Here we are again – New Year’s Resolution time. Is it just me, or as you get older does twelve months fly by faster and faster? My resolutions always involve more time for reading and writing and by now I thought I’d have worked my way through my tottering 2021 TBR pile.
So, recap. Yes, I’ve read a few books. Mainly the
ones I have to read for book clubs or reviews…
But once again I feel a bit of a failure again for
not getting through as many as I’d like. (Stop writing all these good books,
people!)
New strategy for 2022: short books only. And, with
an idea borrowed off a bookish fellow on Twitter, I’m going to put a pound in a
jar every time I finish one.
So far – finished graphic novel Nimona and
William Boyd’s Trio. Kerching! £2. Enjoying Piranesi – very short!
Should be another quid by the weekend.
I read fourteen new picture books to write reviews on this week. Fourteen! Which definitely counts as reading and now my cash pile is building nicely. The jar makes a very pleasant noise when I shake it at breakfast time.
“Er, isn’t this your own money?” asks offspring. “You’re paying yourself. How’s it meant to work?”
“Questions, questions,” I say dismissively, waving
my jar. “Look how much money I’m going to make.”
“You’ll end up using it for car parks,” he says.
Generation Z, blah blah. Don’t they know a good
idea when they see it?
I return to Piranesi and read another five pence
at least. Maybe I am more motivated by money than I realized.
I write a label on my jar: “Not for car parks”.
I shall spend my earnings on a trip away to Gladstone’s
Library in North Wales. I’ve always wanted to visit, and I can have a mini
retreat, reading books and topping up the jar. This is going to work. I’ll
report back next January.
Happy New Reading Year.
Tracy Darnton is the author of YA thrillers The Rules and The Truth About Lies. Her next YA thriller, Ready or Not, is out in May.
2 comments:
Haha! I love this idea, Tracy, but if I put a pound in a jar for every book I read, the jar would probably get raided, and the sight of a couple of lonely pound coins sitting in the bottom of the jar would put me off. I think a five pound note for each book would get you to Gladstone's library quicker...I'll come too!
I love the jar idea :) And, you're right, time does speed up when you get older. Wait 'til you're my age and one year becomes about two months!! Happy reading and reviewing and enjoy your visit to Gladstone's library.
Post a Comment