Ian Dawson's Blog - Posts Tagged "reading-challenges"
Five Ways to Plan Your 2025 Reading Challenge
It’s hard to believe, but 2024 is winding down, and 2025 is quickly approaching. With all the other end-of-year/start-of-year events, I thought now would be a good time to discuss ways to plan a reading challenge for yourself in 2025.
Over the last two weeks, I’ve talked about why it’s important to read books, and challenging yourself to read a certain number of books over the course of a year is a great way to stay motivated and keep reading. Let’s talk about five ways to plan your reading schedule for 2025 and ensure you meet your goal before 2026!
#1 - How Much Time Do You Have?
If you have a busy schedule and your free time is filled with errands and other activities, keep your reading goal small. I recommend planning to read six to eight books over the year, seeing how that goes, and then extending the amount moving forward.
If you have time to binge-watch seasons of TV in one weekend, you have time to read more. I suggest attempting to read 12 or more books during 2025. One book a month may sound daunting, but you'll quickly reach your goal once you get into the reading rhythm.
#2 - What Counts as a Book?
Reading a book to your kids? That counts. Like comic books? Those count. Reading for class? Yep, textbooks or other assigned readings count. If you prefer digital to paper, eBooks count as well.
Don’t be afraid to include all types of books and reading material in your reading challenge. You’ll find that you’ll read much more during the year than you initially thought.
#3 - Is Listening to Books Okay?
Around this time each year, I see people on social media announce they have read 300+ books, and I often wonder how that’s possible. Then it dawned on me: audiobooks! Yes, these 100% count as books read over the year, and if you can listen to them on your commute, at work, at home, or anywhere else, you can knock out a lot of books in 365 days.
If this is a more viable option for you and fits your lifestyle, go for it!
#4 – Make a Game Plan
Once you decide how many books you’d like to tackle in 2025, determine what you plan to read. Things can change over the year, but having a list of books you want to work through beforehand will set you up for success.
Maybe there’s an author you enjoy that you’d like to read more from. Or maybe it’s a genre you’re curious about. Perhaps a non-fiction topic piques your interest or a historical period.
Alternate between physical books, eBooks, and audiobooks, or stick to one medium for the whole year.
Or, maybe you’re like me, with more books than space, and you need to read through what you have!
Whatever you decide, it’s always good to have a basic idea of what you want to read over the next year so you don’t have to guess what’s next. It’s okay to change things if another book interests you, but having other books ready to read is helpful.
#5 – Track It
You can do it on your own with a list on your computer or paper, or you can use one of many reading tracking apps or sites like www.goodreads.com, where you can join their annual reading challenge and write and post reviews of the books you read throughout the year.
These reading challenge trackers also tell you how many books you have left to go and how many books you are ahead or behind in your stated challenge.
Other apps include Bookly, Bookmory, StoryGraph, TBR, and many others you can check out on your phone’s app store.
Final Thoughts
I’m a huge fan of reading, and I want as many people worldwide to read and enjoy books as much as I do. Challenge yourself to read as many books as you’d like throughout 2025 and be amazed by how much you read and learn from January 1 to December 31!
Happy Reading, and I’ll see you next time!
Over the last two weeks, I’ve talked about why it’s important to read books, and challenging yourself to read a certain number of books over the course of a year is a great way to stay motivated and keep reading. Let’s talk about five ways to plan your reading schedule for 2025 and ensure you meet your goal before 2026!
#1 - How Much Time Do You Have?
If you have a busy schedule and your free time is filled with errands and other activities, keep your reading goal small. I recommend planning to read six to eight books over the year, seeing how that goes, and then extending the amount moving forward.
If you have time to binge-watch seasons of TV in one weekend, you have time to read more. I suggest attempting to read 12 or more books during 2025. One book a month may sound daunting, but you'll quickly reach your goal once you get into the reading rhythm.
#2 - What Counts as a Book?
Reading a book to your kids? That counts. Like comic books? Those count. Reading for class? Yep, textbooks or other assigned readings count. If you prefer digital to paper, eBooks count as well.
Don’t be afraid to include all types of books and reading material in your reading challenge. You’ll find that you’ll read much more during the year than you initially thought.
#3 - Is Listening to Books Okay?
Around this time each year, I see people on social media announce they have read 300+ books, and I often wonder how that’s possible. Then it dawned on me: audiobooks! Yes, these 100% count as books read over the year, and if you can listen to them on your commute, at work, at home, or anywhere else, you can knock out a lot of books in 365 days.
If this is a more viable option for you and fits your lifestyle, go for it!
#4 – Make a Game Plan
Once you decide how many books you’d like to tackle in 2025, determine what you plan to read. Things can change over the year, but having a list of books you want to work through beforehand will set you up for success.
Maybe there’s an author you enjoy that you’d like to read more from. Or maybe it’s a genre you’re curious about. Perhaps a non-fiction topic piques your interest or a historical period.
Alternate between physical books, eBooks, and audiobooks, or stick to one medium for the whole year.
Or, maybe you’re like me, with more books than space, and you need to read through what you have!
Whatever you decide, it’s always good to have a basic idea of what you want to read over the next year so you don’t have to guess what’s next. It’s okay to change things if another book interests you, but having other books ready to read is helpful.
#5 – Track It
You can do it on your own with a list on your computer or paper, or you can use one of many reading tracking apps or sites like www.goodreads.com, where you can join their annual reading challenge and write and post reviews of the books you read throughout the year.
