I am coming out of a multi-year reading slump.
It doesn’t feel good to say that, but if you’re in a similar boat right now, I hope it makes you feel less alone.
A slump brought on, in large part, because of yearly book challenges I set for myself. Let me explain.
Like many avid readers, I used to set a goal for the number of books I’d like to read by the end of the year. I always set it high enough that it was a challenge for me, but not so high that it was unattainable.
Here’s where I went wrong and how I fixed it.
Flawed Metrics: Why The Standard Yearly Book Challenges Create Reading Slumps
By measuring the number of books read each year as my main metric of reading success, here’s what happened:
- I prioritized shorter books. If I have to read one book a week, a 200-pager is much more valuable than an 800-pager.
- It made me look for easy reads. I love non-fiction books, but they take me a long time to get through compared to a captivating fantasy or thriller novel. On the same token, some of the most beautiful books are written in artistic prose. As Kimberly “Sweet Brown” Wilkins put it, “Ain’t nobody got time for that.”
- I pushed through books I wasn’t enjoying. If I invested 100+ pages into a book, I told myself I had to finish it. It was the only way I’d hit my reading goal.
- I still fell flat. Whenever I logged into Goodreads, it told me how far behind I was and what I would need to do to catch up. It was incredibly discouraging. Pair that with pushing through books I wasn’t loving, and I pushed myself into a serious multi-year reading slump.
How I Think About Reading Goals Now
It took me quite a while to realize the impact these annual book quotas had on me because the change was subtle and gradual.
These problems grew in tandem with my reading goal deficit. They were small changes that completely shifted my reading preferences over time.
Now that I’ve taken a step back I had an important realization.
If I live another 50–60 years, even with a book-a-week pace, I only have two to three thousand books I get to read left — and that’s if I’m lucky.
There are quite literally millions of books out there, and more get published every single day.
We don’t have time to read bad books.
Once I realized that sobering fact, my perspective changed.
Now I recognize that the quality of the books that get to take up a precious spot on that limited list matters most to me.
The book I’ve read 100+ pages of that I’m not loving? I don’t have time to finish it. Those pages read are a sunk cost — I need to let it go and reinvest my remaining time elsewhere. Pushing through these books is more likely to cause another reading slump (and set my reading goals back) than improve it.
The 800-page masterpiece that’s going to take up an entire month to get through, but change my perspective, cause me to think, or improve my life in some way? That is worth infinitely more to me than four quick-read books that solely give me the satisfaction of checking them off my list.
I’m now ruthless about the quality of the books I read. My “DNF” stack (Did Not Finish) is now 10X higher than my completed book stack.
And that’s exactly how I like it.
The Books That Got Me Out of My Reading Slump
It wasn’t easy to back out of the old habits that brought on my reading slump. Here are some of the books that helped me break free, in case you need a recommendation (or skip to the next section for better goal-setting tips):
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
This is one of the most beautiful fantasy books I’ve ever read. I don’t give 5 stars easily, and this one gets 6 from me. This story is charming, heart-warming, and all-around lovely.
If I had to describe why I loved it, it’s something about Klune’s writing style. Most books I read give me fuzzy, almost grey-scale imagery of the characters and scenes in my mind’s eye. But Klune’s writing feels fully technicolor.
I read it in 2 to 3 sittings and loved every second of it (though I don’t wish to overhype it, so please go into it expecting a mediocre book so that you absolutely love it too).
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
This novel shattered my heart just to stitch it right back together again.
It’s a beautiful, tragic, and overall inspiring story about a young girl in rural Nigeria who dreams of getting an education. Her mother tells her that education is the only way for her to find her “louding voice” — the ability to speak up for herself and pave her own way in this world. Adunni, our main character, has a lot to overcome to get there.
Her story will linger in your mind for weeks after the final page.
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
This was a reread for me, but an important one for its help in reviving my reading habit. The Power of Habit is a book that makes you take a hard look at the things you do on autopilot and use those deeply ingrained habits to your advantage.
If you’re looking to make a lasting change in your life, this book is the one I’d recommend. Whether that goal is to read more, get in shape, change your diet, or be more productive, this book can help you get there.
The Metrics That Matter: How to Set Meaningful Reading Goals in 2024
Now that we recognize we want to prioritize quality, how can we set better goals that incentivize the right thing? Here are a few ideas to see what feels right to you:
Measure “minutes read”
Set goals to read a certain number of minutes per day. This metric values simply prioritizing reading over any particular level of productivity.
Measure “reading streaks”
Count how many days in a row you sit down to read. Five pages or five hundred, any reading in a day counts. This metric incentivizes creating a reading habit, making you a better long-term reader.
Measure “value”
Set a goal to implement something you’ve learned from a book once a day, week, or month.
All books have value (fiction or non-fiction), and creating action items from each thing you read helps you to read with a new perspective — one that helps you to take the time to understand what an author was trying to communicate with their story.
Whether that’s to believe in and take yourself more seriously, to take a chance, to learn a new skill, to love your significant other/spouse better with a little extra romance, or to create a new habit stack — each book can give you an actionable takeaway if you look for it.
This metric incentivizes high-quality active reading.
Keep Reading: The 10 Most Influential Books I’ve Read
