Quality vs Quantity: Setting Your Yearly Reading Goal

by Donna Huber

If you follow any book reviews or avid readers on social media you probably saw a lot of year-end reading statistics including the number of books read in 2024. And if you are on Goodreads or another reading platform that tracks reading, you've probably been prompted to set a reading goal for 2025. 

Do all the reading goals give you anxiety or depression? You are not alone. 

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site.

 

Before I started Girl Who Reads in 2011, I wasn't even reading a book a week. My goal for years was to read at least 52 books a year. I looked back at my Goodreads stats and I read 54 books in 2011. 

But then I started seeing other people's statistics of reading 200 - 300 books in a year. Coupled with the fact I felt compelled to read more to keep adding content to the site, I felt the pressure to read more. And started setting my yearly reading goal higher.

In 2012, I set it at 55 books (1 more than I read in 2011) and I amazingly read 83 books (I think that is when I started listening to audiobooks as well). So in 2013, I thought I would set my goal 1 book higher than with a goal of reading 84 books. That was a spectacular fail as I only read 68 books. In 2014 and 2015, I set the same goal of 72 books and read 72 and 78 respectively. So I increased it again in 2016 - to 75 and exceeded it with 77 books read. I got ambitious again in 2017 and set a goal of 80 books and read a whopping 115 books (I think this was around when I got my first eReader and had a book with me always). 

So what would I do in 2018? Could I replicate the success of 2017? Was I finally starting to reach those lofty goals I was anxious to reach so that I was in the same realm as those high-number readers? Plus there were so many books being offered for review. Could I really say no?

I decided to shoot high and set it for 100 books read. How did I do? 118! WooHoo. 

Now the challenge became more about beating last year's number and each year between 2019 and 2022, I set the goal 5 books higher. In 2019, I set a goal of 115 books and read 130. In 2020 the goal was 120 and I read 139. In 2021, the goal was 125 and I read 173. In 2022, the goal was 130 and I read 162 books. Since I was reading well beyond my goal, I decided in 2023 to set it 10 books higher at 140 books. I read 168 books. So I raised my goal again by 10 books in 2024 for a goal of 150. After years of reading more books than the previous year, I read less last year. I only read 160 books. And it was a challenge to read that many.

I often felt overwhelmed last year. Of course, that made me read slower because I just wasn't enjoying it. I think part of the reason I was feeling overwhelmed and wasn't enjoying reading was that I was speeding through books just so I could get the review done in time or to stay on top of my review pile (which didn't really happen as I still have 21 books published in 2024 in my review pile). Also, I was having trouble recalling what books I read. As soon as I wrote the review, the book was forgotten. If it wasn't for Goodreads I wouldn't have remembered but maybe a handful of books. And don't even get me started on remembering details from a series.

So this year when I set my goal, I thought about all of this.

A few years ago, I gave up the goal to be one of those readers who read a book a day. I discovered a lot of those readers who were clocking 300+ books a year were retired and did little else with their time or they read short romance novels (with mostly cookie-cutter plots) or children's books. 

The last two years, and especially the past year, I found myself shying away from bigger books (those with 400 or more pages) because I knew that meant I wouldn't get as many books read. However, some of the books I really wanted to read were 500 pages. 

With all of this in mind, I decided it was more or less a question of quality versus quantity. I could spend quality time reading a few books or I could continue reading as quickly as possible (and as short as possible) just to reach a number. I still set this year's goal at 150. Partly that is based on the number of books already in the TBR pile - I already have 33 review copies (coming out between January and May) and then I have the books for my 2 books clubs (8 books for my mystery club which will take us through August and 6 for my post-apocalyptic book club which takes us through June). I also have 6 books on my holds list at the digital library for audiobooks. That right there is already a third of my goal. 

I have already finished 2 books in 2025 (both I started reading at the end of 2024):

Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke 

I read this for my post-apocalyptic book that met last week. I didn't finish it in time for our Thursday meeting but I still enjoyed the discussion. The book was pretty good too. I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did.

Buy Chidhood's End at Amazon

(Prime and Kindle Unlimited members can read the ebook for free)

An Impossible Impostor by Deanna Raybourn

This book has been in my review pile since 2022 but my digital library recently acquired the audiobook so I listened to it over the holidays. It was the first book I finished this year and you can read my review along with other books from my review pile backlog.

Buy An Impossible Impostor at Amazon

Having finished these 2 books, Goodreads says I'm 1 book ahead on my reading goal. I'm currently listening to one audiobook and reading an ebook which I'm hoping to finish this weekend:

You're Invited by Amanda Jayatissa

Another book from my 2022 review pile that my digital library acquired this past fall. I have just over 3 hours left in this psychological thriller.

Buy You're Invited at Amazon

Schooled in Murder by Victoria Gilbert

My first book in my 2025 review pile. It comes out on Tuesday. It is a new cozy mystery series that seems to be a bit of a spin-off of Gilbert's Blue Ridge Library mysteries series. I'm a third of the way through it and according to my Kindle, I should have it read in 3.5 hours.

Buy Schooled in Murder at Amazon

Did you set a reading goal for the year? It's okay if you don't -  I sometimes think I enjoyed reading more before I started challenging myself to read more. 

Perhaps you set a different goal than the number of books read. I always have in the back of my mind the goal of whittling down my TBR pile. Or are you trying to diversify your reading by reading translated fiction or books by authors of color? I would love to hear your goal as well as why you don't set reading goals.

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour. 

Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us. Get even more book news in your inbox, sign up for our newsletter today! Or Follow Girl Who Reads with Bloglovin. Girl Who Reads is an Amazon advertising affiliate; a small commission is earned when purchases are made at Amazon using any Amazon links on this site. Thank you for supporting Girl Who Reads.