Last year I had hoped to read more books than I bought. In that I was about as successful as an underwater fire. Right now, there are two hundred and thirteen books on my Goodreads to-read list. Sixty more than the same time last year.

The list is only books that I own, not books I wish I owned. I buy books in two ways usually. 1) Ebooks from Amazon. Usually on special offer but not always. Or, 2) Physical books with covers I really like. If I buy a book for the cover I have to want to read it too.

Some have been on the list for years. In a few cases they’ve been on the list for the better part of two decades. Other books get read right away.

Without adding a single book it will take years to get through the to-read list. But that’s not how it will happen. More books will get added. I’ll read them out of order. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I read.

Don’t create drama.

Don’t pay attention to drama.

Don’t fan drama’s flames.

Drama burns up your energy. It feeds on it. It leaves you spent and empty.

Remove it from your life. Avoid it where you can’t remove it.

Don’t let it feed on you. You need your energy. You need your focus.

I watched a lot of tv in 2016. Here are my favouite (in no particular order):

• Game of Thrones (Season 6)
• Rick and Morty (Season 1 & 2)
• Stranger Things (Season 1)
• The Get Down (Season 1)
• Daredevil (Season 2)
• Luke Cage (Season 1)

Time is limited. We rush around trying to use it all up. Or we spend it unwisely. We tell ourselves we don’t have enough time. We tell ourselves we’re busy.

This leads us to hoard our time. To keep it for ourselves. To avoid spending any time with others. We’re too busy.

But if we take our time and give it away – spend our time with our family, our friends, those in need – often, by doing so we give ourselves the greater gift.

You’ve been working on this project for a while now. A month. A week. A year. Five years. You’ve kept your head down. You’ve kept moving forward. A step then another.

Now the end is in sight. The finish line is clear.

The question is once you get there what happens next? Should you know what happens before you get there? Should you already have a new goal? Should you wait until you get to the finish line before deciding what the new goal should be?

Put a different way, do you make your plans for the year before it starts or after?

The most important thing is not when you plan but that you plan. Taking the time to consider what should be done. Taking the time to decide what the next goal will be.

All those irksome jobs you don’t like… answering emails, bookkeeping, taxes, budgeting, fill-in-the-blank… don’t skip them. They might not be your favourite but fail to do them and you’ll find out how much they matter. In a way doing the admin work keeps you from going blind. It means you know what’s happening and can react quickly to anything nasty that pops up. Skip it and you might just have set yourself up for a crash.

I think I must have become very harsh in my judgement of movies. Looking back at 2016, I only watched three I thought were exceptionally well made.

In no particular order:

• Room
• Spotlight
• The Big Short

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy other movies, I did, it’s just that those three stood above the rest for me.

Tonight my wife and I watched Hunt for the Wilderpeople, a gem of a movie from New Zealand. I enjoyed the movie a lot and absolutely recommend it.

It was directed by Taika Waititi who previously directed What We Do In the Shadows, which I liked but not as much as Wilderpeople. The latter was, I felt, a better told story.

At the beginning of the movie a juvenile delinquent, Ricky Baker (played by Julian Dennison) is being dropped off at a new foster home. From there we see the kid integrate into the family but something happens that sends child welfare services back for him.

Most of my enjoyment from the film came from the character of Ricky Baker and Dennison’s portrayal of him. Particularly his facial expressions and reactions.

Definitely give it a chance.

Here is my list of favourite books read during 2016. That word ‘read’ is important. Because it’s not a list of the best books published last year.

They are presented in order of when they were read…

• Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon
• Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered by Austin Kleon
• Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli
• The Magician King (The Magicians, #2) by Lev Grossman
• The Magician’s Land (The Magicians, #3) by Lev Grossman
• The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence
• An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield
• Glyph: A Visual Exploration of Punctuation Marks and Other Typographic Symbols by Adriana Caneva
• TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking by Chris J. Anderson

It’s time for the break to end. It’s time to get back to work.

The break was needed. It refreshed. It refueled.

Don’t fear the return, as many do. Welcome it. Embrace it. Relish the chance it brings.