Competitive reading

GoodReads 2017 Challenge

If you love books and you have a competitive streak, then a) we should probably meet up because we’d get on really well, and b) you might like the idea of the GoodReads 2017 Reading Challenge

Simply decide how many books you want to tick off the to-read list in 2017 and make your intention public, along with the 794,221 others who’ve joined in at the time of writing. 

(104 have already completed their challenge, which suggests to me that they’re in it for the dopamine hit of achievement rather than any actual literary benefit.)

I log my steps, miles run, the days of my blogging/running streak, calories (when I remember), glasses of water consumed during the day (ditto), but it had never occurred to me to count the number of books I read in a year. I suspect it’s higher than the GoodReads challenge average – 46 – if only because I tend to read a business book every week as preparation for the podcast – but I’d as soon think of counting the hugs I give my kids or the number of times I say ‘I love you’ to my husband.

The answer is the same, in any case: Lots, but not enough.