Every New Year, people across the world vow to read more books. As an indie author, thanks for that, but some of y’all are going about it in a very unhealthy way.
Over on the GoodReads Reddit, for example, people are pledging to read 30, 52, or even 150 books in a calendar year. Apparently, when you sign up for a yearly reading challenge on GoodReads, it immediately tells you how “behind” you are. That’s a better recipe for burnout than cooking marshmallows with an army flamethrower.
The gamification of every aspect of our lives is getting out of hand. Americans are even gamifying sleep though apps, comparing scores to see who is getting the best rest in a remarkable missing of the point. All the tracking apps out there just remind us that we are trying to cheat code our way into better health through gadgetry and social media.
The same is true of these rigid reading challenges. Focusing purely on the quantity like it’s a kill count in an online shooter robs the reader of a chance to simply sit and enjoy the book. Who has time to daydream and imagine the characters in the story when you’re down by 12 books and it’s only March? Moments that could be spent thinking or talking about language and story are stolen from what you “should” be doing, leading to anxiety, anger, and unhappiness. At that point, you might as well go to work.
That’s no way to experience a piece of art. It’s like a drive-thru gallery where everyone behind you honks if you stop to look at a painting for more than a second. Gulping down media without chewing just leads to the intellectual equivalent of bad gas.
Making the number of books you read the milestone is also ridiculous. My wife definitely read fewer books in 2024 than she did in 2023. However, the books she did read were massive, phone book-sized fantasy epics. In terms of pages or words read, she probably outdid herself, but most metrics aren’t made to chart that.
Likely because the whole reading challenge thing is kind of a marketing schtick that’s gotten way out of hand. The FOMO and gamification encourages you to buy Buy BUY more books more than it encourages you to read Read READ them. BookTok has turned into a sort of toxic, book-based QVC where a handful of creators make content about an absurd number of books to appease the endlessly hungry algorithm. They become like competitive eaters, but for books, and none of it looks healthy.
Wanting to improve your reading habits is fine. Last year, I wanted to read more horror from marginalized people and also my friends (usually the same group). I made a promise to myself that I would try to spend 30 minutes reading whenever I felt like a book, putting my phone away across the room to avoid distractions.
It worked, too. I definitely read more than I did in 2023. How much more? No idea, but I loved it.
Force feeding yourself books to achieve an internet merit badge is bad. You will get far more out of reading a single book a year at a leisurely pace with time to process it than you will a hundred books that have no impact on your soul. The point of stories is to open the reader into a new world of magic and imagination, not tick off some boxes built by a bunch of AI.
You want a reading challenge? Find a book this year that is your new favorite of all time. Pick up an author you’ve never heard of and fall in love with the way they shape the world. Keep track of what you read and your thoughts about it in a paper journal rather than telling social media. Go to your local library at least once and check out a book the librarian recommends. Order directly from an indie publisher (I recommend Tenebrous!).
Don’t let them take reading from you by making it a competition. Reading for actual, sincere pleasure is better than gamifying away stories to serve the data lords. Read because it feels good to read, and it will not matter how much you actually did.
