Reading Goals For Every Level of Reader to Try in 2026
Your reading goals aren't just about numbers, but rather, creating a satisfying reading life that's totally bespoke.
Hi Friday night readers,
January 2026 has me thinking all about reading goals—last year’s and this year’s. And it’s not just about numbers.
Taking the time to think about what we really want out of our reading lives, writing it down, and planning makes it so much more likely we’ll have satisfying reading years, so let’s do just that together!
This is a very long post that works best in a browser, but I think it’s a really great one! I hope it inspires you to slow down on this short January day to reflect. And at the very end, there’s an extra personal behind-the-scenes look at my 2025 and 2026 business goals for founding members.
My Reading Goals for 2025 and 2026
Overall, I’m pleased with my 2025 reading year. I’m pretty chill about my reading life and don’t beat myself up over something that is supposed to be a fun hobby. It wasn’t perfect, but neither am I. Here’s how the nitty-gritty broke down:
2025
Wins
100+ books read. (I read 115.)
Finished all of Jane Austen’s novels.
Completed our 5th annual Rory Gilmore reading challenge (one book per month from Gilmore Girls).
Somewhere in the Middle
I did read some backlist titles on my short list (like Frankenstein and Misery— both five stars), but I missed a few others (like The Poisonwood Bible and Braiding Sweetgrass). They’re high on my 2026 list.
I did engage in less impulse reading based on hype and less “auto-buying” of authors, but a few of these picks still made my list of the year's biggest disappointments. I’m taking even more of a “wait and see” approach this year.
Opportunities
I didn’t read a book from every state in the U.S.A. (It’s been several years running, I only have a few left, and I really made no effort to finish.)
2026
Read 75-100 books. (Yes, fewer, but hopefully BETTER books for me. This will also force me not to multitask too much with audiobooks, which I think is impacting my focus.)
Complete our 6th annual Rory Gilmore reading challenge and make more of an effort to watch their adaptations. I think this will also help me stay off my phone at night when I’m too tired to read.
Read one entry a day from my Bedside Companion for Book Lovers: An Anthology of Literary Delights for Every Night of the Year. I’m doing this every morning instead of picking up my phone first.
Finish Ann Patchett’s backlist (only a few left).
Finish my challenge to read a book from every state in the U.S.A.
Your Reading Goals
Asking for your input on this post truly made my New Year, and I hope to do more of it in 2026. Like-minded community reading is so important to our reading lives, and this is a quick, easy, and positive way for us to engage.
2025
All responders were happy with their 2025 reading year, which is great! Here is what some of you accomplished. Bravo!
“15 books over, highest ever - 75! Audiobooks helped a lot when I didn’t feel well enough to read.”
“Great! I finished 55 books this year. Read one horror and found 3 new authors”
“Good, achieved what I want. Also I read a bunch of classics who were once intimidating”
“Hit GoodReads goal including three +500 page books”
“53 books! Finished another George Eliot novel - 2 left! Read 3 RG Challenge books"!”
“I read 54 of my 50 book goal! And my 9yo loves books too”
2026
The most common response to your 2026 reading goals was some variation of more backlist books, more classics, and more physical books you already own. I also loved hearing more than one person mention “connection.” These sentiments fit our community and our Rory Gilmore reading challenge perfectly!
“Read with connection - more buddy reads, and visiting more used bookstores with a friend along to enjoy the experience together.”
“Reading more about women in different times, fiction and non fiction”
“Stop rushing through books. I’m trying to finish & not enjoying the peace books bring”
“Reading more of a split between fiction and non-fiction”
“To read less and enjoy more, read more classics, to read all of Edith Wharton”
“Fewer 3 star books, more 5 star books. I’ll do this through DNF’ing & choosing books more intentionally.”
“I lined up a shelf of books that I already own that I know I want to read. My goal is to read them.”
“I’m hoping this is the year I read more “classics” and just as many backlist as front list.”
“Read more off my TBR shelf, read more books off the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge, complete some of the series I have started and never finished.”
“I’d like to get back into reading every night before bed.”
“Write down what I read in a little reading book.”
