Blimey – it’s true, time speeds up as you get older.
So today is the first day of the second half of 2016 – a year of huge changes, with even more to come on the UK front, I suspect. But I’m leaving that well alone. This blog is about my literary life, and nothing else. (Though I might make an exception later in the year, as something really big, personally speaking, is on the horizon …)
But for now, it’s time to check in on those reading and other book related objectives for 2016. Everything was going so well at the end of Quarter 1.
End of Quarter 2 – Cue disaster on nearly all key performance indicators (KPIs). 😫
KPI 1 – Books read: 50
KPI 2 – From the pre-2016 TBR: 39 (78% Target for the year is 80%)
KPI 3 – Books translated from German: 17 (34% Target for the year is 40%)
KPI 4 – Books culled: 143
Purchase allowance = (Books read + books culled) / 5 = 38
KPI 5 – Purchase allowance balance = -12
(This means that for all the jiggery pokery I’m operating a one book read: one book bought ratio. The TBR will never reduce at this rate ….)
My self-discipline went awry during June. There was my avoid-the-Euros Independent Book Shop week related gallivant around the Borders and Northumbria and, of course, the publication of the Edinburgh Book Festival programme on 10th June, following which the inevitable spate of acquisitions. Still I’m starting on my #20booksofsummer today and that should help the realign the statistics somewhat.
I sat down last night to choose my 20 books and, given my plans for a very busy summer quarter (Jul-Sept), involving #spanishlitmonth, Edinburgh Book Festival, a trip to Prague, and Bloody Scotland, I wrote down the list below in about 5 minutes. So that’s the target for the end of September to read 20 books from this list, even though they are unlikely to improve KPIs 2 and 3, given that the list comprises mainly of 2016 releases/acquisitions and hardly any German Literature. (Not to worry, I can make up for this in the final quarter of the year.)
Are there any on my list that you particularly recommend?
Lizzy's Literary Life (Volume One) 
War With the Newts is great!
I’m going to have to steal your formula for buying books – it’s brilliant! I’m not buying books this year (with some exceptions) in an effort to reduce the TBR stack and considering continuing this next year however with a little more opportunity to buy a few new releases – your approach is the perfect way to balance both.
78% isn’t a disaster surely – its only a squeak away from your goal?
Oh, I’m speaking prophetically on that one. Only 11 of my list for the next quarter were in the pre-2016 TBR.