Are You Up for the Challenge?

"Read More!" was one of my New Year's Resolutions for 2019.  Was it one of yours? I feel like there are so many good books on my want-to-read-list but never enough time to make a dent in it!  

Goodreads.com offers a yearly reading challenge to encourage and support people who want to follow through on their resolution to read more.  In case you are not familiar with Goodreads, it is the world's largest website for sharing and following what you and others are reading. Once you are a member, you also get book recommendations geared to your personal reading tastes.

According to the Goodreads website, 1,393,100 people have already signed up for the 2019 Reading Challenge!  These people have pledged to read an average of 46 books from the beginning of January until the end of the year. If everyone makes their pledge more than 65,000,000 books will have been read!

Goodreads also provides lots of good advice on how to keep your challenge, or resolution, on track. One tip is to push yourself but make your reading target achievable. They recommend using the calendar as a guideline: if you think you can read one book per month that would mean pledging 12 books, reading one book a week would be 52 books, and so on. They also encourage you to re-read old favourites to count against your pledge, and to try new or other formats, like listening to an audiobook while you're puttering around the house. Goodreads offers thousands of different reading groups you can join to help keep you interested and accountable. I especially like their tip to use your local library, so you always have your next book ready to read!

To help you keep track of what you want to read next, you can either use Goodreads' "Want to Read" shelf, or look and see if your local library offers a Reading List feature when you access your membership account online.

Need inspiration to keep your reading resolution on track?  As I mentioned earlier, Goodreads provides reading recommendations based on your previous reading history.  A library's online catalogue is another great source for finding your next read. Try searching for one of your favourite titles and then check to see if other recommendations for similar titles, authors or story elements are offered.  See if your library subscribes to NoveList, a reader's advisory database. NoveList allows you to view Recommended Read Lists, browse genres or search for favourite titles or authors to get new read-alikes to try.

Photo credit: see glasses on books (CC0 Public Domain)