On the Value of Reading Goals

Kieren Scougall

For me, numbered reading goals just don’t work. I always get to the end of the year and have never read the quantity I wanted to. But like the age-old adage goes, quality over quantity. I think it’s far more important that we enjoy what we read above all else and I have no issue relegating a book to the ‘Did Not Finish’ (DNF) list if it’s not working for me. Beyond that, I think diversity in what we’re reading is essential. Reading has the power to open up whole new worlds and perspectives to us, so it does no good to only read the same type of book written by the same type of author from the same type of perspective. Readers should be seeking authors from different backgrounds, writing in different genres about different topics – intersectionality is key. 

Maisie Palmer

I feel as though reading goals certainly have value, but they are not all that matters when it comes to reading. Personally, I lose motivation for reading quite quickly when I’m just not quite into a book or opt to scroll on TikTok instead. In times like this, having a reading goal can be a great way to boost motivation and get back into a routine of reading. However, personally, I have plenty of other goals, deadlines and to do lists in all other areas of life and I like to keep reading relatively stress free; reading, for me, is something that I should want to keep up with, not something that I have to. So, potentially, placing too much emphasis on reading goals can make a hobby feel like a chore. I also feel as though there is so much more to reading that just how much you read. Being able to take your time to fully immerse yourself in a book, try out new genres, or reflect on how a book has made you think or feel, all without worrying about falling behind on your schedule, is part of the joy of reading and something I believe no goal should take away from. 

Sophie Hutchinson

While accomplishing your goal of reading a certain amount of books by the end of the year makes you feel good about yourself, it's not worth the amount of pressure it puts on you when instead you should be focusing on the quality of the books. I feel like BookTok/Bookstagram has turned reading into a competition to see who's the "better reader", which really strips away what reading's all about: making you happy. 

Emily Winter

Why do we read? In a world arguably overpopulated with stimuli, what is the value of consuming stories through mute, immobile words on a page? Perhaps one reason is to flex our creativity. When we read, the only voice we must listen to is our own, that special inner voice. The only images we see beyond the contour of sentences are the ones that come alive in our mind. Reading, then, is exercise for the imagination, as important as clocking those k's along your nearest bike path. But like all things inherently good for us, there comes the danger of it being labelled a chore. 

As a third-year university student, few of my friends – barring those pursuing Literature majors – find the time to read. Many bemoan the fact that they should be reading more. To pose the question at the heart of the matter: are reading goals a help, motivating reluctant candidates to devote more time to a paper companion, or are they a hindrance, sequestering the noble and private act of reading into yet another checkbox of the ‘to-do’ list? Ultimately, each reader must answer this question for themselves. 

Personally, the concept of tallying some sum total of tomes within a set timeframe has always struck me as arbitrary; foreign and far removed from the act of reading itself. In primary school I voraciously devoured all the EJ12 volumes my library had to offer in about two weeks, a very different experience to immersing myself in Hilary Mantel’s epic Wolf Hall trilogy for a period of a few months, as I did several years later. Whether reading three books a week or three books over nine weeks, I was reading. And in this example, the trials of Mantel’s fictional Thomas Cromwell are the ones that I will remember for years to come. Setting reading goals may boost motivation or provide a sense of achievement – both worthy outcomes. However the stories you take away from the page, are far more important. 

Read a haiku every day. Read fast-paced fantasy, stacks at a time. Take a whole semester to digest a weighty feat of historical fiction. Read for joy, read to learn, read until the proverbial candle of the night-time hours is all but a pool of melted wax. Read to cry, then reread that line that made you cry a thousand times. Underline words that make you smile. Learn about yourself and those different from you. Dog-ear the page or craft a bookmark from a grocery receipt. Read. Maybe you’ll smash that goal and read fifty books this year, or maybe only fifteen. But at the end of the day, who’s counting?