Goodreads Guilt

I set a goal at the beginning of the year through my Goodreads account to read 52 books this year, or one a week.  When I finish one, I enter it into my "read" list.  And for most of the year, it told me I was a certain percentage ahead of schedule.

Until now.  The last time I logged in, I was 5 books behind.

And my A-student guilt kicked in.  I finished off Being Well, a relatively short book on mindfulness and illness, and brought it down to only 4 behind.  Which still bothers me.  I've been considering reading shorter books, instead of the long and academic tomes I've been sampling for weeks now, including At Night's Close and The Greater Journey.  I could blow through The Five Regrets of the Dying or one of my Doctor Who novels, but I'm not really interested in those right now.

And so I have to remember that the point isn't the number (or the grade) but the experience--the pleasure, the learning.  I should read what I want to and not feel guilty about the computer's algorithm (though the goal was mine.)  I've really liked entering the books I've read and the encouragement the list-keeping gives me; I've read more books this year than I've read in a decade.  But I also really like 100%.

Funny how old student habits die hard.