I love that Christmas tree of books and I love your goals. I set goals but this is one area where I am not sure I want to. I am thinking about rereading more and this year I started reading a book at work and leaving it there and taking a break at lunch and I like that. I also am thinking about rereading a few favs and maybe choosing a few challenges. I also like it when I always have a work of fiction to read- a safe place to turn, an escape route. Honestly, my goal should probably just be to either renew or return books on time.
I typically read 150-200 books a year, much of which is very light reading while the kids are bopping around or light audiobooks while commuting etc. In 2025 I’d like to read 2-3 “stretch” books each month.
I also want to DNF more often, because my desire to finish everything means I tend to avoid books that seem intimidating or risky, and I sometimes spend valuable reading time on something I’m not really into. I’m not sure how to put a number on it, though.
I love the concept of stretch books. And quitting books that aren’t for you is so important. Maybe you can give yourself a page number or percentage, so if you’re not enjoying a book by 20% or so, you move on. Thanks for sharing!
I made a 50 page rule about a decade ago - if I don’t care what’s happening by 50 pages in, I abandon the book. Life’s too short to read books I don’t like!
I am really taking my time thinking about my reading goals this year. For the last several years my goal has been 100, and I’ve always met or exceeded it. This helped me put down h phone and read more, but looking back on this year, I realize this approach is no longer serving me. I’ve read over 100 this year, and yet so few have stayed with me. So many books all kind of blend together. I was flying through them without really absorbing or even enjoying them!
For 2025, I want to slow my reading down. I want to savor books, linger over passages, annotate, highlight, take notes, save quotes. I want to read more classics. I want to re-read some of my favorites. I want to go back to the feeling I used to have when I was younger, getting lost in the pages of a good book without thinking about a goal or wondering what I should read next.
Hope everyone has the reading year they hope for in 2025!
For slow reading with support may I recommend Simon Haisell's Footnotes and Tangents Substack - I read the Thomas Cromwell trilogy by Hilary Mantel (a reread for me, but so good) but importantly we've read War and Peace - something I never thought I'd do, but which has been such an incredible experience. I have RAVED about it all year long, persuading at least three people to sign up to the repeat version in 2025 (this will be Simon's THIRD year of W&P guided reading).
I really relate to this goal! I’ve noticed my reads sort of get jumbled and it’s hard for me to remember what I read, I mostly remember only how I felt. Thank you for the inspiration!
I'm currently in my third year of a History and Politics degree so I am constantly reading books and articles, however they are all hyper specific and focused on two subjects: History and Politics. So I need to read more fiction, which has lead me to a goal of 30 books for 2025. I have set myself a goal of 10 pages a day of classics reading, and I have given myself a schedule of 14 classics to read based on this. I am also reading Anna Karenina in a 14 month substack read along that goes into 2026. And then because that won't be enough reading for me when my daily academic reading load is lower, like on weekends, I will also have another book that can be whatever I like, yet must be fun and purely for enjoyment (instead of for enjoyment and close reading, like the classics will be). I am trying to get myself back into the daily routine of reading, so another goal will be creating a reading streak where I read something (not for uni) everyday.
Love your process here Andrea. The intentionality of it makes you much more likely to achieve your goals. I have been doing a similar process for several years and find it has enriched my reading life in many ways. I recently wrote about my reading plans for 2025 which you can find at this link if you are interested. https://matthewmlong.substack.com/p/a-philosophy-of-self-education
I always set my goodreads challenge to 60 books, and I usually pass it, but I only do that to help me track what I read. To me, just having a “read everyday for 30 minutes” or “15 pages” is enough. It allows me to read slowly what requires slow reading, it allows me drop books much easier, because I don’t read to achieve anything other than a state of mind away from daily news or social media. And it also allows me to meet my current desires on what I feel like reading.
For 2025, my first reading goal is to read more poetry. It's something I didn't pay a lot of attention to in my younger years and I feel I'm ready to appreciate more now I'm getting older. My second reading goal is to tackle some classics. I love them, but tend to read more modern, "easier" books as I normally read at bedtime and I'm too tired to tackle anything challenging. Finally, I have a pile of children's classics which I have never read. I'm going to smash some of those in 2025. 🤞 I don't think I'll have time for much more. 🤣 Merry Xmas! 🎄🎁
My number one goal this year is to read what I already own (I’m afraid I might be addicted to buying books 😅), so I set a rule: for every two books I read from my shelves I get to buy or borrow one.
