We'll go with one post per Tuesday for the next four weeks, then close the month with a wrap up:
- Today - preview
- Tomorrow - 2020 TOA Book of the Year shortlist
- 1/12 - Review and Analysis
- 1/19 - "Hello Ladies" update
- 1/26 - 2021 Preview
- 1/30 - Summary
For those wondering what the point is of going through such a comprehensive review, I start by acknowledging the obvious answer - it's almost certainly a pointless exercise, and I am under no illusions that a productive reading year in 2021 is dependent on how much time I dedicate to reviewing 2020. However, I think there are important insights buried in the 2020 reading list that will help me think about the year ahead, and digging these out is the main idea of doing the annual review - the 2020 shortlist, for example, will point the way toward the type of reading I should focus on in 2021, while the analysis steps will help me set realistic goals and make appropriate adjustments for the coming year.
The reason why I post these to TOA is a separate matter. In my mind, I don't publish anything to TOA unless I'm certain there is at least one idea in the post (for example, in this post a candidate for the "one idea" is above - reviewing the past year helps plan ahead for the next year). I think the two analysis posts - 1/12 and 1/19 - are good demonstrations of data analysis in action (particularly in the sense of using disaggregation), while the shortlist and preview posts are effectively my book recommendations.
