Daily Archives: January 2, 2018

2017 Stuff Read, #s 13-20

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As I stated earlier today, maintaining a proper reading pace was one of many casualties in 2017. The final tally for the year dropped far below the average pace for the previous few years, and if not for knocking out the Scalzi novel in the few days following Christmas it actually would’ve tied 2013 for the lowest total since starting to keep track in 2011 . The decrease stretched across dead tree, ebook, and audiobook — nothing was immune. I’m happy to report that I’m already nearly done my first book of this year, thanks to having lots of solitary quiet time yesterday to focus on yet another dystopian classic.

Along the same lines of refusing to make New Year’s resolutions, I won’t make a goal for the coming year. However, returning to a number similar to those from 2014-2016 certainly seems like a easily attainable goal. Actually taking the time to jot down a few reactions to each book would also be a nice return to form. Alas, I won’t be doing that at this time, mostly because of the length of the list.

13. The Invisble Man, by Ralph Ellison (audiobook)
14. Among Others, by Jo Walton (eBook)
15. Crosstalk, by Connie Willis (dead tree)
16. Down Among the Sticks and Bones, by Seanan McGuire (dead tree)
17. Hyperion, by Dan Simmons (audiobook)
18. Luna: Wolf Moon, by Ian Mcdonald (audiobook)
19. Iron Dragon’s Daughter, by Michael Swanwick (eBook)
20. Collapsing Empire, by John Scalzi (dead tree)

Overdue Posting and a Belated Happy New Year

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I don’t need to look over the old LJ archives to know that this is the longest I’ve gone without posting somewhere other than Facebook. While all the excuses and rationalizations applied to past dormant periods apply to the most recent lack of blogging/journaling, there’s another reason that I won’t get into in public (alas, one of the features that WordPress lacks is an easy method of making certain posts accessible only to those you allow to see it), but it has been something of a doozy. The last few months, in particular, have made it extremely difficult to focus on a lot of things: writing, reading, Brick à Brac, taking proper care of myself, and even basic housekeeping. In place of those things, I’ve spent way too much time playing mindless games on my phone and iPad — something I made a determined effort to severely curtail while on a holiday vacation for the past 10 days.

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions anymore, but the start of every year nonetheless brings a renewed determination to better focus on the items that require attention. Over the coming days, the plan is to post about the aforementioned neglected items, in addition to taking action on them. In the meantime, a belated Happy New Year’s to anyone I didn’t already wish to, as well as the hope that 2018 is a better year for you than 2017 was.