Calendar Items - The Irresponsible Reader

February 2025 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

On March 11, 2025

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

I finished 25 titles (6 up from last month, 3 up from last February), with an equivalent of 6,424 pages or the equivalent (1,116 up from last month), and gave them an average of 3.4 stars (.4 stars down from last month).

My late 2024 slowdown in posting continues, and I’m getting better with accepting that, while still trying to figure out how to get around it. But basically, I’m reading a lot and enjoying talking about that–that’s good enough for me.

So, here’s what happened here in February.
Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to

Still Reading

Cover of Wisdom for Life by Michael P. V. Barrett

Cover of A Treatise on the Law and the Gospel by John Colquhoun

Cover of Where the Bones Lie by Nick Kolakowski

Ratings

		Average =	3.4
	0		3
	1		2
	7		0
	10		0
	3

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read	NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
End of 2024	3	68	78	167	10
1st of the Month	4	68	80	168	9
Added	1	3	4	3	4
Read/ Listened	2	20	6	0	4
Current Total	3	69	78	171	9

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 20
Self-/Independent Published: 5

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	3 (12%)	9 (4%)
Fantasy	2 (8%)	9 (4%)
General Fiction/ Literature	3 (12%)	9 (4%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	4 (16%)	9 (20%)
Non-Fiction	4 (16%)	7 (16%)
Science Fiction	3 (12%)	11 (5%)
Theology/ Christian Living	3 (12%)	0 (0%)
Urban Fantasy	3 (12%)	6 (14%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)

Review-ish Things Posted

The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis: His First Apologetic Work is a Mixed Bag
I Have Too Many Things to Say About Robert B. Parker’s Buried Secrets by Christopher Farnsworth
The Pilgrim’s Regress by C.S. Lewis: Everyone Has to Start Somewhere
Grandpappy’s Corner: Little Aiden: A Big Kid Book for Toddlers by Albert and Anna Choi, Bettina Braskó (Illustrator): Aiden’s a “Big Kid” Now (well, bigger)
Aftermarket Afterlife by Seanan McGuire: Things Get Serious
Grandpappy’s Corner: Goodnight Darth Vader by Jeffrey Brown: Han Snored First
Return from Exile and the Renewal of God’s People by Nicholas G. Piotrowski: Looking At The Heart of the Bible’s Narrative
Don’t Tell Me How to Die by Marshall Karp: The Last Days of Maggie Dunn
The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis: What Can Happen When a Bad Review Copy Falls Into the Right Hands
Installment Immortality by Seanan McGuire: G-G-G-Ghosts!
(slightly updated) REPOST: Buddy the Knight and The Queen of Sorrow by Peter David: A Tale of Friendship, Devotion, Bravery and Heart

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd), I also wrote:

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

January 2025 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

By HCNewton

On February 7, 2025

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

This is a little late, but I did manage to get it I read 19 titles (the same as last month, 2 more than last January), with an equivalent of 5,308 pages or the equivalent (4,061 down from last month), and gave them an average of 3.8 stars (.1 down from last month).

I’m not crazy about all the things I meant to post and didn’t–but I’m pretty happy with what I managed to post. I’m not going to go deeper than that. Doing anything but doomscroll lately seems like a victory, really.

Anyway, here’s what happened here in January.
Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to

Still Reading

Cover of Called to Freedom by Brad Littlejohn

Cover of The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong

Ratings

		Average =	3.8
	2		0
	3		0
	6		0
	3		0
	5

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read	NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
End of 2024	3	68	78	167	10
1st of the Month	3	68	78	167	10
Added	3	1	7	1	3
Read/ Listened	2	1	5	0	4
Current Total	4	68	80	168	9

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 17
Self-/Independent Published: 2 (wince!)

