The yearly goodreads reading challenge is infamous in the reading community. (ie. booktok, booktube, bookstagram). Many think it's an amazing motivator for reading. Others believe it's the exact opposite, a demotivator. I think the challenge works for some people, doesn't work for others. It all depends on you and your preference. In this post, I'll be going over the positives and negatives for this, to help you decide whether this ressource is right for you. For those who don't know, the Goodreads Reading Challenge is a challenge on Goodreads that you can participate in by making a free Goodreads account. You simply input the number of books you want to read this year and it helps you by telling you if you're on track or not.
Positives
For me, I love using the Goodreads challenge, because it is a constant motivator to read books. I want to read just so I can see the number go up and the percentage to go up as well. It's like a competition against myself, to see if I can stay not on track, but ahead. If that's the sort of person you are, then it should work for you. For example this year, I reached my goal of 100 books 7 months in, so I put the goal up to 150. This is a motivating factor and I've read more this year than any other ever since getting a Goodreads account.
Negatives
On social media (#booktok, #booktube, #bookstagram), people love displaying their goals and how far they've gotten. For some people, this can be discouraging and cause them to compare themselves. If that's the case, and the challenge is making you feel upset with yourself and/or read books out of anxiety or competition with others, then it's better not to use it. Seeing that you're behind track can be demotivating and make you want to give up altogether rather than read more and get back on track. If that's so, then you should cut yourself a break and try something else that works for you!
good job ❤