I loved this piece, I have picked up some great ideas from your reading goals. I have previously only set numerical goals, I started with 52 this year, which has been my usual for the last few years but I had to adjust it downwards to 20 early on in the year due to health issues. I then hit my goal so I pushed it up to 25 and have just achieved it. In 2024, I also tried setting goals to read certain books. But I think that was a stupid goal to set. I did read about 30% of the books I intended to but my reading moods vary so much that I surely cannot decide which books I will want to read over the following 12 months. So I’m going to bin that goal for 2025. Variety of authors is a good one, which I’ll add to my goals but I also want to read some by authors from different countries. Good luck to all of us.
Great post! My goals are primarily to read books I own rather than go and buy new ones (that’ll be hard!) and read what I want to, not just what is popular.
I appreciated these goals! I tried to read more books in translation this year and did ok but not great so that's top of my list. And I absolutely need to read more of what I own! It's hard when you want to show support for authors though (even as an avid library user!)
Thanks for sharing your approach to reading! I typically set a goal of 100 books annually and that includes audiobooks (5-10%) of my reading. In 2024 one of my big discoveries was Japanese mysteries in translation- I love the different style of storytelling! You’ve got me thinking beyond my number for the year. I want to move forward with a bit more intentionality but leave myself plenty of room for the pleasure of following my desires.
I loved your thoughtful insights into your reading habits! Reading is my favorite hobby too and could probably use more intention on my part. I'm inspired to take a look at what percentage of the 83 books I read this year are from people of color. I, too, have set a goal to read more poetry (Santa helped in this respect...yay!) And one goal I have is to read at least twelve books published a long time ago (before 1950).
I’ve never set a reading goal. I just read. But this year I did keep a reading list of books I read and I read 64. A lot of them I didn’t love though. So I want to be more intentional with my reading in 2025 and drop the book quickly if I don’t love it. I’m also going to revisit some classics.
I haven’t done this much thinking (although you did give me a few ideas) but i have made a whole list of books i would like to spend some time with. These are books that are separate from my usual “light” reads. These are challenges and books that are held in high regard that i want to explore. I am gonna start with Don Quixote in January with a group and then work my way through
I love that Christmas tree of books and I love your goals. I set goals but this is one area where I am not sure I want to. I am thinking about rereading more and this year I started reading a book at work and leaving it there and taking a break at lunch and I like that. I also am thinking about rereading a few favs and maybe choosing a few challenges. I also like it when I always have a work of fiction to read- a safe place to turn, an escape route. Honestly, my goal should probably just be to either renew or return books on time.
And to not get burrito juice on them. 😀 We’re going to be rereading champions by the end of 2025.
Rude
I typically read 150-200 books a year, much of which is very light reading while the kids are bopping around or light audiobooks while commuting etc. In 2025 I’d like to read 2-3 “stretch” books each month.
I also want to DNF more often, because my desire to finish everything means I tend to avoid books that seem intimidating or risky, and I sometimes spend valuable reading time on something I’m not really into. I’m not sure how to put a number on it, though.
I love the concept of stretch books. And quitting books that aren’t for you is so important. Maybe you can give yourself a page number or percentage, so if you’re not enjoying a book by 20% or so, you move on. Thanks for sharing!
I made a 50 page rule about a decade ago - if I don’t care what’s happening by 50 pages in, I abandon the book. Life’s too short to read books I don’t like!
I am really taking my time thinking about my reading goals this year. For the last several years my goal has been 100, and I’ve always met or exceeded it. This helped me put down h phone and read more, but looking back on this year, I realize this approach is no longer serving me. I’ve read over 100 this year, and yet so few have stayed with me. So many books all kind of blend together. I was flying through them without really absorbing or even enjoying them!
For 2025, I want to slow my reading down. I want to savor books, linger over passages, annotate, highlight, take notes, save quotes. I want to read more classics. I want to re-read some of my favorites. I want to go back to the feeling I used to have when I was younger, getting lost in the pages of a good book without thinking about a goal or wondering what I should read next.
Hope everyone has the reading year they hope for in 2025!
I love the idea of slowing down so you can savor more. That’s a great plan. Thanks for sharing!
For slow reading with support may I recommend Simon Haisell's Footnotes and Tangents Substack - I read the Thomas Cromwell trilogy by Hilary Mantel (a reread for me, but so good) but importantly we've read War and Peace - something I never thought I'd do, but which has been such an incredible experience. I have RAVED about it all year long, persuading at least three people to sign up to the repeat version in 2025 (this will be Simon's THIRD year of W&P guided reading).
I’m signed up for both! So excited!
I really relate to this goal! I’ve noticed my reads sort of get jumbled and it’s hard for me to remember what I read, I mostly remember only how I felt. Thank you for the inspiration!