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	1 (5%)	1 (5%)
Fantasy	2 (11%)	2 (11%)
General Fiction/ Literature	1 (5%)	1 (5%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	5 (26%)	5 (26%)
Non-Fiction	3 (16%)	3 (16%)
Science Fiction	2 (11%)	2 (11%)
Theology/ Christian Living	3 (16%)	3 (16%)
Urban Fantasy	2 (11%)	2 (11%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)

Review-ish Things Posted

The Big Empty by Robert Crais: The Muffins Rode Shotgun
A Few Thoughts on The Bang-Bang Sisters (Audiobook) by Rio Youers, read by Kristen Sieh
Glorifying and Enjoying God by William Boekestein, Jonathan Landry Cruse, Andrew J. Miller: Heartfelt Application of the Classic Tool
A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage by Asia Mackay: Vigilante Power Coupling
Institutes of Elenctic Theology Vol. 3: Eighteenth through Twentieth Topics by Francis Turretin: A Master Class on Theology and Methodology Concludes
Robert B. Parker’s Hot Property by Mike Lupica: Even Tough-As-Nails Attorneys are Mortal
The Boys of Riverside by Thomas Fuller: A Football Book for Non-Sports Fans
Broken Bonds by Amy Mantravadi: 16th Century Figures Come to Life in This Novel
Pigeon-Blood Red (Audiobook) Ed Duncan, read by Dave Keyser: No Muss, No Fuss, Just a Solid Thriller
Grandpappy’s Corner: I Am a Big Brother by Caroline Jayne Church: A Sweet Instructional/Motivational Guide
REPOST: Lessons From Lucy by Dave Barry: America’s Funniest Human Tries to Learn a Few New Tricks from an Old Dog
Another take on Robert B. Parker’s Hot Property is here: GUEST POST: Upon Further Review . . . by Robert Germaux

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th), I also wrote:

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

2025 Plans and Challenges

By HCNewton

On January 21, 2025

In Books, Calendar Items, Miscellany, News/Misc.

Finally it’s time to stop looking at 2024 (as fun as I hope that is’s been) and to start focusing on 2025.

Too many of my goals and the challenges I set for myself for 2024 were not accomplished. I’m okay with that, actually, because they served their purpose anyway, and/or weren’t that big of a deal. Still, I told myself I was going to scale back this year and only have 3 stated “goals” (you will soon see that this did not work out). Still…

I do have things I want to accomplish here over the next 12 months for a variety of reasons—and listing them like this helped last year (although, you’ll see a lot of echoes here from that post. But most of those echoes are of a “continue doing this” nature). So, here’s what I’m going to shoot for around here in the next 12 months.
Cut down on my Goodreads Want-to-Read list and the unread books that I own (a perennial project, but 2024 was not good for the size of that stack)—at least two of the Book Challenges this year should be a fun way to help.
I’m going to finish my Classic Spenser series and maybe find another Classic to do a project read-through. We’ll see about that. (This is a repeat from the last couple of years, but it’s nagging at me, we’ll put this one down in light pencil)
I’m going to continue to be picky in the Book Tours I participate in. I still like Tours, they expose me to things I wouldn’t normally read—and I’m going to keep doing them. But if I’m picky, it helps me focus on other things.
I was planning on cutting back on the Reading Challenges I was trying, but… Well, I already mentioned that. I’ll talk about those in a minute.
Try to interview more authors (maybe others, too?), and get better at that, too. The Literary Locals series is helping with that. Hopefully that also means more of the HC Chats, too.
I want to continue the Literary Locals, but I think I need to find a new phase of it, something different.
I plan on pressing forward with Grandpappy’s Corner, and hopefully do posts for it more frequently.

2025 Book Challenges

Goodreads Challenge
I lowered this from the last couple of years, although I expect my year-end numbers will be the same. This is mostly an attempt to shift my attention away from the numbers–I honestly don’t care about them, I talk about them just as an indicator of how I spend my time (for myself), although it often comes across as something else. I’m also planning on tackling some more thought-provoking and slower reads this year, so this might help me not care about that. We’ll see how that works.

Read Every Day in February for the American Cancer Society
I talked about this earlier. It’s pretty self-explanatory, really. If you’d like to contribute, please click here.

Reading with Wrigs
I missed completing this one last year, but have done some pre-planning on it and feel better about this year’s.

