Set a personal independent-reading goal using a "ladder" of books at increasing challenge, and explain how to judge whether a book is a good fit.
Independent reading, books you choose and read on your own outside of assigned class texts, builds something assigned reading alone cannot: sheer volume of practice, sustained personal interest, and exposure to genres and voices no single year's curriculum could fully cover. The habit matters as much as any individual book.
A quick way to judge whether a book fits you right now: open to a random page and read it, counting unfamiliar words or confusing sentences on your fingers. Very few fingers up suggests the book may be too easy to stretch you much; nearly a full hand suggests it may currently be a frustrating fight rather than a productive challenge; something in between is usually a good working fit. A reading "ladder" means deliberately choosing most books at a comfortable, enjoyable level while periodically choosing one a rung harder, in length, vocabulary, or complexity, so your reading keeps growing across the year instead of staying flat.
Mastery looks like: They can apply a concrete method for judging a book's fit and can state a specific, measurable independent-reading goal for the rest of the year.
Common stumbles: Setting a vague, unmeasurable goal ("read more books"); choosing only comfortable books, or only books far too difficult to sustain, rather than building an actual ladder.