Calendar Items - The Irresponsible Reader

2025 Plans and Challenges: Second Quarter Check-In

On July 4, 2025

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

This year is speeding by, the way they do more and more…let’s take a quick look at the challenges and goals I set for the year

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. I think the next couple of months should bear fruit along those lines, though. We’ll see. HC Chats are plugging around.

How’s the perennial, “Cut down on my Goodreads Want-to-Read list and the unread books that I own” goal going? I think I’m seeing what we’d report as “slippage” in some status reports at work. The next two months will really help with this if, and that’s a big if, I can keep my wallet in my pocket.

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read	NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
End of 2024	3	68	78	167	10
End of 1st Quarter	5	72	77	172	11
End of 2nd Quarter	5	76	92	175	9
End of 3rd Quarter	–	–	–	–	–
End of 2025	–	–	–	–	–

2025 Book Challenges

Goodreads Challenge

No worries on that front.

Read Every Day in February for the American Cancer Society

Nailed it. Even better, we raised a couple of hundred dollars.

Reading with Wrigs
I could be doing better, but I’m still feeling bullish.

- Religious theme: The Pilgrim’s Regress by C.S. Lewis
- Set in a confined space: Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
- A book with a map: The Price of Power by Michael Michel (technically not completed during the first quarter, but…)
- About happiness or gratitude: Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel (one of the cover blurbs called it a novel about gratitude, I can mostly see it, but I’m not sure yet. Consider this a placeholder in case something else doesn’t come along)

The 2025 Booktempter’s TBR Challenge

January–First steps: You have my permission to read the last book you added to the TBR pile: Sword & Thistle by S.L. Rowland
February: Short and Sweet: Read 28 short stories – they can be in magazine, anthology or collection form. You don’t even have to finish the books! Just 28 tales to read: Promise by Christi Nogle and Passageways edited by Rebecca Carey Lyles
March – Ready Steady Go!: Start a series, or the next book in a series that has been lingering on those shelves: Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames
April – Easter Eggs: Read a book about stories within stories: Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson
May – The Random Factor: Pick the fifth book you spot in your pile/shelf/ebook library: Body Breaker by M.R. Craven
June – Use the daylight/long reading night: Read the longest book in the TBR pile: The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman (not technically finished in June, but close enough)

Further Up and Further In

I’m one book behind here, and I think the next two months may mess with it even more. But I’m not worried about the pacing. I am a little worried that I have to deal with A Grief Observed soon. That one just wrecks me…

25 in ’25

Ouch. This is really not good.

Auditing Challenges
I’m not sure that I want to commit 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

Not bad…
(yes, the fonts don’t all match. I couldn’t remember what I used last quarter–and undoubtedly, next quarter I’ll forget again. Let’s pretend it was intentional to make it clear what quarter I read what in. Yyyyyyeeeahhhh, that’s the ticket.)

Picture Prompt Book Bingo Challenge for 2025

1. A prehistoric flint knapped stone knife	2. A lighthouse	3. An apple on a leafy branch	4. An archery target with three arrows in it
5. A very large mechanical telescope Pushing Ice	6. A human skull Silence of the Dead	7. A stag	8. The ruins of a temple-like structure
9. A crab	10. A sheaf of wheat	11. An old mechanical typewriter Blood Over Bright Haven	12. A cluster of four mushrooms
13. A fringed umbrella/parasol	14. A chemistry set-up of bottles and tubes A Drop of Corruption	15. A stylized sun with a human face That Hideous Strength	16. A Roman helmet The Bright Sword

Not bad…and yes, again, I’m counting The Bright Sword even though I finished it in July.

I’m in decent shape, overall…

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

By HCNewton

On July 4, 2025

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

There we go…fairly timely and everything.

In June, I read 22 titles (1 down from last month, 2 down from last June), with an equivalent of 6,416 pages or the equivalent (302 down from last month), and gave them an average of 4.2 stars (.5 up from last month).

One note that means something only to me. I can’t quite see how this month’s selection for the Science Fiction Book Club counts as SF, so that’s why there’s a goose egg in the chart below (I put Station Eleven under “General Fiction.” Feel free to convince me I’m wrong in the comments).