The 2025 Booktempter’s TBR Challenge

I really appreciate the way this one is put together, and it’s pretty easy—just 1 book a month and my TBR should go down by at least 12, more if I can squeeze in some of the stretch goals. This has been pretty helpful the last three years, and I expect the same this year.

Further Up and Further In
Thanks in part to Ward’s Planet Narnia, but also because I keep finding myself in conversations about Lewis lately, I figured it was time to spend some more time with Jack. For sundry reasons (good and bad), outside of the Chronicles of Narnia, I haven’t really read Lewis this century. It’s time I rectify that by revisiting some old friends and reading things I’ve been meaning to get around to.

25 in ’25
I keep seeing people do this (or earlier versions). I’m tackling it essentially as a way to do more than Booktempter’s TBR Challenge (also to tackle a few I’ve said I’ll read before and haven’t). Gamifying my goals tends to work. It’s like a year-long version of the 20 Books of Summer Challenge (RIP). You will note that the books from Top 5 books I will definitely* read in 2025 show up here, I’m really trying to tackle those.

Auditing Challenges
I’m not sure that I want to committ to these, but I saw them on Bookforager’s page, and wanted to give them a shot–they look fun. So I’m going to track them, and if I happen to do well with them, great. If not…oh, well.

(yeah, that’s true with all of these, but I’m sort of calling my shot with the above)
Alphabet Reading Challenge

The idea is pretty easy, I don’t imagine I’ll find a book for them all (that said, come November, if I’m choosing between a MG novel called “The Quest for Clean Underwear” and a bestseller called “Murder Most Foul,” you know I’m going for the Q)

Picture Prompt Book Bingo Challenge for 2025

My brain doesn’t do well with things like this, I end up tying myself in knots interpreting the pictures (too literally, usually). But I’m trying to do things outside of my comfort zone–also, I really did the look. So, we’ll see how I do. (I probably will get my kids to help, their brains do better)

That’s everything I have planned, I can’t wait to see what unplanned things happen around here. Hope you’re around to join in the fun!

2024 Plans and Challenges: Year-End Look

By HCNewton

On January 2, 2025

In Books, Calendar Items, Miscellany, News/Misc.

I’d hoped to keep charging ahead with Grandpappy’s Corner and Literary Locals, and while those haven’t completely died off, I haven’t done that much with them as I expected.

How’s the perennial, “Cut down on my Goodreads Want-to-Read list and the unread books that I own” goal going? Well, I bought very few books in February, so that helped, but overall…?

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read
End of 2023	6	46	68	153
End of 1st Quarter	4	50	64	154
End of 2nd Quarter	3	54	79	162
End of 3rd Quarter	5	58	75	166
End of 4th Quarter	3	68	78	167

Goodreads Challenge
I topped it by 1, but Goodreads won’t give me the silly graphic for 2024 for some reason. So you’re going to have to take my word for it.

12 Books

I didn’t touch any of these, and I’m really annoyed with myself.

Reading with Wrigs

Like I mentioned the other day, I didn’t finish this one, either.

A Book with a Dragon: Aftermarket Afterlife by Seanan McGuire
A Book with the word “leap” in the title: Couldn’t think of one.
A Book with the Olympics: Running and Jumping by Steven Kedie
A Book with an Election or Politician: The Olympian Affair by Jim Butcher
A Work of Fiction with an Eclipse: Missed it
A Book by an Author Who Has Written Over 24 Books: Dream Town by Lee Goldberg
A Book Set in a Different Culture Than Your Own: I have an idea or two.
A Book of Poetry: Enough Rope by Dorothy Parker
A Book with Time Travel: A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen
A Book with Antonyms in the Title: I really thought I’d get this one, but, alas
A Book Told from the Villian’s Point of View: Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart kind of applies.
A Book With a Purple Cover: Abnormal Ends by Bryan McBee

