I Aimed for 50 Books in 2025 and I Read 55. Here’s What That Taught Me.
You might remember that I wrote a blog about wanting to read 50 books in 2025. Well, now that we’re in 2026, I thought I’d reflect on that and what it’s taught me about reading challenges.
It felt ambitious but achievable and more of a quiet nudge rather than a demand. By the end of the year, I’d read 55.
On paper, that sounds like success and in many ways, it was, but hitting (and exceeding) a reading goal isn’t as simple or as celebratory as the numbers make it seem.
When reading goals become pressure
Reading challenges can quietly turn something joyful into something transactional. Instead of asking what do I feel like reading? the question becomes what will help me stay on track? Shorter books start to look more appealing. Heavier reads get postponed. Audiobooks become strategic rather than chosen for pleasure. These are exactly the pitfalls I sometimes feel in during 2025. I lauded over the fact that my long commute to and from work meant I could really get through Audiobooks (and on 1.2x speed - sorry Kim!). I would even look strategically at my TBR pile and think what can I get through quickly?
There were moments this year when I felt that pressure creeping in in a sense that I should be reading, that I was ‘behind’ or that choosing a slower, more demanding book might somehow derail the goal. That mindset can be counterproductive, especially for something as personal and restorative as reading. I had a couple of lengthy series that I wanted to start last year and ended up putting them off thinknig that I’d not have time for other authors/genres/recommendations if I were to get ‘bogged down’ in a series.
And yet…
Despite that, my 50 book goal also gave me something unexpected. It encouraged me to read more broadly, to take chances on genres I don’t always reach for, and to pick up authors I’d never read before. So what was a downside (as outlined above!) ended up being a gateway to new authors, genres and themes or styles I’d not normally pick up. I’m traditionally a sci-fi/fantasty girlie and so reading more ‘newer’ books or comtemporary fiction was new for me.
I read more literary fiction than usual. I dipped into thrillers, memoirs, translated fiction and books I might have otherwise scrolled past. The structure of a goal nudged me out of comfortable habits and into new reading territory and some of my favourite reads of the year came from those risks! (I absolutely LOVED 38 Minutes and 10 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak!)
The balance I’m learning to strike
What I’ve realised is that reading goals work best when they’re flexible. The number should serve the reader and not the other way around. A goal can be a guide or a way to notice patterns. It shouldn’t be a source of guilt or comparison.
Reading 55 books didn’t make me a ‘better’ reader than reading 50 would have. What mattered more was how those books made me feel, what conversations they sparked and which ones stayed with me long after I finished them.
Looking to 2026
For 2026, I’m setting my goal at 52 books. I wanted to aim for one a week. It feels steady rather than pushy and, more importantly, I’m not going to be defined by that number.
Some years are for devouring books and others are for sitting with one book for weeks. Both are valid. If a goal helps me read widely and joyfully, I’ll keep it. If it starts to feel heavy, I’ll let it go.
At the heart of it, reading isn’t about numbers. It’s about connection to all sorts of things: stories, people and community (such as HBC!).
Happy New Year!
