Each year I sign up for the Goodreads Reading Challenge and set goals I think are easy to obtain. I read all year; especially in the classroom and over time I stop taking small moments to record my reading. I know how powerful keeping a list of books is as a reader personally and professionally.
As I looked at my goal and recording from last year I was a bit disappointed. I had read 100 books and my recording was less. I began thinking maybe this challenge isn't for me. Then I decided to scroll through my Goodreads feed and all of a sudden I was going big in 2020. If Mary Lee and Franki can both set goals of 200 books, so can I. It will make reading a habit - my one little word in action already. I read an adult book for fun in two days over break and it felt so good.
I started doing some math - 200 books in ten months would be 20 books a month. That seems doable with all the picture book reading I do. Then I needed exact numbers and my calculator says 200 books in 12 months needs 16.66 books a month. I do realize this will need to flow a bit.
I think this short reflection of my reading life will guide some reading thinking next week in our classroom. I think I will be more sympathetic with students striving to keep a reading list themselves. I also don't think it's fair to ask students to do the work I'm not doing so I'm glad I didn't walk away from the Goodreads Reading Challenge. I hope you'll follow me along at Goodreads.
I'm thrilled to be able to pass the inspiration along. It must have been almost 35 years ago when I met the teacher who changed my reading life. She nonchalantly mentioned that she read a children's book a week. 52 books a year. I could do that, I thought. Now I have a whole shelf full of book list journals from the pre-goodreads era. The 52 books a year gradually turned into 52 children's and 20 adult. Then book award committees happened. In my three years on the Huck Committee, I read over 1500 books! I'm looking forward to slowing down to 200! Can't wait to see what makes it to your Goodreads list! Happy Reading!!!
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