The 2024 Booktempter’s TBR Challenge

All 12, plus two stretch goals. Fourteen off the TBR. Sure, it’s just a drop in the bucket. But a step is a step.
January – Lucky Dip: Randomly choose a book by someone you’ve never read before: Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
Stretch Goal – In the same spirit I give you permission to read the last book to enter your TBR pile. Actually read something you’ve got yourself to recently read: Hacked by Duncan MacMaster
February – Lovers Meeting: No not romantasy focused – this challenge is somewhere in TBR is a delayed treat. Read an author you’ve loved and held back from reading because the time was not right. Its time for you two to get re-acquainted. Enjoy yourself! Return of the Griffin by JCM Berne
March – Spring :You know that first book of a series you bought and have now realised is now finished? You have my permission to read this at last. And you know what? Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn
April – Diamond Anniversary: Diamond is the birthstone of April so your challenge is to read something over 60 years old: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
May – The Fourth…May the force be with you and I permit you to read a SF themed tale: Grave Cold by Shannon Knight
June – The Longest Days: You may choose the longest book in your TBR pile the days are long so go for it: The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
July – The Ides have it In an ongoing tribute to Julius pick a tale of intrigue and scheming: The Last King of California by Jordan Harper
August – Travel Broadens the Mind: Choose a Book that is from an author from a different country to yourself: The Nameless Restaurant by Tao Wong. I’ve read all from other places that aren’t from this year, so…Canada (which doesn’t seem to count, but does)
September – Back To School: Choose a Book about a character learning something – be it in school, a new power or something about themselves: Project Hail Mary by Andy Wier
October – Yep Its Halloween Time: Find a spooky themed read!: My Darkest Prayer by S.A. Cosby (a murder mystery focusing on a mortuary worker, as creepy as I could come up with)
November – Short but Sweet: Four Novellas – and you cna do this in a month: 1-800-CallLoki by Dawn Blair
Stretch Goal – I test you – I want eleven short stories read – magazine, collection or anthology!: Instinct: An Animal Rescuers Anthology by L. J. Hachmeister
December – Parting Gifts: Read a Book gifted to you – before Christmas comes and you realise you’ve still not read it!: Shadow of Hyperion by JCM Berne

Backlist Bingo 2024

I did get a bingo, but not the blackout that I hoped for.

1. This is Who We Are Now by James Bailey (my post about it)

2. Blood Reunion by JCM Berne

3. Ways And Truths And Lives by Matt Edwards

4. The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith

5. Grammar Sex and Other Stuff: A Collection of (mostly humorous) Essays by Robert Germaux (my post about it)

6. The Camelot Shadow by Sean Gibson

7. Last King of California by Jordan Harper

8. Steam Opera by James T. Lambert (my post about it)

9. The Glass Frog by J. Brandon Lowry (my post about it)

10. The Legendary Mo Seto by A. Y. Chan (substitution) (my post about it)

11. Curse of the Fallen by H.C. Newell

12. Heart of Fire by Raina Nightengale (my post about it)

13. Detours and Do-overs by Wesley Parker (my post about it)

14. Bizarre Frontier Omnibus #1 by Brock Poulson (my post about it)

15. Howl by e rathke (my post about it)

16. Bard Tidings by Paul J. Regnier

17. Panacea by Alex Robins

18. Cursed Cocktails by S.L. Rowland (my post about it)

19. Big Trouble in Little Italy by Nicole Sharp (my post about it)

20. The Nameless Restaurant by Tao Wong (my post about it)

In sum…while I read a lot of great stuff this year (and even more good stuff), I didn’t do so good with my goals. Oh well.

(Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay)

December 2024 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

By HCNewton

On January 1, 2025

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

I finished 35 titles (16 up from last month, 10 up from last December), with an equivalent of 9,369+ (finished 2 beta reads, so I don’t have a decent page count) pages or the equivalent (3,357+ up from last month), and gave them an average of 3.9 stars (.33 up from last month). Wrapping up a couple of project books helped with that (not much, but a little), I’m not sure really what accounts for the extra pages–but I’m not turning up my nose at them.

