Reading challenges are a lot like fad diets, in my opinion. Yours is fascinating to you and you only. Of course, I love talking about my reading challenges. I am super passionate about them and they make me feel accomplished and productive. They feel like something I should be sharing with the rest of the world. And yet, I get the feeling that nobody else really cares that much? Just because it’s taking up a shockingly large space in my brain doesn’t mean it’s particularly engaging or entertaining conversation material for someone else!

Talking about reading challenges is challenging for other reasons too. If your goal is strictly numerical – “I want to read X books this year” – it invites comparison with others. It almost seems to demand that kind of negative comparison. “Why don’t I read as many books as that person does? How on earth do they even read that much? Am I a real reader if I only read Y books each year?” We all know comparison is the thief of joy, but that has yet to stop me from engaging in it anyways!

Thanks to crapitalism, I feel the need to quantify how I spend my downtime so that it feels like it has purpose (i.e. if it’s not making me money, it feels like a waste of time). For me, reading is restorative. It lets me refuel after a long day or regain some energy in the midst of a busy work week. That ought to be enough of a reward, but through a reading challenge, I can add some extra purpose to my downtime. “See, Anxiety, I’m not just reading during my lunch break to restore energy to my soul; I’m also checking off a book on this reading challenge!”

Okay, but how do I read more?

One reading goal I hear a lot is folks just wanting to read more in general. I do have advice on that front! Over the past three years, I have increased my reading overall by 41 books per year, which is pretty impressive as far as reading gains go! The main way I did so was by implementing three reading rules:

1. Read what you’re genuinely excited about in this very moment.
2. Quit on any book that doesn’t comply with Rule 1.
3. If you’re in a reading rut, read something in a different genre or medium.

1. Read what you’re genuinely excited about in this very moment.

So each month, I add a month-specific TBR* list to my Instagram story. It’s fun to look at what library books I have checked out and what I feel like I might want to read each month. But, here’s the catch: I give myself full permission to completely ignore it whenever I want. If I’m picking out my next book and just suddenly can’t find the motivation to read what I had planned to dive into next, I don’t. I read what I’m excited about. Sometimes that means I’ve been blogging and posting for weeks on Instagram about a new release I’m super excited for and then when I finally can read it, I decide instead to pick up a true crime novel that I just got from the library. *girl shrugging emoji* It be like that sometimes.

2. Quit on any book that doesn’t comply with Rule 1.

It’s a similar story for Rule 2. I sometimes find myself reading a book I know I’d normally adore, but maybe now is not the right moment for it. I put it down. Whenever I force myself to finish a book, I always, ALWAYS, end up in a book slump**. Any time I make reading into a chore, it kills my motivation to read. Quit on books you don’t want to read. It doesn’t mean they’re bad books or that you hate them or that you’ll never return to them later! It just means it’s not the book for you right now.

3. If you’re in a reading rut, read something in a different genre or medium.

Rule 3 is also super helpful for me because I’m often reading genre fiction, and I’ve noticed if I read several books in the same genre back-to-back, I get less satisfied with each one. Switching genres keeps it fresh. If I’ve read a lot of scifi, I switch to romance. Romance is actually my standard genre reading rut fix. They’re so easy to get hooked in and feel so rewarding to finish! If I’ve binged through an audiobook, I’ll try to find something that interests me on my ereader or maybe a graphic novel. Graphic novels are also my go-to fix for a medium reading rut. They’re so fast to read and there are pictures!

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For those of you that opened this post hoping to read about the challenges I’m taking part in, I don’t wish to disappoint you. If you view reading challenges like diets, skip to the next paragraph; I won’t be offended. :] I’m participating in two reading challenges for 2020. I’ll continue my trend of upping my goal on the Goodreads Reading Challenge — this year my goal will be to read 120 books. I read 127 in 2019, so I think that’s realistic, but will still require my attention. I’ll also be doing the Reading Glasses Reading Challenge, which is pictured below. This is a great challenge for readers of all reading speeds to take part in. I think it’s achievable for most people, but still asks you to stretch yourself in new ways. Plus, a few of the tasks tie into my reading rules in this post!

Fun Challenges I’m Not Doing

If you’re looking for new popular reading challenges to take part in, I’ve heard great things about the POPSUGAR, Book Riot’s Read Harder, and Reading Women Reading Challenges. I participated in Read Harder in 2019 and completed about half of it before my reading rules made it difficult to “read a book set in Oceania” when that wasn’t something I was excited about right then. However, the half that I did complete introduced me to many of the authors and books that made it on my Best Books of 2019 list! Even incomplete challenges can still be really helpful!

Regardless of how you choose to challenge your reading this year, be kind to yourself. Reading challenges can be fun ways to motivate yourself and make reading feel productive. They can also be really cool ways to engage in an online community while experimenting with reading books outside of your comfort zone. If it starts to feel like a thing you’re using to shame yourself, ditch it quick.

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Are you doing any reading challenges this year? Do you love them or loathe them? Let me know in the comments!

*Lingo Definition: TBR means “to be read” and generally just details all the books that we’re planning to read. Some folks keep lists on a Notes app on their phones or an Amazon wish list. I keep mine on Goodreads.)
**Lingo Definition: A book slump is an indeterminate amount of time in which a reader is not reading. The reader may have attempted to read since but it just isn’t happening. Book slumps can be caused by very bad books “Yikes that was so terrible; it stopped me from reading for ages” and very good books “I’m still hungover from that book; no other book is as good.” A book slump is different from a reading rut (at this point I’m getting overly pedantic but I feel the need to explain my language!). A book slump is being unable to read books. A reading rut is just being vaguely dissatisfied with the books you’re reading.