2023 Retrospective - The Irresponsible Reader

February 2023 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

On March 2, 2023

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

In February, I finished 26 titles (6 up from last month, 4 up from last February), with 6,588 pages or the equivalent (500 up from last month), and gave them an average of 3.8 stars (0.1 up from last month). Sure, 2 were Children’s Books, and a few were 150 pg. and under–so the number of titles is deceptive. Still, it was a good month on that front.

Mt. TBR moved in the right direction in a noticeable way, so I’m happy with that. And how often do I get to say something like that?

You’ll notice that I don’t have an IndieBound sticker on the side anymore and my posts don’t have the buttons for it anymore–I’ve moved over to Bookshop.org (IndieBound moved me over there, actually). I see some interesting things I can do there in the future, stay tuned.

I didn’t get as much written as I wanted to, but when don’t I say that? I did get a good number of Q&As up, and started a new series (Grandpappy’s Corner). So what (little) I produced, I’m very happy with.

Basically, it was a good month around here. Here’s the breakdown:
Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to

Still Reading

Ratings

		Average =	3.77
	4		0
	0		0
	10		0
	4		0
	8

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read
End of 2022	5	45	42	143
1st of the Month	5	45	46	145
Added	2	3	7	2
Read/ Listened	2	4	10	2
Current Total	5	44	43	145

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 11
Self-/Independent Published: 15

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	2 (8%)	2 (4%)
Fantasy	4 (15%)	6 (13%)
General Fiction/ Literature	1 (4%)	4 (9%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	7 (27%)	13 (28%)
Non-Fiction	1 (4%)	2 (4%)
Science Fiction	1 (4%)	1 (2%)
Theology/ Christian Living	5 (19%)	8 (17%)
Urban Fantasy	4 (15%)	4 (21%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	1 (4%)	7 (15%)

Review-ish Things Posted

The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 14: Consequence by R. T. Slaywood: Walking Quickly but Treading Water
The Nature and Work of the Holy Spirit by Ra McLaughlin: A Broad and Capable Introduction to the Holy Spirit
On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel: A Funeral for Dreams
The Night Watch by Neil Lancaster: Lancaster Just Keeps Getting Better and Better
Harvested by Troy Lambert: A Man Bites Dog P.I. Novel
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 15: A Walk In The Park by R. T. Slaywood: I’m Getting Tired of This
In the Fullness of Time: An Introduction to the Biblical Theology of Acts and Paul by Richard B. Gaffin Jr.: One of the Best Things I’ve Read in Years
Bad Memory by Jim Cliff: A Very Cold (and Closed) Case Gets a Second Look
A Man Named Doll by Jonathan Ames: A Fast, Twisted Ride Through the Streets of LA
The Silk Empress by Josef Matulich: A Rollicking Steampunk Adventure on the High Silk Road
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 16: Stephen Carpenter by R. T. Slaywood: The Cast Expands in a Promising Way
Grandpappy’s Corner: Saint Patrick the Forgiver by Ned Bustard: Patrick’s Story Told for Wee Ones
The Foundling, the Heist, and the Volcano by K.R.R. Lockhaven: Exactly What the Title Says
Grandpappy’s Corner: Geeky Baby’s Guide to Colors by Ruenna Jones, Josh Lewis (Illustrator): Starting a Geek Off Right
Foundations by Abigail Stewart: Three Eras, Three Women, and The House that Connects Them
Haven by Ceril N Domac: A New Kind of Fae
The Shadow of Christ in the Book of Lamentations by C.J. Williams: Finding the Hope of the Gospel in the Laments

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

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

Highlights from January: Lines Worth Repeating

By HCNewton

On February 2, 2023

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations

Highlights from the Month
Time to kick off Year 2 of this series!

Pieces of Eight by Peter Hartog

A wintry blast welcomed me as I stepped into the frigid February night. The cold and snow had kept most reasonable folks indoors. You know, the ones that worked reasonable jobs, with reasonable hours and reasonable pay?

