Last year, I read 20 books, which would have been spiffy if my goal hadn't been to read 52 books. I was obviously doing something wrong and doing it often.

To ensure I don't fail to reach my goal this year, I'm giving myself a few rules and recommendations to follow at the end of this entry.

But first, here's the list of books I read:

1. Pyramids by Terry Pratchett
2. Eric by Terry Pratchett
3. Blood Rites by Jim Butcher
4. A Summer of Travel in the High Sierra by Joseph N. LeConte
5. The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring by Richard Preston
6. Lost in My Own Backyard by Tim Cahill
7. Microserfs by Douglas Coupland
8. Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis
9. The Black Dove by Steve Hockensmith
10. The Noble Outlaw by Bernard Knight
11. Mountain Madness by Robert Birkby
12. The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett
13. Rowing to Latitude by Jill Fredston
14. First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde
15. Flashman and the Tiger by George MacDonald Fraser
16. Zero Days by Barbara Egbert
17. American Creation by Joseph J. Ellis
18. Nation by Terry Pratchett
19. Henry Knox: Visionary General of the American Revolution by Mark Puls
20. The Book of Guys by Garrison Keillor

The hot author of 2008 was Terry Pratchett (or is that Sir Terry Pratchett now?). I read three of his books. This year, I intend to read (or possibly re-read) three or four more because life is always better with laughter.

Life is also better with charts, which is why I've included a few for your visualizing pleasure.

Now about those rules and recommendations I mentioned earlier. Here they are:

• Always carry a book (it makes the reading easier)
• Read every day (and everywhere)
  
• Read early, when your eyes and brain are fresh
• Read late (think of it as a bedtime story)
• Read at lunch, away from the desk
• Keep a daily log (I just created one using Google Docs)
• Don't read in front of the TV to avoid the temptation of DVDs and the Wii
• Listen to music to drown out distractions
• Take reading hikes (don't read and hike, just hike to a vista point and read)
• Be like Elkit. She read a whopping 53 books last year. Darn overachiever!

If I heed my own words, I should be able to reach the goal of a book a week this year. And since I'm burning through my lunch break to write this, I'll stop here and salvage the last few minutes to crack open a book.

We're only five days into 2009 and I already feel five days behind. It isn't the best feeling in the world, but it could be worse. I'm not going to imagine how it could be worse or list the Top 5 ways it could be worse¹. I'm just certain it could be (and without much arm twisting either).

It seems I'm not the only one slow to start the new year. This morning's bus had a mere six people on it, including the driver. I'd like to imagine that everybody else was still snug in their beds, waiting for spring to arrive or the pain to subside from exercising too much at the gym in an attempt to keep that perennial resolution to get in shape (whichever came first). The transit agency could have saved a few bucks if it had sent a minivan or a bobsled² instead.

The office has also been quiet. The lack of interruptions has been bliss. I've had time to focus and grasp the full extent of how far behind I am. If only it were this peaceful every day of the year. Of course, if that were the case, I might actually get ahead, thereby creating a rift in the fabric of reality and destroying the entire planet³, making it difficult to catch the last episodes of Pushing Daisies this summer or seeing how awful the Giants are this season.

I hope the slow start means nobody will be shopping tonight. I intend to hit the hardware store and purchase the smaller units of my home workshop/hiker hut/future hideout. My current sketch shows it occupying a third of the garage (a.k.a. the cat's apartment). When finished, all of our hiking gear, camping gear, and tools will have a home. I'll also have a place to daydream about the nifty things I'll build when I grow up and become a handyman⁴.

¹ Okay, one way it could be worse would be feeling ten days behind on January 5th. That would be bad.
² That would have been cool. The toughest part would have been jumping into the sled without spilling my coffee.
³ Taking this twisted logic to its obvious conclusion... by being behind, I'm actually saving the world. You're welcome?
⁴ In the mold of Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor, no doubt.