22 Best Reading Goals for Adults to Try in 2024

Are you looking to challenge yourself in your reading life? No matter whether you feel like you’re crushing it or struggling with your reading journey, setting specific reading goals and reaching those goals can be a great way to stay motivated and grow both as a person and in your reading.

In fact, setting reading goals is actually one of the best reading habits you can cultivate and offers lots of benefits! So if you’re looking to set reading goals for yourself this year (whether for New Year’s Resolutions or anytime of the year), here are the best reading goals for adults to help you challenge yourself in your reading!

1. Read More Books

The first, and perhaps most popular, reading goal for adults is to read more books. This works well no matter how much you normally read, because you can simply set a goal to compete with your past self by doing more than you did before!

If you read 2 books last year, read at least 3 this year. If you read 12 last year, read at least 13 this year. All you have to do is beat your past self to win at this reading goal!

2. Read a Specific Number of Books a Year

Similarly to reading more books, reading a specific number of books a year is another of the most popular reading goals for adults. This one works much in the same way as the reading more goal, but instead of giving yourself a minimum number of books to read you’ll set an actual, specific goal you want to reach.

Maybe that number for you is 12 books a year (one a month) or 52 books a year (one per week). Or maybe you read a lot already, so your goal is 100 books a year. Or maybe it’s 200! The sky’s the limit in setting this goal…well, and also the constraints of having only 8,760 hours per year. But we don’t talk about that 😉

3. Read a Specific Number of Pages a Day

If you feel like a goal of setting a certain number of books to finish in a year is too daunting, maybe you want to go with a slightly different goal instead: setting a specific number of pages to read per day.

This goal is also highly customizable, and is great because it’s easily measurable too! Whether you choose read 10 pages per day or 100, this goal will definitely set you on the path toward good reading habits (and keep you away from those pesky bad reading habits). Plus, you’ll feel awesome and get that sweet, sweet dopamine rush when you reach your goal each day, too!

4. Spend More Time Reading

Another good general goal that is similar to reading more books is to simply try to spend more time reading. To do this, you’ll first need to ask yourself how much time you’re already spending reading.

Do you read maybe 5 minutes a day? Try to read at least 6+ minutes. Do you read for half an hour? Try to read for 31+ minutes! The fun thing about this goal is you can gradually up the amount of time you’re spending reading as you find yourself able to reach and beat your previous times consistently.

5. Read a Specific Number of Minutes A Day

Another similar measurable reading goal would be to set a specific number of minutes to read per day. This can be a good goal if you don’t want to be locked into a specific number of pages to read (what if you end up in the middle of a chapter?!) but still want that dopamine from reaching a goal every day.

You don’t have to go crazy with this goal to get the benefits, either. You can set whatever number of minutes works for you, whether that’s 5 minutes or an hour or more!

6. Read One Chapter Every Day or Night

Looking for another idea for a daily, measurable goal as a reader? If so, then you might want to consider setting yourself a goal to read one chapter every day or night. This is such an easy and rewarding goal, as you already have a complete unit (one chapter) measured out for you and don’t have to keep track of how many pages you’ve read or how long you’ve been reading

Plus, with this goal, you’ll always know you’ll stop reading at a good and easy-to-remember place…even if occasionally you’ll end on a cliff-hanger of a chapter ending…

7. Read More Genres

Do you ever find yourself drawn to one or two genres and find you read these almost exclusively? If so, then maybe this year you want to challenge yourself to read more genres as your reading goal!

Maybe you normally read thrillers/mystery books…so perhaps this year you want to branch out to science fiction or historical fiction. Maybe you usually only read fiction, so you want to try to read more non-fiction too.

Whatever your specific case, there’s a whole world of books out there to explore and maybe reading more genres is how you want to do that this year!

8. Read More Diverse Books

Like reading more genres, the goal to read more diverse books is a great way to push yourself out of your comfort zone a little! To choose this goal, you’ll want to try to read more books from a culture or perspective that is not as familiar to you.

This could include reading books by authors and/or about characters from a wide range of experiences and perspectives, including race, disabilities, religion, etc.

While generally we consider diverse books to be those not typically given representation in media or in English literature specifically, reading diversely could look differently for you depending on what is already familiar or normal to you. The goal of this reading goal is to get you out of your comfort zone and experience more about the lives and perspectives of those you might not be as familiar with!

9. Read More of Books You Wouldn’t Normally Read

This reading goal sounds similar to some of the others we’ve discussed already, but is perhaps a bit more “contrarian” than others already mentioned. Basically, with reading more books you wouldn’t normally read, the challenge is to pick up books that you’d normally be SO quick to pass by.

This can be a good way to challenge yourself, because you never know what you’ll learn or experience even from something you didn’t think you’d enjoy or appreciate. Maybe after reading it you still won’t particularly enjoy it, but again you’re getting out of your comfort zone and doing hard things and that’s a huge accomplishment!

10. Read More Books You Like

While the previous goal was all about doing hard things even when you don’t like them, this reading goal is basically the antidote: resolve to read more of the books you like!

Love sci-fi? Read all the sci-fi! Love biographies? Read more biographies! Basically, if there are types of books that bring you joy, this goal is all about embracing those books and embracing that joy. What a fun goal to set for yourself for the year!

11. Read an Entire Series (or Catalog) by an Author

Another fun challenge could be to find an author you like (or, I guess you could find one you don’t like too…) and then to try to read an entire series they’ve written—or go big and try to read their entire catalog!

While this can sound daunting, you do get to customize this goal to your own preferences. Some series are super long, while others are pretty short. Some authors have written a TON and reading their whole catalog is a huge challenge, while others have written fewer books and would make this challenge easier. You get to decide how easy or how hard you want this challenge to be!

12. Read All the Books on Your Shelf

I know I’m not the only bookworm who brings home books, set them on my shelf, and then…sometimes doesn’t actually get around to reading them. Sound familiar? If so, then this goal to read all the books on your shelf is the reading goal for you!

Depending on your situation, your “shelf” might be an actual physical shelf or might be a digital shelf (if you like reading ebooks and sometimes buy and don’t actually read them). Or maybe it’s both for you! Either way, setting a goal to read all the books you own but haven’t yet read is a fun challenge!

13. Read All the Books On Your TBR

How’s your TBR list looking? Is it pretty full? If so, you’ve got the makings of a great reading goal right there: read all the books on your TBR!

Dedicating yourself to reading all the books on your TBR is a great way to get through all the fun books that past you recommended to yourself. You’ll likely discover several things, including lots of exciting new books and (perhaps) the fact that your reading tastes have changed over time as well. But this is a great challenge to wipe your TBR slate clean in preparation for all the new books you’re going to want to add to it this year!

14. DNF Books You Don’t Like

If you’re the type of reader who feels that you need to finish reading every book you start (even when you hate it), then setting a goal to DNF books you don’t like is an excellent idea! This is also a good choice for you if you’ve found yourself not enjoying reading as much anymore but want to enjoy reading again.

With this goal, you give yourself permission to stop reading things you don’t like. That means you can DNF a book at any point if you find yourself not enjoying it. It also means you can stop reading books your friends recommended/gave to you if you aren’t enjoying them (even if its your friend’s favorite book!). Sometimes we have to read things we don’t like especially for learning purposes, but reading should also be fun…so this year this goal can help you re-find the fun in reading!

Having trouble knowing when to DNF? Here’s a guide to help you know when you should stop reading a book!

15. Try a New Reading Format

Different reading formats (print, digital, audiobook) can be pretty polarizing in the book world. Do you find yourself committed to one format? Maybe you’re a confirmed print reader, or a confirmed ebook reader. If that’s the case, then your goal this year could be to try reading in a new-to-you format!

Sometimes we choose to read in a specific format because that’s really what works best for us, and that’s perfectly fine! But if you find yourself reading a specific format just because you’ve never really given the other ones a chance, then this goal can help you branch out and try something new in your reading life.

Want to try audiobooks this year? Get a free 30 day trial of Audible + up to two free audiobooks!

16. Keep a Reading Journal

If you’re an avid reader and don’t yet have a reading journal, now’s the time to start!

There are many benefits to keeping a reading journal, including being easily able to find the names of books you read in the past (no more having to try to find a book you forgot the name of!). Journaling can also boost information retention and reading comprehension, among other benefits as well.

There are lots of different methods and apps for tracking your reading, so if you want to give this goal a try be sure to check out this handy guide to some of the best reading trackers so you can find one you like. Keeping a reading journal can be as simple or as detail-filled as you like, so there’s definitely a method that will work for everyone and anyone!

17. Stop Buying Books (Or Buy Fewer)

For those of us who love reading, buying books can be a big addiction (And books are expensive! Bookworm problems, amirite?!). So if you’ve found yourself buying way more books than you can read anytime soon, then maybe you want to challenge yourself to stop buying books as your reading goal this year. Or, if that’s too big of a commitment, at least commit to buying fewer.

This goal can work in a lot of different ways. You can do a short-term buying ban (like a month or 3 months) or a full year of only reading books you already own, books from the library, and books that are gifted to you. You can tailor this goal to be as stretching or not stretching as you want it to be, so if your book buying is getting out of hand then try adding this as one of your 2024 reading goals!

18. Join a Reading Challenge

Love lists and/or things that feel like competitions? If so, then joining a reading challenge could be an excellent idea for your adult reading goals this year!

Reading challenges give participants a list of books or book prompts to help them read a specific number of books, usually within a specific timeframe. Sometimes there are year-long reading challenges, and other times there’s specific challenges just for the summer or for other seasons. Sometimes you get to choose your own books from prompts (like the A-Z reading challenge, where you read a book with a title beginning with every letter of the alphabet) and other times you’re given a specific list of books to read (like a Classic Books challenge).

There are tons of reading challenges out there, so you have a lot of variety and fun choices when choosing this as your reading goal this year!

19. Join a Book Club

Looking to make your reading more social this year? If so, then a great reading goal could be to join a book club!

There are so many benefits of joining a book club, so this could definitely be worth a try (especially if you’ve never been in a book club before). Different book clubs will have different rules and varying schedules (e.g. some may meet weekly, some monthly, and some once a quarter, etc.), and some will meet online while others will meet in person.

While the book club experience varies from book club to book club, this is actually a good thing as it allows you to find one that fits your needs and personality. So look into joining a book club as your reading goal this year, or perhaps even try starting your own book club instead!

20. Organize Your Bookshelves

If the bookshelves in your house overfloweth, then another wonderful idea for a reading-related goal would be to organize your bookshelves this year.

Once again, this can be customized to your own needs and how much organization you want to do. Want to do a complete overhaul of your bookshelves (complete with organizing and cataloging?) If so, I have a 14-day book organization challenge that leads you through the process step by step.

A complete overhaul can help you organize and set up a system to keep your books cared for well and help you find them easier, especially if you have a lot of books (or so many books they don’t fit on your shelves!) But if you don’t want to do a complete overhaul, you can also commit to just organizing one or two shelves as your goal…or to making your shelves prettier by cleaning them up and adding fun decorations!

21. Declutter Your Books

Speaking of organization, another goal you could set is to declutter your books. This is an especially good goal if you don’t have enough shelf space for all the books you currently own!

Now, I’m not asking you to give away your precioussssssss books (don’t we all understand Gollum when it comes to the books we love?) But if you still own books you didn’t really like, books that you’re never going to read again, etc., then it may be time to take a look through your shelves and see what you don’t need or want anymore.

If a whole overhaul of your bookshelves is too much to do, then simply working toward decluttering your books can be a great alternative. Here’s a step-by-step guide to decluttering your books to help you get started!

22. Declutter Your TBR List

And last but not least, decluttering your TBR list is another great organizational reading goal if you’re feeling like you TBR has gotten slightly out of hand!

TBR lists as so easy to let get out of hand, because it’s so easy to find shiny new books we want to add to our lists before we’ve even finished reading all the other books we’ve added. Additionally, as the years go by, our reading tastes sometimes change so our TBR might not even fully reflect the books we want to read anymore.

If you’ve had your TBR list for a while and it just keeps growing, then setting a goal to reduce your TBR and declutter it could be super helpful. If you choose this for one of your reading goals this year, learn all about how you can reduce your TBR list here!

Need help creating a personalized reading goal? Follow this step-by-step guide to create the perfect reading goal for you!