Goodreads Challenge Update – September 2020

Hello everyone,

As we are now two thirds of the way through the year already, I felt it was a good time to check in on my Goodreads Challenge and see how I am getting on!

I set a target of 52 books back on New Year’s Day, a total which I have exceeded in each of the last two years, but the highest goal I have ever set for myself. Having shown I could read this many books in a year, I felt that one book per week was the least I should aim for, even when also pursuing all my other interests.

And as things stand, I am exceeding my expectations! I have read 45 books so far in 2020, which is nine ahead of schedule according to Goodreads. I am currently on course to reach my target by around early October, if I keep going at the same rate. There is also a chance that I could make it a personal best reading year – my record currently stands at 62, in 2018.

I have read at a relatively consistent level all year, finishing between four and seven books in each month. The pandemic and all the time spent at home as a result has probably enabled me to get through some books slightly quicker than normal, but a lot of the time I have just happened to prioritise reading over other things.

What makes me happiest about how I am doing with my challenge is that the average number of pages for each book I have read this year is 364, which is pretty high! This is especially considering that I see myself as a relatively slow reader.

In terms of ratings, I have only had three books so far this year that I have given the full five stars. I wish I could have had more, but despite this I have still discovered lots of fantastic reads. There are only a very small handful of books in 2020 which I awarded less than three stars, so when you look at the bigger picture it has been an excellent reading year up to now.

Added to that, the three books I have given five stars are now among my absolute favourites, namely With The Fire On High, Where The Crawdads Sing, and A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder.

The only bad month I had was May, where I fell into a little bit of a slump as I was struggling to connect with the books I was reading. Otherwise, I have generally kept things fresh by changing genre for almost every new book I read. It is very rare now that I pick up two successive books in the same genre, and as a result I have read a very wide variety this year.

Here are the books I have read in 2020:

One of my main targets at the beginning of 2020 was to read more diversely, and I do feel I have made progress in that respect, discovering books with excellent representation. However, I could still do better and therefore I am planning to read more own voices novels and books by BAME authors in the coming months. There are lots already on my TBR, so it is about time I got to them!

I am really excited for the books I have lined up for the rest of the year. Some of them are for blog tours – I have three coming up in September alone – there will be a couple of buddy reads, and I also hope to start popular series such as the Six Of Crows duology and Arc Of A Scythe.

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Let’s Chat

How are you getting on with your Goodreads Challenge? How many books have you got left, or have you already completed it? Let me know in the comments!

Happy reading 🙂