✨ Welcome back to another week of LTB! ✨

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and co-hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits and myself! In this discussion meme, participants get to talk about certain topics, share opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! Learn more about LTB, past topics and future topics HERE.

Don’t forget to link back to this post so I can add your link to the list of community posts below!

This week’s topic is:

How many books do you read in a year?

Suggested by: (Jillian @ Jillian the Bookish Butterfly)
Prompts: How many books do you typically read in a year? Do you always track your reading? Does keeping track of the books you read motivate you or stress you out? How do you keep track of the books you read? Do you have a 2025 reading goal?

How many books do you typically read in a year? Do you have a 2025 reading goal?

For the past several years since I became part of the book community and started blogging, I’ve read more than I ever thought I would or could. The number of books in my reading “comfort zone” numbers around 100 books and most years, I read somewhere between 100 to 150 books, sometimes slightly more. In 2024, I set my goal to 100 books but read over 150 (including books that I didn’t end up marking on Goodreads/Storygraph but marked on my spreadsheet).

This year I’ve set my Goodreads Reading Challenge to 150 books. I’m reading much slower this year compared to previous years so I feel that this goal might be a bit of a stretch this year. As I’m writing this, I’m still 1 book ahead of schedule, so as long as I keep up this steady if not ‘fast’ pace, then I think I should be good.

Do you always track your reading? How do you keep track of the books you read?

I love to keep track of my reading and the Ultimate Book Blogger/Reader Spreadsheet Template by Kal has been a lifesaver over the years. There’s a free version, which is what I started off using, but in the past two-ish years, I bought the automated Elite version that helps me save time and makes things so much easier! I love that I can not only keep track of my reading with this spreadsheet but I can also record blogging details that I enjoy tracking monthly. It helps me feel so organized and like I do (mostly) have it together!

I’m still using that spreadsheet this year but I’ve also decided to explore the world of Notion templates and after watching several YouTube videos, I ended up getting the ultimate library reading tracker made by Kara @ Kara’s Bookshelf. As a platform, Notion is complex (possible understatement) and I tried exploring more of the things you can do there but it got too much for me so I’m just sticking to this very awesome, complete and appealing template. I’ve been using it to jot down more thoughts as I read as well, which has been great.

Does keeping track of the books you read motivate you or stress you out?

I know a lot of readers don’t like the pressure involved with keeping track of reads, especially through reading challenges like Goodreads because it can be overwhelming and feel too much like a competition. While I enjoy keeping track of my reads, I do get how falling behind or not seeing the numbers you want for a specific month can lead to feeling like you’ve not done enough and that can lead to stress. I try to not put too much pressure on myself because even if one month doesn’t end up being a good reading month, there are still other months to read more and “catch up” with whatever goal I’ve set for myself. At the end of the day, I also just remind myself that this is a hobby. I’m not getting paid to read so why treat it like a second job when my day job is already stressful enough? 😂 I know, it’s much easier said than remembered sometimes, but it pays to bring it up when everything feels too much!

Don’t forget to check out the other bloggers who joined the discussion this week! 👇🏽

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Annemieke @ A Dance with Books
Elle @ Unwrapping Words
Leyre @ Do You Leyre
Raji @ Worlds Unlike Our Own
Abyssal Librarian
Emma @ Pages of Emma
Rachael @ The Green Tea Librarian
Leslie @ Books Are the New Black
Felice @ Tea and Cats and Books
Yolanda @ Past Midnight
Laurie @ Laurie is Reading
Bookflowerpath
Lin @ Lin’s Perspective
Lost @ The Chronicles of Tick Tock
Kristina @ Books and Daschunds
Jillian @ The Bookish Butterfly

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If I’ve missed your post this week, don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments and I’ll add you to this week’s list of community posts ASAP!

How much do you read in a year? Do you find keeping track of your reading goal stresses you out more than if you just read without a goal? If you do track your reads, do you also use pre-made templates?

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