The Japanese have a word for it . . .

Tsundoku means ‘leaving a book unread after buying it, typically piled up with other unread books.’ I don’t know how I have done without this word. I discovered it in Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from around the World by Ella Frances Sanders. I got this book for Christmas and there are other gems in it. Iktsuarpok (illustrated in the cover of the book) is an Inuit word meaning ‘the act of repeatedly going outside to check if some (anyone) is coming.’ Goya is an Urdu word meaning ‘a transporting suspension of disbelief  – an “as-if” that feels like reality – such as in good storytelling.’

That is what I shall be aiming for in 2016. For my readers I wish all that you wish for yourself and many happy hours of reading.