I’ve learned that when it comes to reading that I like to make goals but I rarely achieve them. This might sound discouraging but I try to keep in mind that it’s about the journey, you know? I like to give a modicum of attention to what I’m reading and being a nerdy little tracker, I am always keeping track of how many books I’ve read and what I thought about them.

Here’s what I know: I’ve finished 25 books this year (so far, I think I’ll finish at least one more before we ring in the new year) and although that’s five books short of my initial goal set way back in January, I’m happy with the number and unsurprised by it. I know myself and I know that I tend to read about two books a month and that one of those books is usually whatever my book club is reading.

Next year I’m planning on tackling the reading challenge in the photo above. I’ve attempted Anne’s reading challenges for a couple of years now and I have to say the 2017 reading challenge looks like the best one yet. She’s going for a choose your own adventure style where you can choose between two different sets of goals or really go for it and tackle both challenges. I read through the first challenge (above) and kept nodding and thinking, “Yes, I totally want to read something like that!”

Then I read through the second challenge which is all about reading for growth and I’ll be honest, my eyes glazed over a bit. But I can tell from a glance that a lot of my reading buddies from book club would be all over that challenge and probably wouldn’t be sure what was so challenging about the list above. See the genius happening here?

Since half of my reading choices throughout the year are basically providing me the growth and outside of my comfort zone style reading that I think the second challenge would tackle, I’m so amped about making sure that my other twelve-ish picks really embrace the “reading for fun” challenge. It’s all about balance, you know?

So which challenge would you tackle? Fun or Growth? Do you track your reading habits throughout the year?