So, here’s what happened here in December.
Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to


















		7



	r

Ratings

		Average =	3.9
	5		2
	4		0
	7		0
	10		0
	7

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read	NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
End of 2023	6	47	68	153	5
1st of the Month	5	66	81	167	11
Added	1	7	5	1	0
Read/ Listened	3	5	8	1	3
Current Total	3	68	78	167	8

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 24
Self-/Independent Published: 11

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	1 (3%)	9 (3%)
Fantasy	6 (17%)	41 (17%)
General Fiction/ Literature	3 (9%)	27 (11%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	8 (23%)	80 (33%)
Non-Fiction	0 (0%)	22 (9%)
Science Fiction	3 (9%)	10 (23%)
Theology/ Christian Living	6 (17%)	31 (13%)
Urban Fantasy	6 (17%)	32 (13%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	2 (6%)	8 (3%)

Review-ish Things Posted

Word and Spirit: Selected Writings in Biblical and Systematic Theology by Richard B. Gaffin, Jr.: Righteous Gems
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman: Money Does the Funniest Things to People
Running and Jumping by Steven Kedie: The Problem with Flying
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 61: Chains by R. T. Slaywood: A Negotiation
The Marrow of Modern Divinity by Edward Fisher: The Core of the Gospel
Sizar by Susan Grossey: Another Trip through Cambridge’s Underbelly
Enough Rope by Dorothy Parker: Songs in a Minor Key
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 62: Contract by R. T. Slaywood: After All That?
Instruction in Shadow by Benedict Jacka: Second Verse, Same as the First (in a good way)
What Were You Expecting? by Cameron Spires, Grace Cho (Illustrator): A Grown-Up Board Book
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 64: Mourning Meeting by R. T. Slaywood: Looking Back and Looking Forward
The Fundamentals of Sacred Theology by Campegius Vitringa, Sr., Levi Berntson (Translator): A Thousand Points of Light
Grandpappy’s Corner: How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (Audiobook) by Dr. Seuss, read by Walter Matthau: A Great Read by One of the Greats
The Real Festivus by Dan O’Keefe: An Explanation for the Rest of Us!
The Killer’s Christmas List by Chris Frost: There’s Nothing Holly and Jolly About This Christmas
Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien: It Must’ve Been Great to Grow Up a Tolkien
Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire: Water Loves Falling
Ghost Stations by M.D. Presley: Corbin’s Vagabond Shoes Are are Longing to Stray

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th), I also wrote:

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

November 2024 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

By HCNewton

On December 10, 2024

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

I don’t know if any of ya’ll have heard of this COVID-19 thing, but I’m on day 2 or 3 of it, and I have to say that I’m not a fan. 0/5 Stars, for sure. Anyway, coming up with a post that requires thought seemed like a lot to ask of myself. But hey, I haven’t found time to do my November write-up yet. Might as well tackle it now, right?

Well, these numbers aren’t promising: I finished 19 titles (5 down from last month, 5 down from last ZZZ), with an equivalent of 6,012 pages or the equivalent (593 down from last month), and gave them an average of 3.53 stars (.17 down from last month). And while I’m not crazy about my number of posts–it’s actually an improvement over last November.

So, here’s what happened here in November.
Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to

Still Reading

Ratings

		Average =	3.53
	0		0
	3		0
	6		0
	3		1
	6

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read	NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
End of 2023	6	47	68	153	5
1st of the Month	5	62	78	167	9
Added	3	6	7	0	4
Read/ Listened	3	2	4	0	2
Current Total	5	66	81	167	11

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 14
Self-/Independent Published: 5

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	1 (5%)	8 (3%)
Fantasy	3 (16%)	35 (15%)
General Fiction/ Literature	3 (16%)	24 (10%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	5 (26%)	72 (30%)
Non-Fiction	2 (11%)	22 (9%)
Science Fiction	2 (11%)	20 (8%)
Theology/ Christian Living	1 (5%)	25 (10%)
Urban Fantasy	1 (5%)	26 (11%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	1 (5%)	6 (3%)

