to read down my TBR, but it never seems to shrink!
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I do think Goodreads reading challenge encourages me to focus on the number of books I read per year and so I tend to avoid the very long ones… I wonder what would be a better way of tracking reading achievement… by pages read? Doesn’t sound as exciting somehow…
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