Sunday, October 11, 2015

It's October. Time to count pages. (AKA Kelly's Status Report)

Dear Jenny,

After a strong start this year... I fell behind. In fact, I'm shocked to realize that my last real post was in May! (It was the preview post for book #6 -- Roald Dahl -- I was still on track then!) This week, I finally posted the Night Manager for my #7 (even though it almost killered me.) (Ha.)

I finished reading the Dahl awhile back (need to write it up) (if I can remember it -- thank goodness I took a few notes!) and I've begun Turn of the Screw/Daisy Miller.

So, as I have done every year after our first year of this blog, I will now drop the two longest books left in my pile, count the pages left in the rest, and math out my page-per-day push for the rest of the year. Here's what's left (excluding the Henry James, as that's already underway):
That puts me at a little over 15 pages/day to complete by the end of the year. Except... you and I are reading the DFW together in December. So I really should finish the other books before Dec 1.

Re-math bumps me up to almost 18p/day through the end of November. Still doable. Just need to... get on it.

(I have been reading. Just not my TBR books. Heh.)

For kicks and giggles (and to procrastinate on getting my 18 pages of Henry James in today -- but I'll save that problem for a separate dedicated post), I looked to see what I had posted previously with my "final countdown" posts:
  • 2012 : I started worrying in late September.  (Click that link -- I had a really giant intimating stack!) At that point, I had 20pp/day to read. 
  • 2013 : Late October and the stack was far more manageable looking. And it was: only 17pp/day to get to my goal. 
  • 2014 : Early October (What? No picture of the stack?!) and my big issue was not number of pages per day to get through (a paltry 15) but the fact that I had not written up most of my books (at that point, I had only posted about *3* of them!)
Sooo... I'm doing better than most years, I guess. 18/day + behind by only one write up. Of course, the rest of the year will speed by and I predict I will be scrambling during those final few weeks to get everything written up. Maybe not. But... probably. (Who am I kidding?)

Up next: the Dahl re-cap and the James preview.

love,
kelly

5 comments:

  1. Actual LOL at this post by the way. (I thought I already commented on this! Sorry!)

    I like your tracking of when the panic sets in. I'm sort of panicked because I am fairly certain whatever books I have left I'll tackle after this quarter is over. I should shoot for trying to knock one out one weekend now that grade reports are over...but it's a problem.

    I need to evaluate and get back to you on this.

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  2. Hmmm. Not as terrible as I thought. I have to do 3 more, and one of those we'll do together in December.

    I think I might have to page count this, or I've been considering aBooking Their Eyes Were Watching God. Maybe this will get my ass in gear.

    J

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  3. Stopping in to report current progress -- things have been going oddly, mostly because I have been choosing books based on location (Traveling? Small book. At home? Big one!)

    I finished Turn of the Screw (aBook). I probably should have written more about it when I read it because I can't remember much. And then I didn't read Daisy Miller right away, so I gotta finish that up. (Fortunately, it is short and seems far more readable... we'll see.)

    I have started The Fourth Hand but have not gotten too far. Put that down because I had a trip, so I grabbed the smallest book -- Fugitives and Refugees, which I have almost finished. (Spoiler alert: That book sucks. I am having a hard time distilling my review down because I'm so mad about it.)

    Have not yet started From Girls to Grrrlz. but I think it's going to be quick (it's short and there are pictures!)

    Soooo... that leaves me with about 25 pages per day to read this month if I intend to get done with these four before December. The good news is that I have a week off at Thanksgiving, so I might have a chance!

    Otherwise, I'll just be doubling (or tripling?) up the month of December when we read the DFW. I'd rather not do that as the holidays are a busy time and I'm concerned about getting through that book (I have a feeling I'm going to be happy we are doing it together.)

    Oh, crud. Just realized I still need to write up the Dahl. "I read this book. Done." Hrm.

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  4. I feel like there has to be a place in this world for the "this sucks" review, you know? Although I do like some details, especially when something makes you mad.

    I am really counting on Thanksgiving to get me through this year! I can also look at DFW and maybe we can come up with a reading plan that will work for this crazy end of the year we both have going on.

    And for the Dahl...I know it was a struggle to get through it. I think we've set the bar pretty high for these reviews! They don't all have to be like that!

    Your cheerleader,
    Jenny

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  5. Here's my status report:

    I'm listening/reading to Their Eyes Were Watching God, and my goal is to get that done by Thanksgiving. It's not that long. I'm maybe a third of the way through?

    DFW, obviously, is on deck.

    That means I have to pick one more book. I don't think it's going to be Mrs. Dalloway. So either White Girls or The Known World. We'll see which one grabs me. I might try to hit The Known World, only because I think it's been on my list before, and I do really want to read it. But if it was on my list *two years* and I didn't read it, that seems like I won't ever finish it. But, I could easily roll White Girls to next year.

    All right. Maybe this will inspire me to listen to a little more of Their Eyes Were Watching God!

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