For the past four years, I’ve set a goal for how many books to read (between 90-110). This is all done and tracked on Goodreads and the idea behind it is sound; a challenge to encourage more reading.

However, there’s a problem with this particular type of challenge and any sort of read-a-thon that promotes volume as a benchmark: all the effort goes toward fitting that goal at the cost of what books you’re actually reading.

The past few years I found myself purposefully moving away from more challenging and longer books in order to meet my goal for the year. There were many tomes sitting in my “to-read” list that were ignored in lieu of making sure I stayed on track to meet my goal.

This past summer, I got sick of waiting and just plunged ahead, not caring about whether I hit my goal for this year or not (coincidentally, I’m still on track anyway).

I’ve come to a realization setting a goal to read a certain number of books is not as useful as creating a habit of filling your time with reading. The more time you spend reading, the more books you will read. Simple.

Sure, the reading challenge may have been a way to encourage me to spend more time reading, but it wasn’t for the purpose of enjoying the books. It was to merely finish them.

So while the reading challenges may be a good push, it’s not something I will participate in going forward. Instead, I’ll just work on the amount of reading I do in a day. Which is exactly what I do with my students.

I push them hard to find time in their day to read books they enjoy. My number one rule for reading is only read the book if you’re interested in it. If you don’t, abandon it and find another. The right book in the hands of even the most reluctant student will have them reading in all the pockets of time they have.

It could take a student a few months before they find that book (and sometimes longer), but the real challenge is to keep encouraging. That’s why I never push for volume of books in my class, just volume of reading.

If you wanted a real reading challenge, it should be this:

Find the next book that will completely absorb you into its world, keeping you hooked into it with a refusal to put it down.

Once you find enough of those books, you will have achieved the status of voracious reader.