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

Still Reading

Ratings

		Average =	4.18
	6		0
	2		0
	10		0
	2		0
	2

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	76	87	171	12
Added	2	1	11	4	2
Read/ Listened	0	1	6	0	5
Current Total	5	76	92	175	9

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 18
Self-/Independent Published: 4

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	0 (0%)	6 (4%)
Fantasy	4 (18%)	18 (16%)
General Fiction/ Literature	5 (23%)	18 (16%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	6 (27%)	26 (29%)
Non-Fiction	2 (9%)	23 (21%)
Science Fiction	0 (0%)	12 (13%)
Theology/ Christian Living	2 (9%)	12 (13%)
Urban Fantasy	2 (9%)	11 (10%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	1 (0%)	1 (1%)

Review-ish Things Posted

Dark Neon & Dirt by Thomas Trang: Pressure’s High Just to Stay Alive ‘Cause the Heat is On
The Core of the Christian Faith by Michael W. Goheen: How (and why) to Be Salt and Light Today
Return to Sender by Craig Johnson: The Misadventures of the World’s Worst Undercover Sheriff
Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life by C. S. Lewis: A Portrait of a Reader/Thinker as a Young Man
A Graveyard for Heroes by Michael Michel: The Canvas is Bigger, but the Intensity Remains.
The Great Gatsby: Alphabetised Centennial Edition by F. Scott Fitzgerald, edited by Chris McVeigh: A Classic Reorganized
The Amazing Twin Chicken Freedom Fighters by Zephaniah Sole: The Revolution Will Not Be Pasteurized
I See You’ve Called in Dead (Audiobook) by John Kenny, Sean Patrick Hopkins: Friendship and Funerals
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis: Do you listen to the angels on the outskirts?

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

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

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

By HCNewton

On June 28, 2025

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

I know, this is incredibly late, but I need to get this out of the way before I can start June’s wrapup in a couple of days. I’m also aware that almost no one cares about this stuff–but I’ve come to find that it really helps me think about how I’m spending my time. And, occasionally, someone sees something interesting in one of these posts. So, I continue to press on.

What did may look like from 50,000 feet? I finished 23 titles (1 down from last month, 3 up from last May), with an equivalent of 6,718 pages or the equivalent (496 up from last month), and gave them an average of 3.7 stars (.1 down from last month).

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












	7
		1

Still Reading


</a

Ratings

		Average =	3.73
	2		1
	2		0
	4		0
	7		0
	4

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	76	88	171	11
Added	3	1	5	0	5
Read/ Listened	1	1	6	0	4
Current Total	3	76	87	171	12

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 18
Self-/Independent Published: 5

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	0 (0%)	6 (5%)
Fantasy	2 (9%)	14 (13%)
General Fiction/ Literature	4 (17%)	13 (12%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	6 (26%)	23 (21%)
Non-Fiction	6 (26%)	21 (19%)
Science Fiction	2 (9%)	13 (12%)
Theology/ Christian Living	1 (4%)	11 (10%)
Urban Fantasy	2 (9%)	9 (8%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	0 (0%)	1 (1%)

Review-ish Things Posted

The Ten Commandments by Cornelius Van Til: A Brief Look at the Law
Good Trouble by Forest Issac Jones: Marching toward Victory
Hive by D. L. Orton: A Wild Time Travel Ride
Class Clown by Dave Barry: A Chuckle-Filled Peek Behind the Curtain
Rift by Cait West: An Important and Moving Story, That Didn’t Completely Work for Me
Kaua’i Storm by Tori Eldridge: A Thriller + So Much More
Killer Conversations with Rex Stout and John McAleer: Ridiculously Fun (and insightful, too, if you’re into that sort of thing)

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th),and 31st), I also wrote (and/or posted):

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

Towel Day ’25 (observed): Scattered Thoughts about Reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy

By HCNewton

On May 26, 2025

In A-B, Authors, Calendar Items, Douglas Adams, Fiction, News/Misc., Science Fiction, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

(updated and revised this 5/26/25)

I’ve been trying for a few years now to come up with a tribute to Adams. This isn’t quite what I had in mind, but it’s a start. In my mind, this is a work in progress (a multiple-year project), but I’m posting it anyway. Next year’s version will be better—or at least more complete.

