What is 2010?

Year-end introspection time. This is actually the most fulfilled I’ve felt at the end of a year, yet my mind is racing to figure out what else needs to be done. Looking back on my reading list provides an example of my strengths/successes and weaknesses/areas of improvement. As of now, I’ve read 56 books this year. Once I decided that I wanted to try my hand at non-fiction, my book list changed from a mix of fiction and non-fiction to solely non-fiction. Honestly, I can’t tell you offhand when was the last time I read a fiction book, and I’m too lazy to check my list right now. It’s been a few months. However, though my non-fiction list has mostly revolved around the presidency, I’ve read books on everyone from George Washington to Barack Obama, from John Tyler to LBJ, from Alexander Hamilton to Madeleine Albright. The question now is where does that leave me. I’ve figured out what I want to write. I know that I have the drive and determination to write it should I choose to. Yet my energies have been more scattered than they should have been. 2010 has been the year in which I read extensively. I think my goal for 2011 will be to read with definite purpose. I already have plans to reincorporate some fiction back into my reading and to gear my non-fiction reads towards my non-fiction writing project. I’ve actually got some books from the library that I’m planning on returning unread for that purpose. They do not advance the project. I am currently working on a couple of books – Hank Paulson’s On the Brink and K Jack Bauer’s Zachary Taylor — that I intend on finishing though they are unrelated to my writing project. I guess the best way to describe it is that I’m realizing that I have to be the change I need.

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