Someone posted this on Twitter the other day and it really resonated.
Me setting my 2021 goodreads goal pic.twitter.com/msvzN0h3z3
— Tiernan? (@tiernanbe) December 5, 2020
Now, I love Goodreads. It’s primarily a reader space, but I’m an avid reader too, obviously. As Stephen King said, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write.” I believe that entirely. But I recognise Goodreads as one of those places that’s entirely for readers, so while I keep a page there, I also keep a very low profile. I do believe in promoting the good stuff, of course, so I always post and rate the books I enjoy. One of the things I like most about Goodreads is that I can keep track of what I’ve read. To that end, I’ve been doing the Goodreads Challenge for the last few years. I set it to 50 books, and I usually exceed it. Seems I tend to read about 60 to 65 books a year on average.
But here’s the thing. I’m constantly aware of that number hanging over me. 50 books. You have to read at least 50! And you know what? Fuck that actually. I still recognise the challenge as a good way to keep track of books read, but next year and on into the future, I’ll be setting my goal to 10 books. I don’t want to be constantly thinking about reaching that number. Writing is work for me – work I love, but still a job – so why the hell would I make reading seem like work too? From now on it’s going to be good reading over Goodreads challenges. I’ll easily clear 10 books a year, so I can just not think about it any more. I wonder if, as a result, I might read less than 50 books next year? It’s possible, but I don’t care. Reading is my joy, my escape, my release. Time to take the challenge out of it again.