“I would like to try to read different from norm genres once every three months”
“Reading more of my physical TBR”
“Reading more diversely and more translated works”
Reading Goal Ideas by Reading Level
Hopefully, the above got your juices flowing about what your own reading life means to you. Now, let’s expand even further. Here is a list of ideas I’ve kept for years on my blog, categorized by reading level to make it extra easy for you to decide what fits your bespoke book life.
For Beginners
If you’re new, these goals will help you read more, discover books you’ll actually enjoy, and be more accountable about reading.
Read more books.
Keep a list of books to read.
Read more of what you already like.
Spend more time reading.
Participate in a reading challenge.
Join a book club.
Try a book subscription.
Track your reading.
Quit reading books you start but don’t like.
I recommend that new readers commit to a certain number of pages or books per day, week, month, or year. Alternatively, you can choose a time to commit to reading. This was the first reading goal I set, and it sent me on a life-changing journey. It literally started with me simply asking myself, “What if I could read 50 books this year?”
A good daily reading goal is 10 pages or minutes. It’s very realistic to achieve, yet it also sets you up to finish one book a month.
As a beginner, you should also spend time deciding what books to read. To do this quickly, consider the books you already liked and search for similar ones.
Or, if you want to read like a Gilmore, let me do the heavy lifting for you by joining our Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge. I send tons of recommendations and reviews throughout the year, specific to this type of reader.
I also recommend that beginners track their reading because it both keeps you on course and feels satisfying. Paid subscribers here get a printable reading journal for just that purpose!
Lastly, beginners should know that quitting the books you don’t like is ok! I’ve seen so many readers get into a reading slump because they feel they “have to” finish a book, which just leads them to procrastinate and fall behind.
I’m here to tell you that quitting is for winners when it comes to books you just don’t like.
For Intermediate Readers
If you’re ready to move on to more diverse reading goals, these intermediate goals help you broaden your literary horizons and get outside your reading comfort zone.
Read different genres.
Read more diverse books.
Read from more debut/indie authors.
Read an entire series.
Read the entire catalog of an author.
Read more “backlist books” than newly published books.
Read the books you already own.
Read in a different format(s).
Learn a new skill through books.
Pair your reading with a real-life event, like watching the movie adaptation, traveling to a book location, or attending an author event.
Branch out by testing different genres and authors, formats (like audiobooks, graphic books, or Kindle ebooks), and books about other people, places, or things.
At this point, you may also be influenced on social media by flashy new books that don’t live up to your expectations, so instead, you can reel things in and commit to a series or backlist books. This was my favorite intermediate reading goal because I missed out on many excellent books, and it works perfectly in our Rory Gilmore reading challenge.
Lastly, the intermediate level is a great time to weave reading into your real life through literary travel and recipes from your books. It makes reading a more holistic experience!
For Advanced Readers
If the above reading goals sound like a piece of cake, it’s time for a complex challenge. These goals force you to think about reading in new ways.
Organize or declutter your bookshelves.
Read multiple books at once.
Read something that’s “hard.”
Re-read your favorite books.
Read fewer books.
Buy fewer books.
Once readers reach the expert level, their shelves can get out of control, so it’s a good time to de-clutter, engage in less reading (and book buying), and/or learn to read more efficiently.
For example, you can consume long, hard classic books or books in another language. Many Friday night readers do this, and it amazes me! Personally, I try to commit to reading a big book each season because it forces me to pick it up, yet it feels less daunting over a few months. This is how I finally tackled Rory Gilmore’s favorite book, Anna Karenina (and yes, it was worth it!).
Lastly, since you’ve already accomplished much in your reading life, it’s a good idea to revisit a book that sparked the most joy in your past reading life. It’s one of those things we say we want to do but never actually get around to. It’s almost guaranteed to make you feel good, which is, obviously, a huge win!
Friday Night Readers is a reader-supported publication that has been reading the books on Gilmore Girls since 2020.
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P.S. Behind the Scenes of Goals at Friday Night Readers
Founding members get a raw, behind-the-scenes look at my life and business, so let’s get real about 2025 and 2026. Below the paywall, I share exactly why the first half of 2025 was one of my worst years ever, how my rebrand and move to Substack changed that, exactly how many paid subscribers I have right now, and how I plan to make money as a creator in 2026. (This has been my full-time job for 4 years now.) I find this kind of stuff fascinating and hope my VIPs do, too!