Want to Read More This Year? Join the 2017 Reading Challenge

It's time to bring on the 2017 Reading Challenge! Give yourself a resolution you'll want to keep: a promise to spend more time reading this year. Goodreads makes it easy to set your own reading goal, track your progress, and celebrate your success with our much-loved Reading Challenge.

In 2016 alone, more than three million readers joined the Challenge and collectively read 37.8 million books. Wondering what all those people read? The top new books read in the 2016 Challenge were: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts 1 & 2, A Court of Mist and Fury, and When Breath Becomes Air (see more of the most-read 2016 Challenge books).



Want help achieving your goal this year? Here's what many of our members do:

Set your goal:

• Make this fun, not stressful! Start off with a small, easily achievable goal to avoid feeling daunted by your Challenge. If you hit the number early, you can always stretch yourself and increase your goal.


• Need help settling on a number? Some members like to set a goal based on the year: 12 books (one per month), 24 books (two per month), or even 52 books (one per week).


• The Reading Challenge is all about what you want to read. If you're focused on tackling long, literary classics, account for the time you'll need and set a smaller goal. If you're breezing through lots of great graphic novels, you can be more aggressive.

Find great books to read:

• Get recommendations tailored just for you as you rate books you've already read. The more books you rate, the better your recommendations will be.


• You can also browse the thousands of reading lists on Listopia—where you'll find categories on everything ranging from 2017's Biggest Book-to-Film Adaptions to Books Everyone Should Read at Least Once.


• Find books with great buzz by looking through the winners and runners up in the 2016 Goodreads Choice Awards, representing the readers' selections of the year's best books—more than 400 books across 20 categories to add to your reading list.

Adjust your settings:

• Pro tip for Kindle readers: Connect your Goodreads and Kindle accounts for more features to help you reach your goal. To connect your accounts, click here and scroll to the Amazon section to connect your accounts.
  
  
  • U.S., U.K., & Ireland members: Goodreads is available on most Kindles and Fire tablets so you can easily update which books you are Currently Reading and have Read from inside the book. There's no need to switch to Goodreads to update the books you've read to make them count for your Challenge.
  
  
  • U.S. members: If you use the Kindle app on your iPhone or iPad, keep your Reading Challenge count up-to-date by switching on Autoshelving. When you finish a book, both your Read shelf and progress toward your goal are automatically updated!

Productivity tips:

• Whispersync on Kindle: This Kindle feature allows you to read in bed on your Kindle ereader and then pick up where you left off with your Kindle app on your iOS or Android device during your morning commute.
  
• Use your local library's website to request books online and have them waiting for you. Plus, that due date provides an extra incentive to finish the book! Add your local library link as one of your Book Links so that whenever you discover a great book on Goodreads, you can easily open up the page on your library website and order the book.


• Listen to audiobooks. Our members say this is an easy way to read more books—you can listen while making dinner, exercising, or driving. Find some great audiobook suggestions here.

Be a Team Reader:

• Join one of our thousands of online reading groups that span across topics, themes, and genres. You'll be sure to find the perfect reading community waiting for you.
  

Find the time:

• Take some great advice from our Facebook and Twitter followers! We love this one: "Cut off all outside distractions. If your phone dies, let it die. Don't plug anything in until you're finished with your book. And get cozy. Make yourself a hot tea or hot chocolate and throw on some flannel pajamas."

What is your 2017 goal? And how to you make time to read? Tell us in the comments!