Some time in 7th or 8th grade (I believe), I was at a friend’s house and his brother let us try his copy of the text-based Hitchhiker’s Guide game, and we were no good at it at all. Really, it was embarrassing. However, his brother had a copy of the first novel, and we all figured that the novel held the keys we needed for success with the game (alas, it did not help us one whit). My friends all decided that I’d be the one to read the book and come back in a few days as an expert.

I fell in love with the book almost instantly, and I quickly forgot about the game. Adams’ irreverent style rocked my world—could people actually get away with saying some of these things? His skewed take on the world, his style, his humor…and a depressed robot, too! It was truly love at first read. As I recall, I started re-reading it as soon as I finished it—the only time in my life I’ve done that sort of thing.

Also, I finally understood that song, “Marvin, I Love You,” that I kept hearing on Dr. Demento.

It was one of those experiences that, looking back, I can say shaped my reading and thinking for the rest of my life (make of that what you will). Were my life the subject of a Doctor Who or Legends of Tomorrow episode, it’d be one of those immutable fixed points. I got my hands on the next three books as quickly as I could (the idea of a four-volume trilogy was one of the funniest ideas I’d encountered up to that point), and devoured them. I do know that I didn’t understand all of the humor, several of the references shot past me at the speed of light, and I couldn’t appreciate everything that was being satirized. But what I did understand, I thought was brilliant. Not only did I find it funny, the series taught me about comedy—how to construct a joke, how to twist it in ways a reader wouldn’t always expect, and when not to twist but to go for the obviously funny idea. The trilogy also helped me to learn to see the absurdity in life.

Years later, when the final volume (by Adams) was released, I’d already cemented what I thought about the books from these frequent re-reads. I’m not sure that Mostly Harmless changed things much (except for making me think for the first time that maybe I didn’t want him to write more in this series). His non-Hitchhiker’s work illustrated that he was capable of making you see things in a new light–either with a smile or a sense of regret—even when he wasn’t writing the trilogy, even when he was writing non-fiction. It was never the setting or the genre—it was Adams.

But here on Towel Day—as with most of the time I talk about Adams (but I need to change that), it comes down to where I started—the Trilogy. I read the books (particularly the first) so many times that I can quote significant portions of them, and frequently do so without noticing that I’m doing that. I have (at this time) two literary-inspired tattoos, one of which is the planet logo* featured on the original US covers. In essence, I’m saying that Adams and the series that made him famous have had an outsized influence on my life and are probably my biggest enduring fandom. If carrying around a (massively useful) piece of cloth for a day in some small way honors his memory? Sure, I’m in.

So, Happy Towel Day, You Hoopy Froods.

* I didn’t know it at the time, but Adams didn’t like that guy. Whoops.

Towel Day ’25 (observed): Do You Know Where Your Towel Is?

By HCNewton

On May 26, 2025

In A-B, Authors, Calendar Items, Douglas Adams, Fiction, News/Misc., Science Fiction, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

(updated and revised this 5/26/25)

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has a few things to say on the subject of towels.

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have “lost”. What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

Hence a phrase that has passed into hitchhiking slang, as in “Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There’s a frood who really knows where his towel is.” (Sass: know, be aware of, meet, have sex with; hoopy: really together guy; frood: really amazingly together guy.)

Towel Day was yesterday, May 25, but I’m going to observe it today (in the tradition of all Weekend Holidays in the U.S>0

Towel Day, for the few who don’t know, is the annual celebration of Douglas Adams’ life and work. It was first held two weeks after his death, fans were to carry a towel with them for the day to use as a talking point to encourage those who have never read HHGTTG to do so, or to just converse with someone about Adams. Adams is one of that handful of authors that I can’t imagine I’d be the same without having encountered/read/re-read/re-re-re-re-read, and so I do my best to pay a little tribute to him each year, even if it’s just carrying around a towel.

