Currently, the world is imploding, and fascism has America in a death grip. That said, we’re not going to allow our 2026 reading goals create any additional stress or drama. After allowing myself space in January to adjust to my new schedule when I started school at Southern New Hampshire University, I created much-needed balance. I’m ready to share my bookish goals and intentions for the year, including tiered reading goals, a reading session schedule, and plans to tackle my TBR. This soft book-buying ban confronts overconsumption, realistic bookish challenges, and yearly reading vibes. There’s so much to yap about!
2026 Reading Goals: Gentle, Slow, Sustainable
Goal #1: Tiered Reading Goals
If you saw my 2025 Reading Wrap-Up, you know I struggled to set realistic goals that fit my lifestyle. That will not be the theme for this year, as tiered reading goals are the improved approach. The idea is to create different reading tiers, with the lowest tier being the minimum goal. Upon reaching that goal, you can adjust to pursue the mid-tier goal, and upon completion, you can work to conquer the stretch goal. The goal is to avoid the stress, pressure, or guilt that can come from not meeting yearly reading goals, with much-needed flexibility for the reality that life happens, priorities shift, and schedules change. My reading tiers are 50/70/80. My base reading goal is to read 50 books in 2026. Considering how busy school has been, I believe this is realistic and achievable. However, if I surpass this goal, my mid-goal is to read 70 books, and if I achieve that, it is onward to my stretch goal of 80 books. Would you consider tiered reading goals for the year?
Goal #2: Scheduled Reading Sessions
The lesson for January was that if you don’t become a time-blocking genius and schedule your time like your life depends on it, you will not achieve balance. Hence, I am adding my reading sessions to my schedule to make reading a sustainable priority and a non-negotiable part of my day. I was inspired by Jeananine from @thisstoryaintover on YouTube after she shared her anti-brain rot reading challenge, which included reading a book for 45 minutes each day. Since my favorite times to read are in the morning and before bed, I schedule 45 minutes of nonfiction in the morning and 45 minutes of fiction before my evening downtime. If life permits time for me to enjoy additional reading sessions or get lost in a novel for an afternoon, trust and believe I will pounce on it.
Goal #3: TBR Takedown
Like other bookish creators, I am dedicated to reading through my physical TBR. Upon re-establishing my reading habit, I became overzealous with book shopping and have amassed more books than I can read in a given month. To fix this issue, I am enforcing a soft book-buying ban for one of my 2026 reading goals. It is a soft ban because I created a points system that gamifies reading and lets me earn points to purchase new books. The only caveat is that my subscriptions to Satisfiction, Cover Snob, and Black Raven Books will continue, since they are bi-monthly and quarterly. However, Book of the Month, Aardvark, and Allurial book subscriptions follow the ban’s rules. I will share more details about the 2026 book buying ban and points system in a later post.
Goal #4: Realistic Bookish Challenges
Another issue I had last year was that I overwhelmed myself with books and reading challenges. For 2026, I decided to create challenges that aligned with my goals of reading more classic literature, nonfiction, and banned books. I want to read twelve classic and nonfiction books; one for each month. Next, I am going to read one banned book and one poetry or short-story anthology each quarter. I believe this approach is more structured, realistic, and achievable. A bonus is that the majority of the books I selected for these challenges are on my physical TBR.
Lastly, I want to make sure I am reading books by BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and marginalized authors and stories. If you are not intentional about diversity, you can easily slip into creating a homogenous TBR that lacks depth and culture. A new rule I developed for 2026 is that for every white author or story I consume, I must read four BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, or otherwise marginalized authors or stories.
Vibes and Reading Style for 2026
As a philosophical reader, I rely heavily on themes, annotating, and journaling to engage with the book’s content and have an enriching experience. Hence, I decided to adopt a gentle, slow-reading approach this year. It is something I have slowly begun to embrace since fall, and with a busier schedule, I want to prioritize it. Part of this ethos involves embracing quality over quantity, avoiding rapid book consumption in favor of intentional reading. I want to engage critically with books and media and develop a deep appreciation for literature and art, which is on-brand for an English major.
Another facet of this approach is to explore the power of thematic reading. Thematic reading involves focusing on a particular topic or theme to gain a deeper understanding. For 2026, my chosen theme is identity. I have always been fascinated by identity, and my current college courses have inspired me to learn more. Here is the setup: for every book I read, I will explore how its themes relate to identity construction. Another part of this is to engage in active reading, which I believe is crucial for thematic reading. Switching from passive to active reading improves critical thinking and reading comprehension, and I am excited to see how this influences my memory and retention this year.
These are my primary 2026 reading goals. I decided on simplicity, avoiding creating a laundry list of goals. Instead, there is a short list of goals with depth, allowing me to experience them fully. I am confident this year will be even better for reading. While I do not believe I will finish the year with reading a high number of books, I am convinced that quality and experience will significantly improve. What reading goals did you decide on for 2026?
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