The Bookish Mindset

It’s the time of year where you might you’ll have seen readers panicking about hitting their reading goals and recommending quick reads to hit your goals. So let’s talk about it.

Reading goals are great for those they work for. Last year I made a pretty ambitious reading goal and while I read some brilliant books trying to hit it, it definitely caused me some stress getting there.

I’d be checking weekly whether I was on track or behind and I’m pretty sure it didn’t do me much good. I recognised that late on and so this year I decided to change it up – I set my goal to about 75% of what I’d comfortably read in the year. I still enjoy tracking a yearly goal but I didn’t need the pressure I gave myself the year before.

The effect has been brilliant – I’ve ended up reading more than ever and barely even referring to a reading goal. It’s made me consider not setting one this year.

I love tracking what I read because I use it to celebrate the time I’ve taken for myself. But it can often look like a numbers game from the outside.

We see at the end of the month with people sharing monthly round ups and now we see it with yearly round ups too. It’s sometimes hard not to envy those with endless lists of books they’ve read each month. But in this case it really is a case of comparison is the thief of joy.

Any amount of books read in a year (or a month) makes you a reader. your reading is valid. Only listen to audiobooks? Still a reader. Only read graphic novels or manga? Still a reader. Only managed part way through one book last year? We still want you here, you’re still a reader.

Your reading journey is yours and yours alone and that’s beautiful.

I hope you can celebrate yourself this year for what you’ve achieved, whether you hit your reading goal or not.

And if you’re looking for a great place to track your reading that’s not owned by a tax avoiding conglomerate, please consider supporting The StoryGraph. They’re black woman owned and make beautiful summaries. If you’re still on goodreads (who are Amazon owned) then there’s an easy way to swap over too!

If reading more is something that you’re looking at doing this year then should check my reading challenge out here! Read nine books from nine prompts over the first six months of the year and be entered into a draw to win a bundle of bookish goodies.

If you like what you’ve read and would like to access more content, I’d love if you could take a look at my patreon and consider supporting my content on there too.

And don’t forget you can follow me on Instagram for more bookish content too.

Happy reading folks!

Last updated 06/01/2025