In commemoration of this date, here’s most of what I’ve written about Adams. I’ve struggled to come up with new material to share for Towel Day over the years, mostly sticking with updating and revising existing posts. And, this year is no exception A few years back, I did a re-read of all of Adams’ (completed) fiction. For reasons beyond my ken (or recollection), I didn’t get around to blogging about the Dirk Gently books, but I did do the Hitchhiker’s Trilogy:
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Life, The Universe and Everything
So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish
Mostly Harmless
I had a thing or two to say about the 40th Anniversary of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
I took a look at the 42nd Anniversary Illustrated Edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

I should also point to a posts I wrote about Douglas Adams’ London by Yvette Keller and 42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams edited by Kevin Jon Davies—both are great ways of filling out one’s understanding of Adams and his work. I have to mention the one book that Adams/Hitchhiker’s aficionado needs to read is Don’t Panic by Neil Gaiman, David K. Dickson and MJ Simpson.

If you’re more in the mood for a podcast, I’d suggest The Waterstones Podcast How We Made: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy—I’ve listened to several podcast episodes about this book, and generally roll my eyes at them. But this is just fantastic. Were it available, I’d listen to a Peter Jackson-length version of the episode.

I’ve only been able to get one of my sons into Adams, he’s the taller, thinner one in the picture from a few several years ago.
(although I did get he and his younger siblings to use their towels to make themselves safe from the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal a few years earlier:)

You really need to check out this comic from Sheldon Comics—part of the Anatomy of Authors series: The Anatomy of Douglas Adams.

Lit in a Nutshell gives this quick explanation of The Hitchiiker’s Guide:

TowelDay.org is the best collection of resources on the day. One of my favorite posts there is this pretty cool video, shot on the ISS by astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.

Even better—here’s an appearance by Douglas Adams himself from the old Letterman show—I’m so glad someone preserved this:

Love the anecdote (Also, I want this tie.)

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

By HCNewton

On May 7, 2025

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

I finished 24 titles (3 up, 1 down from last April), with an equivalent of 6,222 pages or the equivalent (547 up from last month), and gave them an average of 3.8 stars (.13 up). There was one DNF, too. Sure, four of those were children’s books, so we’re not talking about a lot of effort.

Speaking of things I didn’t do, I didn’t finish almost every post I tried last month. I did manage to eke out a few posts, though, as you’ll see.

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








still deciding

	DNF	still deciding

still deciding

Still Reading

Ratings

		Average =	3.78
	2		1
	4		2startotal
	6		1.5starttotal
	5		1startotal
	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	5	72	77	172	11
Added	1	5	19	0	3
Read/ Listened	3	1	8	1	3
Current Total	3	76	88	171	11

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 16
Self-/Independent Published: 8

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	2 (8%)	6 (7%)
Fantasy	4 (17%)	12 (18%)
General Fiction/ Literature	2 (8%)	9 (14%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	3 (13%)	17 (26%)
Non-Fiction	4 (17%)	15 (23%)
Science Fiction	3 (13%)	11 (17%)
Theology/ Christian Living	2 (8%)	10 (15%)
Urban Fantasy	2 (8%)	7 (11%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	1 (4%)	1 (2%)

Review-ish Things Posted

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett: There’s Not More than A Drop of this to Complain About (so I won’t)
In Medias Res: The Price of Power by Michael Michel. A Powerful, Addicting Read
Miracles by C.S. Lewis: A Pleasant, If Not Particularly Helpful, Read
The Price of Power by Michael Michel: An Addictive and Powerful Multi-Threaded Fantasy Novel
Grandpappy’s Corner: Life Lessons by Titan as told to Melaney Taylor Auxier: Wise Words from a Noble Dog</li
Happy Jack and the Scary-Ass Book of Doom (Audiobook) by Rich Partain, read by JP Adams: DNF’d Without Prejudice (or any interest)
My Documents by Kevin Nguyen: Who will survive in America?
One Death at a Time by Abbi Waxman: You’ll Laugh All the Way to the Morgue

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

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

2025 Plans and Challenges: First Quarter Check-In

By HCNewton

On April 15, 2025

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

This year is speeding by, the way they do more and more…let’s take a quick look at the challenges and goals I set for the year

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. I think the next couple of months should bear fruit along those lines, though. We’ll see. HC Chats are plugging around.

