Final(ish) Post for the Year: My Plan for December

An Update on My Book and What’s Coming for the Review

I’ve been wondering about December for a few months now. Would I have time to finish my book—due January 15—and keep up my regular publishing schedule through the end of the year? Originally, I thought I might. But I’m doubtful at this point.

Let me catch you up on my progress. My book has seventeen chapters. I’m now finished with all but one. I finished the concluding chapter a couple of days ago, leaving the second to last chapter as the only outstanding one to complete. I’ve also got five short sidebars articles, one I’ll finish this afternoon—so just four of those left. (You can read more about the book, by the way, here and here.)

Which is to say, I’m nearly done and I’ve got all the time I need to finish by the fifteenth. But not, I’m afraid, if I keep up my regular publishing schedule here. Alas.

Almost there. Photo by David Hillas.

That’s especially true given I’ll need a couple of weeks to read through everything a few of times to nip, tuck, and zhuzh—not to mention clean up my endnotes. Up until this week I thought I might pull it off, but a reckoning with this final chapter has given me pause.

For most of the book I’ve had a solid sense of the underlying history and the angle my chapter would take. Not so with this chapter. I feel the least prepared for this one. The story the research seems to tell is pretty clear to me, but I still need to figure out how best to tell it, and there’s a lot riding on getting it right.

I just don’t feel confident I can do the book justice with divided focus. And so I’m going to take a break here for the next several weeks and turn my attention wholly to finishing the book. Almost.

I think I’ll still post a rundown on everything I read this year, including my favorite books, so be looking for that. I’ll also post about my classic novel goal for 2025.

And speaking of that: Don’t call the goal police, but as part of this hiatus I’m going to have punt a few reviews to next year as well. I’ve only got one novel left to read and review for 2024, Ernest J. Gaines’s A Lesson Before Dying. I’ll now save that for January or February. Same with the final three memoirs: John Stuart Mill’s Autobiography, C.S. Lewis’s Surprised by Joy, and Beryl Markham’s West with the Night.

It was actually Mill and Lewis that brought me to my present realization. I’ve finished reading them both and know what I want to say about each but haven’t been able to make the time while also keeping up with my book-writing schedule. I’ll save reviewing them for early next year.

So where does that leave you? Hopefully itching to read more reviews and essays in 2025 because as soon as this book is done I’ll be back at it 105 percent. In the meantime, I hope you’ll still engage on Notes; I’ll be playing around and keeping up with folks there off and on. If you need a chuckle, I’ve got a meme for that. I’ll also post updates on my progress on Notes as I’m going.

I’ve run a couple half marathons. I feel today Iike I did then, I’m heading into mile 13. Nearly there! But I’ve got to keep putting one foot in front of the other until I’m across the line. Wish me luck. If you’re the praying type, I’ll take all you can spare.

Finally, if you’re not a subscriber, take a moment and sign up. You don’t want to miss my top reads of 2024 or my classic novel goal of 2025. Plus there are plenty of reviews to fill up your TBR come January.