breaking up with Goodreads in 2024

on why I won't set a reading goal this year

I set a goal to read 36 books this year on Goodreads. By late summer, I was getting constant pinging notifications from Goodreads that I was two, then four, then six books behind on my reading goal. I'm a recovering perfectionist, a student trained to put gold stars and accolades over the actual integration of information or what my authentic interests are. Thus, I pretty blindly wanted to hit that reading goal. I found myself prioritizing faster reads that had less emotional density and required less brain power to process. When I got to the end of a book, instead of feeling awakened in some way, I had a chalky taste in my mouth from approaching novels in such a consumptive way. At their best novels are intended to create a universe for you. In a culture oriented towards constant and dizzying consumption, novels are that rare pasture left to sit and ponder and touch that lifestream within each of us. By racing to keep up with my Goodreads counter, I was swallowing books without ever really tasting them.

One thing I did learn from racing to finish the challenge was that I can sit down for five hours and read. Denting a novel enough in one session to know if I want to remain in the absorbing dreamscape suggestive of a really good book or just put it down.

Also, I typically consume poetry books like whiskey, taking a sip here or there from one poem or another that I randomly flip to. I added a few poetry collections to my list this year (partially, I'll admit, to complete my reading goal) and learned that poetry books unfold strategically and are best read in one or two sittings.

That being said, this year I won’t be setting a reading goal. I'll spend the year unafraid to savor a book, to pick up that six hundred page read and to really honor the years of labor that puts a book into my hands.

something to read & something to write:

Here were my 5-star (or pretty close to 5-star) reads in 2023

1. Couplets, Maggie Milner

2. The Guest, Emma Cline

3. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel

4. I Do Everything I’m Told, Megan Fernandes

5. Jazz, Toni Morrison

6. The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin

7. The Rachel Incident, Caroline O’ Donoghue

8. Kindred, Octavia Butler

9. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong

10. Girls Can Kiss Now, Jill Gutowitz

11. My Name is Lucy Barton, Elizabeth Strout

12. Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Malinda Lo

13. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver

In 2024, I plan to read deeper and more slowly. Here's what's on my list:

1. Let Us Descend,

2. The Bee Sting, Paul Murray

3. The Girls, Emma Cline

4. The Books of Jacob, Olga Tokarczuk

5. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro

6. A Tale for the Time Being, Ruth Ozeki

7. The Friend, Sigrid Nuñez

8. The Great Believers, Rebecca Makkai

9. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë

10. Girlhood, Melissa Febos

11. Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters

12. Chain-Gang All-Stars, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

13. Lesbian Love Story, Amelia Possanza

14. Independent People, Halldór Laxness

Something to write: This year, I started attending the free daily writing hours run by the London Writers Salon. Each hour starts with intention setting and an inspiration quote. I found it to be a super encouraging daily practice.

Next month, I’ll be back to answering sex ed questions in honor of Valentine’s. If you’d like to submit a question completely anonymously, you can do so here.

Thank you for being a reader! And, thank you for sharing my Substack with friends - I reached my goal of 29 new readers for my 29th!!

Love,

Zoe