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	NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
End of 2024	3	68	78	167	10
End of 1st Quarter	5	72	77	172	11
End of 2nd Quarter	–	–	–	–	–
End of 3rd Quarter	–	–	–	–	–

2025 Book Challenges

Goodreads Challenge

This actually looked better at the first of the month, but I forgot to get the image. Still, I’m on track.

Read Every Day in February for the American Cancer Society

Nailed it. Even better, raised a couple hundred dollars.

Reading with Wrigs
I missed completing this one last year, but have done some pre-planning on it and am about on schedule.

- Religious theme: The Pilgrim’s Regress by C.S. Lewis
- Set in a confined space: Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
- A book with a map: The Price of Power by Michael Michel (technically not completed during the first quarter, but…)

The 2025 Booktempter’s TBR Challenge

January–First steps: You have my permission to read the last book you added to the TBR pile: Sword & Thistle by S.L. Rowland
February: Short and Sweet: Read 28 short stories – they can be in magazine, anthology or collection form. You don’t even have to finish the books! Just 28 tales to read: Promise by Christi Nogle and Passageways edited by Rebecca Carey Lyles
March – Ready Steady Go!: Start a series, or the next book in a series that has been lingering on those shelves: Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames

Further Up and Further In

I’m on track here

25 in ’25

Ouch. Drawing a blank here.

Auditing Challenges
I’m not sure that I want to commit 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

Not bad…

Picture Prompt Book Bingo Challenge for 2025

1. A prehistoric flint knapped stone knife	2. A lighthouse	3. An apple on a leafy branch	4. An archery target with three arrows in it
5. A very large mechanical telescope Pushing Ice	6. A human skull	7. A stag	8. The ruins of a temple-like structure
9. A crab	10. A sheaf of wheat	11. An old mechanical typewriter	12. A cluster of four mushrooms
13. A fringed umbrella / parasol	14. A chemistry set-up of bottles and tubes A Drop of Corruption	15. A stylized sun with a human face	16. A Roman helmet

Not bad…have one more finished already, maybe two.

I’m in decent shape, overall…

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

By HCNewton

On April 14, 2025

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

I finished 21 titles (4 down from last month, 2 down from last March), with an equivalent of 5,675 pages or the equivalent (749 down from last month), and gave them an average of 3.67 stars (.27 up from last month).

I knew I’d been busy, sick, and tired lately–but it wasn’t until I looked at the part of this wrapup where I list what I posted, that I realized just how little I’ve done here lately. Thanks for sticking with me–I’m not saying it’s over (if you could hear me cough yesterday, you’d know that was the case), but I’m working on it.

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

Still Reading

Ratings

		Average =	3.667
	1		1
	4		0
	5		0
	3		0
	7

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	69	78	171	9
Added	7	4	2	2	6
Read/ Listened	5	1	3	1	4
Current Total	5	72	77	172	11

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 22
Self-/Independent Published: 1

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	0 (0%)	4 (6%)
Fantasy	4 (19%)	8 (12%)
General Fiction/ Literature	3 (14%)	7 (11%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	5 (24%)	14 (22%)
Non-Fiction	4 (19%)	1 (17%)
Science Fiction	3 (14%)	8 (12%)
Theology/ Christian Living	2 (10%)	8 (12%)
Urban Fantasy	0 (0%)	5 (8%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)

Review-ish Things Posted

God of All Things by Andrew Wilson: Ordinary Stuff also tells of the glory of God
Hit The Ground Running Kate Ashwin: 2 Jailbreaks, 1 Heist, 1 Outrageous Utility Bill, and 1 Potted Plant.
Where the Bones Lie by Nick Kolakowski: Down These Mean Streets People Must Still Go
Nothing Special: Concerning Wings by Katie Cook: More Time with These Characters = More Joy for Me
The Library Game by Gigi Pandian: Never Ask “What’s the Worst That Can Happen?”

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (1st, 8tha>, 15th, 22nd, and 29th), I also wrote or posted:

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

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

By HCNewton

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?

Category: Calendar Items Page 2 of 25