Some love it. Some absolutely hate it. I haven't figured out where I stand yet.
Another year, another Goodreads challenge. I feel you. Some of you are already pumped thanks to your previous success at reading 100 books in a year (and I wanna ask you: hooooow??) and some of us are absolutely terrified of another flop. Neither will give up on setting new, crazy reading goals this year.
But I got you covered! I know, I know, you start with the best intentions and then, suddenly, without knowing how exactly it happened, you find yourself in December with 10 books behind schedule. I feel you, this past year hasn't been good for me and my reading goals. But I think I figured out why and how we can all do better in 2020.
Set manageable reading goals.
Granted, if you know you're going to be busy studying for Uni or you have a job that takes up the majority of your time, setting your reading goals to 200 books won't help you. Start with twelve. Nobody can tell you how many books you should read, how fast, how smart. You do you. And if you know you're going to be busy, don't overwhelm yourself. Reading should be a pleasure, not a race.
Read what you want to read.
This year, my only goal is to read what really speaks to me. That means that I will be more selective, I won't accept all those free copies if I'm not 95% sure I'm interested and I will re-read some old favourites. Because re-reads count, folks! But basically, if you read what you know you like, then you will want to read more. I'm not that good at math but 2+2=4 and I've already read three books in January so I know what I'm talking about!
Audiobooks are your friends.
I didn't believe it myself but this year I went for it and listened to Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone on Audiobook and guess what? Ticked another book off my list and whilst running errands. Multitasking is the future. So, find a book you think you will love and listen the crap out of it in the car, on a road trip, in the shower, while having breakfast or doing house chores.
Take some time off your phone/laptop/tv.
How many times have you said "oh man, I ain't got time for that!" and then spent the rest of the day binging You on Netflix? I see you. Look, I'm not judging but maybe you could leave the binging for the weekends and spend some quality time with a book instead? Just saying.
Don't rely on new releases only.
This goes hand in hand with tip numero dos. If you want to read a book that came out ten years ago, then go for it, ffs! Just because the new Hanger Games book came out it doesn't mean you have to read it now. First of all, because it's gonna be hella expensive and you don't wanna hear your credit card crying, do you? And second, nobody wants to read it anyway. Use your library, get your used books or shop your bookshelf (because I know you have at least ten unread books hiding in there)
Buddy reading.
When I did NaNoWriMo, I found it so much easier to hit that daily word count with people challenging me to write more than them. You can use the same tool to read. Find someone who wants to read the same book as you or someone who likes the same genre as you, pick a book and read it together. You don't have to be physically reading it together, all you need is social media. You will check Instagram every two seconds anyway, right?
Join a Book Club.
Book Clubs are a great invention! Whether is a meeting at the pub every Thursday kinda thing or just online, the chance to read the same book with a lot of people and then discuss it, it's just wonderful. Not only you will get through it faster, but you will also meet new people and make friends and all that because you love the same thing (aka books) How great is that?
If you're interested in joining some Book Clubs, this is the part where I insert that shameless plug for my own Book Club (Witch Please Club) where we read a witchy book every single month or, if you're a hopeless romantic and eat romance books for breakfast (and lunch and dinner) The Bibliotheque has just started a new Book Club for romance lovers (not only on Valentine's Day)