Review-ish Things Posted

On the Christian Life: A New Translation by John Calvin, Raymond A. Blacketer (Translator): A Shiny New Translation of Gold Standard
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 58: Into the Night by R. T. Slaywood: Two Steps Back? Or is it a Step Forward?
Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy by John McGuckin: More Than You Thought You Wanted to Know about the Nestorian Controversy
The World According to Cunk by Philomena Cunk: The Story of the World (abbreviated and only accidentally accurate)
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 59: Guilt by R. T. Slaywood: Meal, Interrupted
Grandpappy’s Corner: The Box by Jo Linsdell: Imagination + Cardboard
PUB DAY POST: King Arthur & The Ladies of The Lake by Vincent Pompetti: The Once and Future Graphic Novel For Our Time
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 60: Keys by R. T. Slaywood: An Awfully Convenient Meeting
Nobody’s Hero by MW Craven: More Shockingly Violent Events in Koenig’s Increasingly Violent Life
Bullet Points about Spook Street by Mick Herron: All the Exciting Stuff Happens Around River
Tooth and Claw by Craig Johnson: Even in The Arctic, Nature’s Red

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd), and 30th), I also wrote:

Enough about me—how Was Your November?

Thanksgiving 2024

By HCNewton

On November 28, 2024

In Calendar Items, News/Misc.

Happy Thanksgiving/Turkey Day/Thursday

(depending on your practice/preference/location)

On this day that has been set aside these U.S. for expressions of gratitude, it’s been my custom to take a moment or two and mention a few of the things that The Irresponsible Reader is thankful for. This is just about my favorite of my annual posts typically, but this year I feel even more grateful than usual.

So, this year, I’m thankful for:

The readers of this blog. If I knew your names, I’d thank you all personally.
The authors who’ve corresponded with me, encouraged me—even promoted this here project.
Those authors, publishers, and/or publicists provided books for me to read.
Books (print, electronic, or audio)—the stories, characters, and/or things I learn are what keep me sane, entertain, and inspire me.
Authors! If not for them, I wouldn’t have the above.
Talented narrators and illustrators—ditto
Coffee (and other beverages both caffeinated and adult)
The authors and blogger who’ve taken the time to help my try to launch my YouTube page–and the three authors who’ve given very polite rejections. But mostly the people who’ve taken time to show up.
All the authors who’ve stopped by for a Q&A or a Guest Post this year. I’ve really been blown away by the work you’ve put into making my patch of cyberspace better.
I want to offer a particular word of thanks for the bloggers and authors who chipped in and helped while I was on sick leave dealing with my cancerous tumor, the posts were great, and the time off was a relief.
Time to read (which is getting scarcer in my life, so I’m even more grateful for it)
The Nampa Public Library, The Caldwell Public Library, (and The LYNX! Consortium)
Shared Stories, Rediscovered Bookshop, and Libro.fm
My Real Life friends and acquaintances who give me feedback and encouragement via text or face-to-face. You all could help my stats by using the comment forms, however But I truly appreciate you reading and talking to me about this.
My supportive, understanding, and encouraging wife and kids. They all do a pretty decent job pretending to care when this old man drones on and on about what he’s reading or what’s going on with the blog. Helping me with technical issues, testing things, and general brainstorming is particularly appreciated.
I should give a specific thanks to my daughter, who serves as wingperson when I go to local events and has helped me connect with several authors that I wouldn’t have been as successful with on my own. It’s amazing what people skills can do.
Again, all of you who read this page, follow, like, tweet, comment, email, etc.—you have no idea how much every little bit is appreciated.

For my fellow Americans, I hope you have a pleasant day with your friends and/or family. As for the rest of you, I hope you enjoy today and that you enjoy having the same pant size tomorrow as you do today.

Douglas Adams on Presidents

By HCNewton

On November 5, 2024

In Calendar Items, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin, News/Misc., Quotations, Rex Stout

This one is a bit more cynical–okay, very much more cynical–than the last quotation I shared. It still seemed appropriate for today.

The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.

To summarise: it is a well-known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarise the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarise the summary of the summary: people are a problem.

