Goodreads Reading Challenge: In Which We All Fail, Except Aila

The Goodreads Reading Challenge is always something that we’re really excited about at the start of each year. The year always begins with lots of hope and “oh I’m going to read sooooo many books this year!”. Well how did we actually do?

Jenna

I’m really proud to say that I managed to read at least 200 books in 2015 and 2016. And I really thought that I’d be able to do the same this year. But sadly… I’ve only managed to read 72 books towards my goal of 100 books so far this year. I’m a very goal-directed person and I’m super competitive and hate to lose, so when I first realised that I was way behind my goal, I was adamant about completing at least my goal of 100. But I had two deaths in the family and moved to Toronto for work for 2.5 months, and life just gets in the way. Shit happens, and I’ve realised that there are more important things to worry about than being 20 books behind schedule. But does this mean that I’m going to give up on my goal? Well… yes but also no. I haven’t read as much as I would’ve liked this year but there are still over 20 days to make up for it. I’m not going to push myself to read 28 books or binge read manga/graphic novels to finish my challenge, but any extra book that I read puts me closer to my goal. And I’m okay with that.

So what does this mean for next year? Well, I’m still going to challenge myself by setting my usual goal of 100 books (there’s nothing better than a good challenge). But I’m also going to be more realistic about how successful I’m going to be at completing my goal. I’ll be writing up my PhD thesis for submission next year in August and applying for jobs throughout the year so reading time will be limited but I’m going to see it as less of a reading challenge and more of an excuse to take some time off and read things that are enjoyable!

Aila

My goals for the year have progressively increased, with this year being 30. I usually read a lot more, and seeing that 100+% on my GR challenge bar is pretty satisfying. So far I’ve read 98 books (and more undocumented – I’m actually really lazy with putting my read books on GR), which puts me at 327% goal completion. Yay! Compared to previous years however, I have been reading way less. College can be extremely stressful, especially as it is my first semester and I’m still trying to figure out how to balance everything. A lot of what I’m missing is time – time to read, time to blog, time to comment, time to study AND socialize AND go to school organizations AND volunteer AND make a difference in the community. Nevertheless, I will try to do better next year (and semester)! I hear it only gets harder from here, but I’ve survived almost one semester already. Bring on the next!

Jeann

Sooo, I had no idea why I set my Goodreads reading challenge at 100 books. When it comes to overachieving, that’s something that I like to aim for. But with a wedding to organise this year along with a 3 week honeymoon, surely I could’ve at least read 20 less books this year? You see, here’s the pattern when it comes to my Goodreads reading challenge:

2017 – currently 83 out of my goal of 100
2016 – 111 books out of my goal of 120
2015 – 122 books out of my goal of 120
2014 – 132 books out of my goal of 120
2013 – 111 books out of my goal of 100

See what I mean when it comes to overchieving? Not gonna lie, I have resorted to reading super short books and graphic novels in previous years to get my count up (for what reason, I don’t know why) but this year, I’m happy that I got to read as much as I did.

How about next year? To be honest, I would rather read the books that I am enjoying, rather than reading more books just to reach my Goodreads goal. As I’ve learnt over the years, forcing yourself to do something that you’re not enjoying is a surefire way to fail. I will probably reduce my goal by 20 again, because I quite enjoyed reading 80 books this year and that’s definitely something to aim for – enjoyment over pressure.