The Rise of Reading Goals: Does Tracking Books Enhance or Erode the Joy of Reading?
Every January, countless readers flock to platforms like Goodreads, Instagram, and TikTok to declare ambitious yearly reading targets—50, 75, or even 100 books. Screenshots of spreadsheets and tracking templates circulate widely, turning a once-private pastime into a public, quantified endeavour. In an age of constant distraction, where literacy rates in the UK have stagnated, with only about 50% of adults reading for pleasure in 2024, down from 58% in 2015, these goals promise discipline and progress. However, as reading is increasingly performed and judged online, a critical question emerges: do yearly reading goals genuinely foster better reading habits, or do they risk hollowing out the very activity they aim to protect?
The Appeal and Pitfalls of Quantified Reading
In the context of the UK's National Year of Reading, commentators have framed the decline in book culture as a civilisational crisis, painting vivid pictures of a post-literate society. Reading targets offer a sense of structure in this landscape, but they also import the logic of metrics and visibility into a solitary pleasure. As philosopher C Thi Nguyen, author of The Score, explains, modern life increasingly gamifies ordinary activities, applying scores and streaks to motivate behaviour. This phenomenon, known as "value capture," can flatten rich experiences into mere numbers, turning reading into a competitive social currency rather than a source of genuine meaning.
For Ayesha Chaudhry, co-runner of the Instagram account @between2books, the pressure of online book culture became overwhelming. She once set targets of 70 or 100 books annually, only to feel guilty when she fell short. Last year, she deliberately slowed down, reading just 10 books—the fewest since childhood—and found it one of her most satisfying reading years. By focusing on social interactions, such as recommendations from friends or author events, she transformed reading from a task to tick off into a meaningful experience. This shift eased both pressure and overconsumption, highlighting how non-numerical goals, like exploring new genres or authors' backlists, can enrich the reading journey.
Balancing Metrics with Meaning
Nguyen cautions against dismissing metrics entirely, noting that they can serve as useful scaffolding for beginners, especially amid concerns about falling literacy rates and fraying attention spans. However, he emphasises that metrics should be temporary, with readers developing their own intrinsic reasons to engage with books. This balance is reflected in platforms like StoryGraph, founded by Nadia Odunayo as a reader-first alternative to Goodreads. Instead of focusing solely on book counts, StoryGraph allows users to set page goals, time goals, or habit-based challenges, avoiding the pitfalls of competition and encouraging curiosity without punishment for abandoning lengthy works like War and Peace.
The tension between productivity and pleasure is evident in the experiences of avid readers. Ella Risbridger, author of In Love With Love, read over 1,000 romance novels last year but refuses to track them, viewing reading as an escape from targets. Similarly, journalist Afua Hirsch, who read about 150 books in five months as a Booker Prize judge, describes such intensive reading as both a privilege and a strain, often requiring a period of relearning how to read for pleasure afterwards.
Perspectives from Authors and Book Professionals
Derek Owusu, an author who read 38 books last year, emphasises reading for pure pleasure without tracking numbers, finding bafflement in the impressiveness of reading totals. He prioritises rereading and exploring authors' back catalogues, believing that multiple readings reveal deeper layers of craft. Chrissy Ryan, a bookseller at BookBar, read 145 books last year after setting a goal of 100, using it to stay focused but stopping if stress arose. She balances reading for work with reading for pleasure, recognising the importance of literary context in her role.
Jack Edwards, a BookTok influencer with 1.5 million followers, read 137 books last year, setting achievable goals to monitor his time away from screens. He gamifies reading to make it engaging but stresses competing only with oneself, viewing the brain as a muscle to be built over time. Olivia Young-Thompson, a librarian, read 45 books without setting targets, advocating against competitive reading and valuing slower engagement with classics. Jan Carson, an author, read 300 books last year as part of her job, using non-numerical goals like exploring authors' canons chronologically to enrich her understanding of literary development.
As reading goals proliferate in a distracted age, they offer both incentives and risks. While they can motivate and structure reading habits, they also threaten to import productivity pressures into a space of offline pleasure. Ultimately, as Nguyen notes, if numbers remain the primary reason for reading, something fundamental has been lost. The key lies in using metrics as a starting point, then cultivating deeper, more personal connections with books beyond the tally.