I'm currently in my third year of a History and Politics degree so I am constantly reading books and articles, however they are all hyper specific and focused on two subjects: History and Politics. So I need to read more fiction, which has lead me to a goal of 30 books for 2025. I have set myself a goal of 10 pages a day of classics reading, and I have given myself a schedule of 14 classics to read based on this. I am also reading Anna Karenina in a 14 month substack read along that goes into 2026. And then because that won't be enough reading for me when my daily academic reading load is lower, like on weekends, I will also have another book that can be whatever I like, yet must be fun and purely for enjoyment (instead of for enjoyment and close reading, like the classics will be). I am trying to get myself back into the daily routine of reading, so another goal will be creating a reading streak where I read something (not for uni) everyday.
I remember how hard it was balancing academic reading with pleasure reading. Good for you for coming up with a great plan.
I’m also reading Anna Karenina next year. That time period sounds like its with Henry Eliot?
Yes it is!
Love your process here Andrea. The intentionality of it makes you much more likely to achieve your goals. I have been doing a similar process for several years and find it has enriched my reading life in many ways. I recently wrote about my reading plans for 2025 which you can find at this link if you are interested. https://matthewmlong.substack.com/p/a-philosophy-of-self-education
Thank you for sharing!
I always set my goodreads challenge to 60 books, and I usually pass it, but I only do that to help me track what I read. To me, just having a “read everyday for 30 minutes” or “15 pages” is enough. It allows me to read slowly what requires slow reading, it allows me drop books much easier, because I don’t read to achieve anything other than a state of mind away from daily news or social media. And it also allows me to meet my current desires on what I feel like reading.
Love all of that. It’s so important to drop books that aren’t working for you.
For 2025, my first reading goal is to read more poetry. It's something I didn't pay a lot of attention to in my younger years and I feel I'm ready to appreciate more now I'm getting older. My second reading goal is to tackle some classics. I love them, but tend to read more modern, "easier" books as I normally read at bedtime and I'm too tired to tackle anything challenging. Finally, I have a pile of children's classics which I have never read. I'm going to smash some of those in 2025. 🤞 I don't think I'll have time for much more. 🤣 Merry Xmas! 🎄🎁
I absolutely love the idea of reading children’s classics. That’s so fun.
My number one goal this year is to read what I already own (I’m afraid I might be addicted to buying books 😅), so I set a rule: for every two books I read from my shelves I get to buy or borrow one.
I love that rule!
Those are some solid reading goals! I'm going to have to give mine a bit more thought.
I loved this piece, I have picked up some great ideas from your reading goals. I have previously only set numerical goals, I started with 52 this year, which has been my usual for the last few years but I had to adjust it downwards to 20 early on in the year due to health issues. I then hit my goal so I pushed it up to 25 and have just achieved it. In 2024, I also tried setting goals to read certain books. But I think that was a stupid goal to set. I did read about 30% of the books I intended to but my reading moods vary so much that I surely cannot decide which books I will want to read over the following 12 months. So I’m going to bin that goal for 2025. Variety of authors is a good one, which I’ll add to my goals but I also want to read some by authors from different countries. Good luck to all of us.
Great post! My goals are primarily to read books I own rather than go and buy new ones (that’ll be hard!) and read what I want to, not just what is popular.
I appreciated these goals! I tried to read more books in translation this year and did ok but not great so that's top of my list. And I absolutely need to read more of what I own! It's hard when you want to show support for authors though (even as an avid library user!)
Thanks for sharing your approach to reading! I typically set a goal of 100 books annually and that includes audiobooks (5-10%) of my reading. In 2024 one of my big discoveries was Japanese mysteries in translation- I love the different style of storytelling! You’ve got me thinking beyond my number for the year. I want to move forward with a bit more intentionality but leave myself plenty of room for the pleasure of following my desires.
I loved your thoughtful insights into your reading habits! Reading is my favorite hobby too and could probably use more intention on my part. I'm inspired to take a look at what percentage of the 83 books I read this year are from people of color. I, too, have set a goal to read more poetry (Santa helped in this respect...yay!) And one goal I have is to read at least twelve books published a long time ago (before 1950).
I’ve never set a reading goal. I just read. But this year I did keep a reading list of books I read and I read 64. A lot of them I didn’t love though. So I want to be more intentional with my reading in 2025 and drop the book quickly if I don’t love it. I’m also going to revisit some classics.
I haven’t done this much thinking (although you did give me a few ideas) but i have made a whole list of books i would like to spend some time with. These are books that are separate from my usual “light” reads. These are challenges and books that are held in high regard that i want to explore. I am gonna start with Don Quixote in January with a group and then work my way through