Blog « Jacqueline Otto

I Kicked Myself in the Pants

I’m a fairly high-volume writer. I have to be because that is what pays the bills.

After a while of racing to make deadlines, and getting the story, and optimizing your keywords, and planning out your social media marketing strategy, the magic of writing can be lost. Most of the time I write something, read over it, and say “that’ll do.”

For an author, “that’ll do” is pathetic. I needed a kick in pants.

Every now and then, I write something that reminds me why I started writing. Why I’m fighting for free markets and liberty with my keyboard.

Recently on the Values and Capitalism blog, I had one of those pieces. The post, “Five Lessons for Conservatism and Two Voices for Fusionism” explores the tension between conservatives and libertarians. The piece threads together a recent debate on the topic, a panel discussion about William Buckley, and an interview I recently conduced with the ineffable Jonah Goldberg, into a single argument.

“That doesn’t mean there aren’t vestigial bits of dogma that have outlived their utility, but like Chesterton’s fence, the only way to know if they have outlived their utility is to think deeply and contemplatively about why that fence is there in the first place. You can’t just say, ‘I don’t understand why that fence is there, let’s smash it down.’ Those are lessons worth reminding young conservatives of, particularly those of the more libertarian bent who do suffer from a ‘we can start everything new because I have an iPod’ mentality.” -Goldberg

The fence, in Goldberg’s argument, separates liberals from conservatives and libertarians.

In the opinions of Buckley and Goldberg, a long-view conservative strategy requires a reconciliation between libertarians and conservatives. While there may be disagreements between the two, the survival of the free market is at stake. The war for liberty may be lost while libertarians and conservatives battle over degrees of freedom.

Read the entire article here.

Authors love it when we write our own kick in the pants. I feel renewed, time to get back to writing!

2011 Year in Review: Books

In 2010, I set a New Years goal of reading 30 books excluding textbooks.

I read 42, totaling 10,697, pages and about 3,744,000 words.

So for 2011 I upped my goal to reading 40 books excluding textbooks. The textbook distinction is important as I am a graduate student. Also, if you are thinking that my reading goals are too low, remember that I am a graduate student!

I created a new spreadsheet this year and ran all kinds of exciting statistics about my reading accomplishments.

The results are:

Books Read 2011		Difference from 2010
Books Read 2011		Total Δ	Percent Δ
Total Books Read	40	-2	-5%
Total Pages Read	12323	1626	15%
Approximate Words Read	4313050	569100	15%
Average Pages	308.1	53.4	21%

Total Hardcopy	26	-2	-7%
Approximate Words Read	124223.08	32461	35%
Average Page Hardcopy	354.9	92.7	35%
Total Audio	14	0	0%
Approximate Words Listened	77375	-6525	-8%
Average Page Audio	221.1	-18.6	-8%

Here how it breaks down in English:

I met my goal of reading 40 books (barely).
While I read 2 less books than in 2010, the books I read were on average 53 pages longer meaning I read 1626 more total pages. This is a 21% increase in book length, and a 15% increase in total reading.
Reading lengthier books is a positive trend.
While these numbers include both physical books read and audio books listened to, the increase came from physical books read. While audio books are the trick to reading a large number of books, I think reading more physical books is also a positive trend.
- I read two less physical books, but they were on average 93 pages longer for a 35% increase in physical pages reading.
- I listened to the same amount of audio books, which were actually 19 pages shorter on average, for an 8 percent decrease in audio books.

Now for real fun stuff.

Books Read 2011		Difference from 2010
Books Read 2011		Total Δ	Percent Δ
Fiction	28	-3	-10%
Total Pages	10187	1727.0	20%
Average Pages	363.82143	90.9	33%
Fantasy	7	-4	-36%
Total Pages	4120	1038.0	34%
Average Pages	588.57143	308.4	110%
Science Fiction	19	2	12%
Total Pages	5043	1149.0	30%
Average Pages	265.42105	36.4	16%
Philosophy	2	0	0%
Total Pages	1024	-228	-18%
Average Pages	512	-114	-18%
Mystery	0	-1	-100%
Total Pages	0	-232	-100%
Average Pages	0	-232	-100%
Non-Fiction	12	1	9%
Total Pages	2136	-101	-5%
Average Pages	178	-25.4	-12%
Policy	4	-4	-50%
Total Pages	848	-626	-42%
Average Pages	212	27.8	15%
Business	0		-100%
Total Pages	0		-100%
Average Pages	0		-100%
Economics	4	2	100%
Total Pages	465	88.0	23%
Average Pages	116.25	-72.25	-38%
Theology	4	4
Total Pages	823	823
Average Pages	205.75	205.8

Observable Trends

The overall trend of fewer, but longer books read is carried by the fiction books.
- 3 less fiction books read.
- The books were 33% longer than fiction books of 2010, resulting in 20% more pages read.
This was most notable in the “Fantasy” subcategory.
- 4 less fantasy books read.
- The books were 110% longer, resulting in 34% more fantasy reading.
- This trend is mainly driven by four books from George R. R. Martin’s Series “A Song of Ice and Fire” – A Game of Thrones (807), A Clash of Kings (969), A Storm of Swords (924), and A Feast for Crows (978 pages).
The “Science Fiction” subcategory increased in all areas.
- 2 more Science Fiction books read.
- The books were 16% longer, resulting in a 30% increase in science fiction reading.
- Science fiction books counted for 5 of the top 10 longest books read.
- Science fiction also counted for 3 of 5 shortest books read.
The Non-Fiction books were noticeably shorter this year.
- Even with 1 more non-fiction book read, the books were 12% shorter resulting in 5% less non-fiction read.
- This represents a deliberate focus on fiction literature I had in 2011, but I didn’t mean to let my non-fiction reading slip that much. Since I would have liked to read more non-fiction in 2011, this is a negative trend.
Also, I didn’t read any business books in 2010. Since I am pursuing a Masters in BUSINESS Administration, this is a negative trend.
I did, however, read several theology books this year. As this was an area I had been wanting to spend more time, this is a positive trend.

Also, I wrote book reviews for The Morality of Capitalism and Failing Liberty 101.

I am currently working on a review of Idols for Destruction: The Conflict of Christian Faith and American Culture. Watch the Values and Capitalism website.

Goals for Reading 2012

Read 40 books, excluding textbooks. While I met this goal last year, it was a close call.

Audio books are still acceptable, but I want to continue the trend of reading more physical books. E-reader books count as physical books.

Continue my focus on dystopian literature. I think I’ve learned more about political science from reading dystopian literature than I ever did in school.

Continue to read more hard-science fiction. Again, I think I’ve learned more about theoretical science from reading hard-science fiction than I ever did in school.