Apart from doing the writing and publishing side of things, taking part in the reading challenge for 2023 is another thing that I plan to do this year.

For those who aren’t familiar with the reading challenge, it’s just like the name implied.

It’s a challenge where you state the number of books you plan to read this year and commit to it until you reach the number of books you set at the beginning of the challenge.

So, how many books do you need to read if you want to take part in the reading challenge?

Well, any number of books will do.

Not going to lie that it can feel intimidating when you see a handful of people aiming to read 50 books during the reading challenge.

But if you can only manage to read 10 books throughout the challenge, that’s okay too.

You don’t need to aim to read 70 books just because a handful of people say that they want to read 50 books during the reading challenge for 2023.

Sad to say that there’s no prize for completing the challenge. The only thing you get is a badge which you can only see on your reading challenge page.

But it’s free to take part in the challenge, though. All you need is to sign up with Goodreads and you can take part in the reading challenge right away.

While we’re at it, feel free to follow me on Goodreads as well.

If you’re curious about other books that I read but didn’t make it to my blog, you can take a look at other books that I read on my Goodreads profile.

What’s more, you can also see my progress during the reading challenge if you’re interested.

Reading challenge for 2022: how do I fare?

In this blog post, I did say that I was aiming to read 25 books during the challenge.

So, did I manage to read 25 books last year?

The good news is yes, I did. I managed to read 25 books during the last year’s challenge.

But the bad news is I barely made it since I only managed to hit the mark a day or two before the challenge ended.

And that was just about it.

I didn’t read anything beyond the number of books that I set for the challenge.

Heck, I almost failed the challenge. I even thought about wanting to give up the challenge altogether since I doubt that I could complete the challenge by the deadline.

But somehow, I pushed through. After all, I only had to read six more books to complete the challenge.

What causes me to almost fail the challenge

If you’ve read the post about my goal for this year, then you already know that I spent most of my time reviving my other website, The Efficient You, launching the first digital product for the website, and rewriting my nonfiction book.

While it didn’t take that long for me to revive the website and launch a brand new product for the website, it sure does take a long time for me to finish rewriting the nonfiction book.

To be honest, I already expect that it’s going to take a while for me to finish rewriting the book since writing a book isn’t something that you can get done within a day.

But unlike most of the books that I’ve written before, this book won’t take me that long to finish rewriting.

I only need to rewrite a few chapters from scratch and that’s just about it.

That was what I thought until I began rewriting the book.

Rather than having to rewrite a select few chapters, I have to write most of the chapters from scratch since most of the information in the book is already outdated at this point.

As a result, it took me a while to get the first draft done.

And with the writing that took a lot longer than I expected, I just don’t have the time to read more than what I set for the reading challenge.

The saving grace

Sadly, most of the books that I read during the challenge are mainly manga.

Well, what can I say?

It took me less time to read manga than to read light novels and nonfiction books.

So, it makes sense that I end up reading more manga when it’s the only book that I can read in one sitting.

It’s hard to do with light novels and nonfiction books even if they’re short reads.

While I don’t think that I would be cutting down on reading manga this year, I still hope that I can read more light novels and nonfiction books just as much as I would with manga this year.

There are many interesting books that I want to read and I hope that I get to read all of them this year.

As always, you can expect to see these books on my blog if I find that they’re worth reading.

How many books do I plan to read this year?

How many books that I plan to read during the reading challenge for 2023 when the number of books that I plan to read for the last year’s challenge was 25 books?

Believe it or not, the number of books that I plan to read this year doesn’t change at all.

Yes, the number of books that I plan to read for this year is the same as the last year which is 25.

Why am I not challenging myself to read more books this year?

Isn’t that supposed to be the whole purpose of the reading challenge?

Well yes, I should challenge myself to read more books than I did this year.

But with so many things that I want to do this year, I don’t think that it’s a good idea to increase the number when I barely meet my target number last year.

As much as I want to read more, I don’t want to stretch myself too thin.

Thus, the number of books that I want to read this year remains the same.

Will I exceed the number of books that I plan to read this year?

Well, the possibility is there, of course. But for now, I’m aiming to read 25 books this year which is a doable number for me.

Will you be taking part in the reading challenge for 2023?

If you always want to read more this year but you need a nudge to do so, then this reading challenge can be what you need.

Unless you’re an avid reader yourself, then it’s best to aim for a smaller number.

The last thing you want is for you to feel stressed every time you think about this challenge.

If that’s your impression about the reading challenge, then it doesn’t hurt to start by reading a small number of books even if the number looks pitiful to some people.

The only thing that matters the most is you start reading. How many books you read by the end of the year is another matter altogether.

At least you read something rather than not reading any books at all.

If you’re taking part in the reading challenge, let me know how many books you plan to read in the comment below.

And don’t forget to follow me on Goodreads if you haven’t already.

P.S. If you enjoy reading original light novels and you’re looking for a new book to read, consider adding my books to your reading list as well.

Wondering what kind of books I write? You can take a look at all of them right here on my Payhip store:

Books by Sekina Mayu on Payhip

Don’t forget to use the coupon code SEKINAMAYUBLOG during checkout to receive 25% off on your purchase.

Just to let you know that my books are also available in print and on retailers such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Apple Books.

But you can only get a discount when you buy any of the books from my Payhip store, though.