Reading Challenges– A Bookish Discussion

I’ve noticed recently that reading challenges seem very popular in the bookish community! I honestly hadn’t really heard of the concept until I started a bookstagram account and started book blogging. Now, every so often I see another different challenge posted, where you along with people across the world challenge themselves to read a certain number of books, normally in a fairly short period of time.

I have never participated in any of these challenges, and I honestly can’t imagine doing so in the near future. I do want to make it clear that these are just my personal reading quirks, and if you love these challenges I’d love to hear why!

So to start, I am a fairly quick reader, but my reading pace is almost entirely depended on how much I am enjoying my reading material. If I am reading a book I am in love with, I will finish it far too quickly for my liking. However, I really hate the feeling of pushing myself to read a book I am not enjoying. Which I imagine I would inevitably end up doing at some point during a reading challenge.

Another issue I have is, I really don’t enjoy the feeling of being pressured to read something. I remember how much I hated having to get through books in high school English class, despite the fact I love reading.

I feel as though if I were to participate in a challenge like this, I might force myself to read a book too quickly and not properly appreciate what I am reading. I know when I try and finish a book too quickly, or too late at night I don’t absorb the information terribly well.

A reading challenge I do think I will take part in is the Goodreads yearly challenge. I think I would enjoy this particular challenge for a few reasons. The first being the time frame is a year, so you really don’t need to feel rushed. The second reason is that you get to choose the goal yourself, so you can choose a number that you feel comfortable with but also are able to push yourself to read a bit more in the upcoming year. Finally, I really like how integrated with Goodreads this challenge is, such that it will keep track of the books you are reading! I often find I forget just how many books I read and I think having a reminder of what I read months ago would be wonderful!

Overall, while these reading challenges aren’t my cup of tea, I’d really like to hear from those of you who enjoy doing them! I imagine it must be really fun to make your reading a more social and competitive activity for small burst of a time. I also imagine it would give you the motivation to finally crack into your to-be-read piles!

In brief , I don’t think these types of reading challenges are for me, but I would love to hear if any of you have participated in them! Did you enjoy the experience? Did it push you to fit more reading time into your day? I’d love to hear your experiences.

Hope you guys are having an amazing day!