Two of Stentstrom’s people wearing plastic gear arrived to perform a thorough scan of the room using an alphabet soup of forensic devices that detected everything from fingerprints, clothing fragments and chemicals to shoe scuff marks and old boogers.

The connections were there, but remained vague shapes, too faint to see. It was like collecting breadcrumbs in the middle of the woods. At midnight. And I was blindfolded.

I gaped at her. The consultant folded her hands before her waist, returning my glare with a serene expression. That’s when the subtlety of her ploy dawned on me. Because I’m slow like that. Like a boulder rolling uphill.

Blackwater Falls by Ausma Zehanat Khan

That was his way. He was thorough; he was meticulous. Any other way, he’d be dead, and getting killed on the job was a luxury he couldn’t afford.

A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane

L.A. burns, and so many other cities smolder, waiting for the hose that will flood gasoline over the coals, and we listen to politicians who fuel our hate and our narrow views and tell us it’s simply a matter of getting back to basics while they sit in their beachfront properties and listen to the surf so they won’t have to hear the screams of the drowning.

We met when we were both majoring in Space Invaders with a Pub Etiquette minor at the Happy Harbor Campus of UMass/Boston.

Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire

She had a pretty mother with long dark hair and a laugh like watermelon on a hot summer afternoon, sweet and good and oddly sticky in its own way. Her mother’s laughter stuck to you, and it made everything better for hours and hours, even after it was over.

The baby came on time, as babies sometimes will, and loudly, as babies always do.

The Perception of Dolls by Anthony Croix, Edited by Russell Day

“You saw what you were expecting to see, and that was after we’d been talking about fakery and false impressions. Believe me, if we’d been playing poker, you’d be broke, and convinced I’d won fair and square.”

“So, I’m a mug?”

“No, you just see the world behaving the way you think it will. In fairness so do I, but I see a world full of card cheats and untrustworthy witnesses. Including my own senses.”

“Whatever was in that house had agency and intelligence. It was playful. But then so are children who pull the legs off spiders.”

Half-Off Ragnorak by Author

Where there’s one lindworm, there’s probably another. This is a fact of the natural world, much like, “don’t put your hand in the manticore” and “try not to lick the neurotoxic amphibians.”

Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey

Toronto is too small a city to get divorced in, really. My recommendation, if you live in Toronto and your marriage is not working, is to stick it out or move away.

It was a classic tale, and one I knew well, having talked many friends through near-identical scenarios in recent years. For straight women in their late twenties, getting cheated on by your partner is basically jury duty.

I cried, feeling oddly empowered by the depths to which I was sinking, that I could be this pathetic and still breathing was an achievement in its way.

The Wizard’s Butler by Nathan Lowell

He nodded with the devilish grin of a ten-year-old who knows he has a frog in his pocket but nobody else suspects.

How to Astronaut: An Insider’s Guide to Leaving Planet Earth by Terry Virts

OK, I’m not claustrophobic, but if there was ever a reason in my life to panic it would be now.” I figured I had two choices: a) panic, in which case I’d be strapped in, unable to move, with absolutely nothing to do about it, or b) not panic, in which case I’d be strapped in, unable to move, with absolutely nothing to do about it. I chose option b.

(Image by DaModernDaVinci from Pixabay)

January 2023 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

By HCNewton

On February 1, 2023

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

I finished 20 titles with 6,087 pages or the equivalent and gave them an average of 3.7 stars. Sure, that’s a low number of titles for me, but I read a lot of a couple of the others that I haven’t finished. I’m calling it a good month (with one exception)—quality over quantity for sure.

Between the 2022 in Review material and the Literary Locals series being in full swing, this was a pretty busy month around here. That makes me feel pretty good—although I did run out of gas toward the end of the month—and my non-blog life took up more time than I’m used to. If I could keep up my pace (or something close to it) from the first of the month, I’d be content.

So there’s my evaluation of the month, here’s what happened here in January.

Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to