Without Fear

What are you reading monthly right now?

Tell me why?

Are there any books you aren’t enjoying anymore? Are there any titles you are only buying out of habit?

As a creator, your read pile needs to be supertight. You need to only be spending your time on the finest of four colour quality.

I operate on the 80/20 rule of creation to consumption. YMMV but you can’t waste time on hot garbage. Ever.

This year I took a New Years resolution to read, at least, one comic issue a day. On top of this, I’ve started grading what I read in a notebook. I soon started to see some patterns.

Most of what I read gets an 8 out of 10 or above. Nothing gets under a 7 and stays on my read pile. Then anything in the 7 zone is somewhere in a nebulous place. And this is where it gets interesting.

I’ll keep a book in the 7 zone if I dig the creator or the character, but I’ve dropped some books in the 8 zone if they don’t have that spark. And a book is allowed to be very good and just not be for you, that’s cool, never forget that.

9 and up is pretty damn safe because I’m either really enjoying the pants off it, or I’m learning something from it, or both. Sub-7, no matter the creator or character is a waste of my time. 7-8, yeah, you gotta earn those stripes every month. And I never thought I’d set such a high bar, an 8 out of 10 should be celebrated, but I found with limited time I really scrutinised my reading habits. It’s been good value.

I’m now left with only issues I’m passionate to dig into. It also means I’m surrounded only by things that are craft gold mines. When I sit down for my daily dose and it’s HAWKEYE or THE FADE OUT or HIGH CRIMES I feel good because I’ll never feel like I’m wasting my time. I’m going to enjoy those pages, and I’m probably going to steal some little craft pieces from it.

So, what are you reading monthly right now?

Tell me why?