Has anyone had a bad experience with the Goodreads reading challenge? I’ve been doing it for the past 8 years but I think it’s time to call it quits. I know it’s totally inconsequential and no one cares if you succeed or not, but the constant reminder of “You’re X books behind schedule” is starting to feel tiring. Lately I’ve been reading short books instead of the big bricks I really want to read, just to complete the challenge. Makes me feel dumb.
I wish they would bring more diversity to the challenge instead of just a number. Read books from 5 different genres, read a book on astrophysics, read X books written by women authors, write 1 review, start a new series, read a book that my wife rated 5 stars, etc.
Anyone has thoughts or suggestions on a reading challenge that would be more engaging?
I’m doing the goodreads challenge for the first time this year, and I’ve been ahead of schedule the entire time so no issues about that. But I have thought about doing a more interesting reading challenge next year. I want to try to read books from as many different countries as possible, not just US and Europe again and again, and maybe from all decades from 1800 to now or something like that, plus ideally like at least 40% female authors… something of that kind. Also more nonfiction, more poetry, more plays, not just regular prose fiction all the time. I haven’t quite worked out the details, but I think reading varied literature is a more interesting goal than just reading a lot of books cover to cover.