2014 in Reading: General Thoughts
06 February 2015
By now I know better than to promise actual series of posts (I never stick with it--bad blogger! Lazy blogger!), but what I'm hoping to do for a while is to look back on my year of reading that was, 2014. For the first time ever I kept a reading spreadsheet (other than using this blog, I have never kept a reading list, spreadsheet, or journal), and wow, that was kind of interesting. So far I've continued it into 2015, but who knows how long that will last? Bad spreadsheeter! Lazy spreadsheeter!
So here's a few things I learned about keeping a reading spreadsheet, just to ease us into this topic.
1. I hate Excel. Christ, do I hate Excel. At least once a year I think, hey, I should learn Excel, it would be a good skill, I should talk to my brother, he's an Excel wizard, etc. etc. And every time I open Excel my eye starts twitching and my soul starts shriveling. I hate Excel. I will never have even adequate Excel skills. I hate it as I hate most computer programs, math, and really, doing anything that is good for me but also slightly challenging (e.g., dieting, exercising, thinking positive thoughts).
2. Because of #1, I will not be sharing any fun graphs or real number-type crunching. I have tracked what I read, but will probably still have to tot up numbers on paper, because I lack the will to bend Excel to mine.
3. It's kind of a pain in the ass to track what you read. And, it takes away from actual reading time. Anyone else track what they read? Why? Should I keep it up?
More on actual reading results to come. Overall? It was a good reading year. I think when I do run the numbers I'll have a surprising fiction total--I was just in kind of a fiction place in 2014. Most likely because I only got the chance to read about four sentences in a row before someone needed something in the household. Turns out fluffy fiction's easier to read than intense nonfiction when you've got people wanting meals, snacks, drinks, baths, bathroom breaks, picture books (many times over), you name it.