Goodreads Goal for the Win!

In 2023, my agent and close friend, Jessica Schmeidler, challenged me to make a reading goal on Goodreads. I decided to keep it light and shoot for twenty-six books ( just over two books a month). I ended up reading fifty-nine books that year, and a new obsession began… marking books read on Goodreads.

There’s something about finding a book I have read on Goodreads, reviewing it, and marking it as complete. It’s akin to checking off a to-do list, or completing an arduous task that I’ve put off because I am a pro at crastinating. I have this sense of accomplishment that I never felt before with the completion of a book. In fact, I believe these Goodreads challenges have encouraged me to read far more books than I would have ever done in my busy adult life.

Before college, I used to read a book a week. Sometimes I read more. My dad would take me to the library to pick out books, and devoured them like Sour Patch Kids (insert whatever is your favorite candy here). As my responsibilities increased, I found myself making excuses to not read: I was too tired, too busy, too rushed. Though I still found time to read a few books a year, I had never found myself back in the habit of reading multiple books a month until my first Goodreads Challenge.

This year, I set my goal for thirty books, and I have already read four. I am currently reading two different books: The Perfect Other by Kyleigh Leddy and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I hope that I will far outread my goal for 2026, especially since I will officially retire from teaching this May.

If you’re interested in starting your own Goodreads Reading Challenge, click the image below. Then, find me on Goodreads and follow along on my journey. We can be reading pals and encourage one another, one book at a time.