More extraordinary in 2016 than Brexit and Trump was that Eskimos have now heard of Leicester City FC. At the start of the season the odds of this unfashionable provincial team winning the English Premier League were 5000/1 against. It was a feat considered less probable than Elvis being found alive, the Loch Ness Monster finally revealing itself, or Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth achieving the Christmas Number One.
As a lifelong Foxes fan this minor miracle will do wonders for my 2017 Reading Challenge. I can now retire as a football supporter and devote more time to books. I estimate 38 episodes of Match Of The Day is the equivalent of at least 6 novels.
Sadly, that still only puts me on a target of 30 for the year – when the average Goodreads pledge is 49 – and I note with awe that many of my friends manage three figures.
Clearly I need to identify other aspects of daily life from which to step down. I reckon between them, washing the dishes, giving lifts to town, and walking in the woods is worth a good 30 books a year. The question is whom can I least afford to upset. The wife? The kids? The dog?
Hmm... I think I’ve just sold myself a subscription to Audible.