December is the month of Goodreads Challenge stress

BUT NOT FOR ME!! 🤣

Pretty much anyone who uses Goodreads will know exactly what I’m talking about. So, what’s your shame this year? How many books behind your goal are you? Is it a manageable amount, like one or two? Are you looking at enough to make you sweat, but that might still be possible if you just cancel all other plans until holiday obligations? Or are you resigned to a year ending with failure, because you have set yourself an insurmountable task?

Everyone’s limits are different, but they always exist. Let’s take a look at my last few years, shall we?

2016:
– Goal of 50
– Read 50
– Undetermined how many were in December but probably a lot because I had just spent the first five months in another country, graduated from college, moved to a new city, and started a new job. I distinctly remember panic in December and reading taking a backseat due to all the other exciting life events.

2017:
– Goal of 52
– Read 57
– SIXTEEN were read in December (including a comic series that gave me that little extra over goal)

2018:
– Goal of 52
– Read 54
– Five were read in December (improvement for sure, but also read 6 in the last week and a half of November – short stories saving me!))

So where am I at this year?

-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT???? I have seen people before who have goals set that seem completely insane – 150 books, 210 books – and gawked with my friends when those people were meeting their goals by July of that year. What do these people do, and how can I do it too?

I feel like… I’m now close to becoming one of those people. 😮 I am really proud of and excited about this, although I still feel that meaningful reading is far more important than sheer volume (which sometimes gets lost in these quantity-based challenges). However, the quality of my reading has improved a lot this year, in large part due to this very blog!

Now that I’ve been thinking about what I’ve read more concretely by writing it down, sharing it, and discussing with other people, I am happier with achieving this goal. Although, it does seem a bit counter-intuitive that by putting in more time towards non-reading things (writing about reading, perusing NetGalley, reading others’ reviews), I’ve somehow read FAR more than I ever have before. I suppose it must be in part to the increased joy I have from reading, which I frankly never would have thought possible.

Ways my reading joy has increased this year

• Writing about 90% of the books I read after I complete them (some have slipped through the cracks, whoops!)
• Getting new releases and early releases through NetGalley is an exciting privilege and huge motivation to read!
• Getting requests from authors directly and having the opportunity to meet new people and boost those who need it
• Having a dedicated place to discuss my number one passion with other people who share that passion
• Reading cleverly written reviews and discussion posts by other people who read, and making connections with people this way. Hi friends! 😊

A simple but emphatic “yay!”

This year has been wonderful for me in this way. I’m delighted to have this area to chat about what I love and laugh about with reading and related topics. I’m notoriously fickle with projects, which is why my 365 project is such a big deal to me. Now I have another success to add to the (short) list, and I’m so pleased that this one is about reading! 😄