—Douglas Adams
from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

That nifty drawing of Zaphod was drawn by Terry Cooper.

Archie Goodwin on Voting

By HCNewton

On November 5, 2024

In Calendar Items, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin, News/Misc., Quotations, Rex Stout

For the 3 of you who are unaware, it’s Election Day in the U.S., so I thought I’d share this little bit from Archie Goodwin to commemorate it.

The most interesting incident Tuesday morning was my walking to a building on Thirty-fourth Street to enter a booth and push levers on a voting machine. I have never understood why anybody passes up that bargain. It doesn’t cost a cent, and for that couple of minutes, you’re the star of the show, with top billing. It’s the only way that really counts for you to say I’m it, I’m the one that decides what’s going to happen and who’s going to make it happen. It’s the only time I really feel important and know I have a right to. Wonderful. Sometimes the feeling lasts all the way home if somebody doesn’t bump me.

–Archie Goodwin
from A Family Affair

October 2024 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

By HCNewton

On November 1, 2024

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

I finished 24 titles in October (8 up from last month, 1 down from last October), with an equivalent of 6,605+ pages or the equivalent (1,657+ up from last month), and gave them an average of 3.7 stars (.43 down from last month). Man, audio-only productions really mess with my page count math.

A stupid cold, a lot of activity on the personal front, and miscellaneous other things are really draining my energy and making it hard to post lately. I’m trying to come up with a workable solution to this that doesn’t involve retirement (either from this or the day job). In the meantime, I’ll just grumble about how little I”m writing Actually, that cold did more than set back my writing–you’ll note on the calendar at the bottom of the post that there are two blank days there. I don’t know the last time I spent two days without reading.

Anyway, here’s what happened here in October.
Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to,6

Still Reading

Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy

Ratings

		Average =	3.7
	4		0
	2		2
	8		0
	2		1
	6

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read	NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
End of 2023	6	47	68	153	5
1st of the Month	5	58	75	166	6
Added	5	5	8	2	6
Read/ Listened	5	1	5	1	3
Current Total	5	62	78	167	9

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 21
Self-/Independent Published: 3

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	0 (0%)	7 (3%)
Fantasy	1 (4%)	32 (15%)
General Fiction/ Literature	3 (13%)	21 (10%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	10 (42%)	67 (30%)
Non-Fiction	3 (13%)	20 (9%)
Science Fiction	4 (17%)	18 (8%)
Theology/ Christian Living	2 (8%)	24 (11%)
Urban Fantasy	0 (0%)	25 (11%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	1 (4%)	2 (2%)

Review-ish Things Posted

In Medias Res: Black Maria by Christine Boyer
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
Grandpappy’s Corner: How to Babysit a Grandpa by Jean Reagan, Lee Wildish (Illustrator): What Little One Doesn’t Need to Know This?
On the Unity of Christ by Cyril of Alexandria, John Anthony McGuckin (Translator): A Powerful Dialogue on the Person of Christ
Black Maria by Christine Boyer: A Small Town Has Some Big Secrets Exposed
On Classical Trinitarianism: Retriving the Nicene Doctrine of the Triune God edited by Matthew Barrett. An Outstanding Defense/Explanation/Retrieval of the Vital Teaching
The More the Terrier by David Rosenfelt: Andy Carpenter’s 30th Is as Satisfying as the 1st
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 57: Dealing with Shadows by R. T. Slaywood: I Didn’t See That Coming
The Debt Collector by Steven Max Russo: She Just Wanted Some Work…
Hermit of Paradise by Kim Sanders, A Novel That Swings for the Fences
A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke: A Charming New Odd Couple of Amateur Sleuths
Pupposites Attract 1 by Hono Natsuna, Matt Trayvaud (translator): And They Called It Puppy Love…
Blood Reunion by JCM Berne: Space Vampires, Secret Identities, and a Promise of Something Worse

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th), I also wrote:

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

Category: Calendar Items Page 1 of 23

The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.

—Douglas Adams from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

—Douglas Adams
from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe