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January is the season of resolutions, goal setting, and reading challenges. Runners are setting the time they’d like to beat this year. Movie buffs are making lists of the classics they want to get to. Knitters are promising themselves they’ll finally finish those abandoned sweaters. And book lovers are setting their reading goals, whether it’s a number they’d like to a hit or a reading challenge they’d like to complete.
But for some reason, every year, I see a chorus of social media commentary decrying reading goals as “performative” or making reading into “homework.” It puzzles me, because goal-setting is a pretty normal part of having a hobby. Not everyone does it, but many people find it motivating to having something to stretch for.
Recently, I was a guest on one of my favourite podcasts, Reading Glasses, to talk about the Read Harder Challenge, and it reminded me of what I think critics of reading goals miss: these are games, not homework assignments.
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