It’s OK to fail your GoodReads challenge.

I have failed mine multiple times. Three times in fact. More if you count me changing my goal on December 30th. I’m likely to fail again this year, despite my week off work which is just perfect for reading books.

Fail your GoodReads Challenge. Seriously.

My best challenge to date was that I read 126 books in a year.

What did that get me?

Did I get to enjoy the books more because of the sheer volume I consumed? Did I take time to walk away from a book I hated and come back again, slowly, deliberately to understand what this book was written to do? Did I savour the sweetness, hold tight the heartbreak on the pages, wonder at the worlds to learn and discover?

No. I got a cute fact to use in two truths, one lie.

And don’t get me wrong. Reading lots is admirable, and I’m trying to find more time to read every day. Try to give yourself a fun, challenging goal to encourage yourself, certainly.

But the number of books doesn’t mean you are better than you were the year you read less. What matters is what you take away. Did you learn something? Were you ever moved to tears? Did you find time to laugh openly? Did you search to find the nearest person because you had to share this moment with someone, anyone?

This post sounds so sanctimonious, I have started and scrapped it for two years – but I keep persisting because I want to come back to this when my itchy finger wants to change my Goodreads goal just to avoid a fail.

There is value in taking time, just like there is value in setting goals. The goal shouldn’t eclipse the process, that’s all I’m saying.

So if you’re not at your goal, but you loved something you read, or you slogged to the ending just to find the most beautiful moment you could have never imagined, or you felt that bolt of lightning in your chest when you read that line, I think you used your reading time very well, indeed.