Do I Need a Reading Goal?

Disclaimer: 'Voracious Reader' did not challenge ANYONE but herself.

My friend 'Voracious Reader' has unintentionally thrown down the gauntlet. She plans to read 108 books during 2011, points out that that means 9 books a month, and writes she is ahead of the game even during this short month of February. By my calculations that means she has already read 18 books this year. I have read 6.

I am so far off track for a goal of that sort already that I can't even begin to compete. Being nicknamed 'Random Reader', I find it difficult to keep to any reading plan. A couple of years back I pledged to read the year's top 10 fiction books as chosen by Entertainment Weekly. I kept getting side-tracked and ended by skipping the last two.

Understand I realize it is not necessary to always have a goal but it sounds like such fun and gives weight and meaning to something that is so enjoyable. It gives you a reason to stop other activities and focus on reading. And, of course, now I have the delightful task of finding a suitable goal when two months of the year are already gone. Perhaps the goal will have a totally different concept that treats time differently. Time to ponder.