How Many Books Should You Read a Year? A Realistic Way to Set Your Goal

Every January the same question comes round: how many books should I aim for? The honest answer is that there isn't a correct number. Fifty is a popular round figure, but it's only a good goal if it happens to fit your life, and for plenty of people it doesn't. A goal that's too big gets quietly abandoned in March. One that's too small never changes what you read.

A better approach is to work backwards from the time you actually have. It takes about two minutes, and it gives you a number you'll believe in.

Start with pages, not books

A book count hides a lot of variation. A 200-page novel and an 800-page history both count as "one book", but they're very different amounts of reading. Pages per day is a steadier way to think about it. Here's what a daily habit adds up to over a year, assuming an average book of around 300 pages:

• 10 pages a day is about 3,650 pages a year, or roughly 12 books. One a month, with room to spare.
• 20 pages a day is about 7,300 pages, or roughly 24 books. Two a month.
• 30 pages a day is about 10,950 pages, or roughly 36 books. Three every two months.
• 50 pages a day is about 18,250 pages, or roughly 60 books. More than one a week.

Most people read somewhere between 20 and 40 pages in half an hour, depending on the book and how fast they read. So a daily half hour usually lands you in the 24 to 36 book range. Of course, nobody reads every single day, so it helps to build in slack.

Pick a number that fits your life

Some rough starting points, depending on how reading currently fits into your week:

• You barely read at the moment. Aim for 6 to 12 books. One a month is a real change if you're starting from near zero, and it's a goal you can hit even in a busy month.
• You read a bit, mostly on holiday or before bed. Aim for 12 to 24 books. A page-a-day habit on top of what you already do gets you most of the way there.
• You read most days. Aim for 24 to 40 books. This is the range where the goal starts to be about variety and not just volume.
• Reading is a major hobby. Fifty or more is realistic, especially if audiobooks count for you. Just be honest about whether a big number is making you choose shorter, easier books to hit it.

Why a smaller goal usually works better

A target you comfortably beat feels very different from one you're always behind on. If you aim for 20 and finish 28, you've had a good year. If you aim for 60 and finish 40, you've read 40 books, which is excellent, but it can feel like failure. Setting the goal a little below what you think you can do keeps reading enjoyable, which is the whole point.

It also lets you read what you want. A fixed count quietly pushes you towards short books, and a long novel you're enjoying shouldn't feel like it's costing you progress. If you find that happening, switch to a pages-a-day or minutes-a-day goal instead.

Make the goal harder to forget

The most common reason a reading goal fails is not that the number was wrong. It's that nobody checked where they were. By the time you look in June, you're either impressively ahead or too far behind to bother. A few things help:

• Break it into months. 24 books a year is two a month, which is much easier to keep in your head than a year-long total.
• Check in monthly. Look at where you are on the first of each month and adjust. Falling behind by one book is fixable. Falling behind by ten isn't.
• Log books as you finish them. Everything gets harder if you try to reconstruct the year from memory in December.

Keep track without a spreadsheet

FolioStory's Reading Challenges let you set an annual book count or a monthly pace, then update automatically as you log books, so you can see at a glance whether you're ahead or behind. If you want some ideas for what to read towards your goal, our 12 reading challenge ideas for 2027 are a good place to start, and there's a 12-genre challenge if you'd like some variety built in. Prefer paper? There's also a printable 2027 reading tracker.

Quick answers

Is 12 books a year good? Yes. One book a month is a solid, achievable goal, and it's more than many people read.

Do audiobooks count? It's your goal, so it's up to you. If the point is to spend more time with stories and ideas, an audiobook counts. If you're tracking pages read, you might keep them separate.

What if I fall behind? Don't try to catch up with a burst of speed-reading. Reset the target for the rest of the year to something realistic and carry on. A goal you adjust is better than one you drop.