These reading challenge trackers also tell you how many books you have left to go and how many books you are ahead or behind in your stated challenge.
Other apps include Bookly, Bookmory, StoryGraph, TBR, and many others you can check out on your phone’s app store.
Final Thoughts
I’m a huge fan of reading, and I want as many people worldwide to read and enjoy books as much as I do. Challenge yourself to read as many books as you’d like throughout 2025 and be amazed by how much you read and learn from January 1 to December 31!
Happy Reading, and I’ll see you next time!
Reading Question of the Week: What Are Your Reading Goals for 2026?
It’s that time of year when most people make New Year’s resolutions that are inevitably broken, but when it comes to reading, that’s one goal that can always be kept throughout the whole year.
I always like to craft a reading goal for myself that’s unique for that particular year, and 2026 is no different. This coming year, I am challenging myself to read as many of the long books I have on my bookshelf as possible. Whether fiction or nonfiction, these tomes can be daunting, but I want to challenge myself to stay focused and get at least 12 done this next year.
What are some other reading goals or challenges you can set for yourself?
Pick and Stick
Pick a genre, an author, or a topic, and only focus on books related to that particular category. You could read as many Stephen King or James Patterson books as you can in 2026. There are plenty to pick from.
Perhaps you are interested in history. You could choose a historical event and read books about it, its key players, and the countries involved.
Maybe you’d like to read books by LGBTQ authors. There are dozens to choose from, and you could craft a reading list based on these authors, topics, and stories related to the LGBTQ community.
Switch-Off
This is my standard reading plan if I can’t decide what else to do. I read one fiction book, followed by a nonfiction book, and go back and forth throughout the year. Sometimes, the nonfiction books are focused on a single topic or era, such as the Golden Age of Hollywood.
This is ideal if you like a lot of variety in your reading but want to be focused on a particular area or genre.
Page Count
I’m doing this one this coming year: reading books with a significant page count. But you could do the opposite and see how many short books you can read over the course of 2026.
The key with reading longer books is to keep the reading goal reasonable, so you aren’t attempting to read 50 books over 600 pages in 12 months. While this might be accomplished through audiobooks, if you are busy and reading, it might cause more stress than needed.
Keep the goal manageable; if you meet it early, you can always add more books later.
How Many Books?
If you are new to reading challenges, keep it simple: one book per month. If you like the challenge of reading lots of books during the year, double or triple that number.
My 2025 reading goal was 25 books. I hit that in early November, so I added some short books to my list and hit 32 in December.
The key is to enjoy the challenge and not create unneeded stress or anxiety for yourself. This should be fun. If you’re not having fun, scale back the number of books or change to a reading challenge that you want to do.
Final Thoughts
Reading is one of my favorite things to do. Adding a reading challenge into the mix and giving yourself a fun goal to hit by the end of the year can make the experience even more rewarding and worthwhile.
Take some time to think about what type of reading challenge you’d like to do in 2026, and see where your reading journey takes you!
Happy Reading, and I’ll see you next time!
I always like to craft a reading goal for myself that’s unique for that particular year, and 2026 is no different. This coming year, I am challenging myself to read as many of the long books I have on my bookshelf as possible. Whether fiction or nonfiction, these tomes can be daunting, but I want to challenge myself to stay focused and get at least 12 done this next year.
What are some other reading goals or challenges you can set for yourself?
Pick and Stick
Pick a genre, an author, or a topic, and only focus on books related to that particular category. You could read as many Stephen King or James Patterson books as you can in 2026. There are plenty to pick from.
Perhaps you are interested in history. You could choose a historical event and read books about it, its key players, and the countries involved.
Maybe you’d like to read books by LGBTQ authors. There are dozens to choose from, and you could craft a reading list based on these authors, topics, and stories related to the LGBTQ community.
Switch-Off
This is my standard reading plan if I can’t decide what else to do. I read one fiction book, followed by a nonfiction book, and go back and forth throughout the year. Sometimes, the nonfiction books are focused on a single topic or era, such as the Golden Age of Hollywood.
This is ideal if you like a lot of variety in your reading but want to be focused on a particular area or genre.
Page Count
I’m doing this one this coming year: reading books with a significant page count. But you could do the opposite and see how many short books you can read over the course of 2026.
The key with reading longer books is to keep the reading goal reasonable, so you aren’t attempting to read 50 books over 600 pages in 12 months. While this might be accomplished through audiobooks, if you are busy and reading, it might cause more stress than needed.
Keep the goal manageable; if you meet it early, you can always add more books later.
How Many Books?
If you are new to reading challenges, keep it simple: one book per month. If you like the challenge of reading lots of books during the year, double or triple that number.
My 2025 reading goal was 25 books. I hit that in early November, so I added some short books to my list and hit 32 in December.
The key is to enjoy the challenge and not create unneeded stress or anxiety for yourself. This should be fun. If you’re not having fun, scale back the number of books or change to a reading challenge that you want to do.
Final Thoughts
Reading is one of my favorite things to do. Adding a reading challenge into the mix and giving yourself a fun goal to hit by the end of the year can make the experience even more rewarding and worthwhile.
Take some time to think about what type of reading challenge you’d like to do in 2026, and see where your reading journey takes you!
Happy Reading, and I’ll see you next time!
