At the start of a new year, one common resolution people seek out is to read more books. But did you know only 8% of people actually commit to their New Year’s resolution? In terms of reading, Goodreads is here to help this resolution stick. 

Goodreads was launched back in 2007, but has become very popular recently. It is a book rating app that allows you to review books, get book recommendations, and connect with friends. Their website states, “Our mission is to help readers discover books they love and get more out of reading.”

One of the many cool attributes Goodreads contains is the yearly reading challenge. This challenge is meant for the sole purpose of helping readers read more at the start of a new year. This challenge consists of the user setting a number of books for themselves to read throughout the year. People can then use the app to mark each book they’ve read to complete that goal. Lots of users challenge themselves to read the same amount of books as the last two digits of the year. So with the year of 2024 just beginning, it’s very common to see Goodreads user’s goal set at 24 books. But keep in mind, you can set it at any number. 

While the yearly challenge is definitely the most popular, Goodreads has many more challenges and reading groups you can partake in. The app allows different members to create groups that users can join. For example, there is a group entitled “The Catch-Up Book Club” which has over 25,000 members that all read popular books they hear good things about, but have never read. The creator of the group will put out multiple books for everyone to read with a start and finish date, and then all members of the group can post in a discussion when the finish dates come around. 

Any book you read is a book that counts towards your yearly goals. So reading groups, like the one stated above, really help users to make their yearly goal. They also help readers branch out and read things they wouldn’t normally pick, while connecting with people who are reading the same thing. 

If your resolution this year is to read more books, download Goodreads. Not only does it have a section for marking each book you’ve read, but it’s also a really fun way to keep up with your resolution, and a great resource to find books suited perfectly for you. Click here to learn more about Goodreads!