Tag: Personal Page 5 of 13

On October 25, 2022

In News/Misc.

This came up on my Facebook memories today, and I had no recollection at all of writing a post with this title. So I had to re-read it (I rarely do that). I now remember all the events I talked about and it brought a smile to my face, so, here it is again—hopefully, someone out there is half as amused by it as I was.

(and if you aren’t, simply return the unused portion and our customer service agents will issue you a full refund)

As usually happens when I have a solid—maybe ambitious—plan for a week’s worth of posts, something came up this weekend that was far more important than this blog. So that plan is shattered (can’t wait to see what I’m able to recover). But something that happened this morning that gave me enough material to put something up today.

Last week, a friend sent me a Facebook Message: “Achievement unlocked! ” She’d been identified as a “Top Fan” of the blog’s Facebook page. And you know the competition is fierce. It is kind of cool that the algorithm took a break from warping minds, selling things, and stoking division in the country to recognize that a friend of mine was supportive. It is a little strange to think that anyone could be considered a “fan” of me (excepting the two canines who live here).

Then, the next day, I saw that meme I used in the last Saturday Miscellany post. Two days in a row of unexpected positive feedback. I’d planned on making a jokey post about this last week, but got hung up on looking for a meme or gif of Mabel Mora asking, “We have fans?”. So I never got around to it.

This brings us to this morning. Sure, it was fun that my friend got a badge declaring her my fan. It warmed my heart and made me laugh to see Slaywood’s pic. But this morning, someone left a comment on a five-month old post that made my heart soar. This guy, John, really looked down deep into the recesses of my soul and took a look around. And, he gets me. He really, really gets me.

Egotistical and irrelevant…as the youths say*: I feel seen.

* …or did not that long ago, right?

I do this for my own sense of fun, but feedback like this really makes it all worthwhile…

Third Quarter Check-In: 2022 Plans and Challenges

On October 17, 2022

One of the handful of things I dropped the ball on recently was this check-in. I appreciate—and can use—the time to plan and organize, and hopefully, someone enjoys reading them.

I didn’t have many concrete plans for 2022, but one that I mentioned was “Cut down on my Goodreads Want-to-Read list and the unread books that I own (a perennial project, but I made some strides last year).” How am I doing on that?

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read
End of 2021	9	45	42	144
Current Total	9	50	40	144

That’s…not good. I did have to burn a few Audible credits…and then there was this sale, and…and…ugh. Other than that, I’m still doing pretty well at reading what I buy this year. But, this is really not what I’d hoped to see at this point of the year.

Let’s see how I’m doing with the rest of my plans and move on to the Reading Challenges…
2022 Book Challenges

12 Books
I’m doing well with this one, but am a little intimidated by the book I have slated for November—it’s a little on the longer side and if it’s as good as Micah says, I’m going to lose a lot of 2023 to the rest of the series. (a good problem to have)

2022 “Support Book Bloggers” Challenge

I decided to nix this one—I’m working on all the things mentioned here, but feel a little uncomfortable doing these things because of a checklist—and even more awkward about discussing it. But I’m mentioning it again, because I like the idea and want to spread the word about the efforts (it’s just not for me)

2022 While I was Reading

I’m doing okay on this—as usual, I’m not really planning the books for this challenge. When October hits, if I haven’t read everything on the list, I’ll get serious about hunting.

A book with a question in the title.: I have an idea for this, but I’m not sure a local library will get it next month when it comes out, and I don’t know that I want to spend money on it. Hmmm…we’ll if I have to get clever.
A book of non-violent true crime.: Blessed Are the Bank Robbers: The True Adventures of an Evangelical Outlaw by Chas Smith
A book with a cover you don’t like.: Composite Creatures (the style of the art just bugs me)
A historical fiction novel not set in Europe.: A Snake in the Raspberry Patch by Joanne Jackson
A book with a character’s name in the title.: With Grimm Resolve
A book featuring paranormal activity (fiction or non.): That’s like a third of what I’ve read this year…I guess I’ll go with Amongst Our Weapons
A book with a number in the title.: Citizen K-9
A food related memoir.: I have no idea. Literally.
A book that’s won an award.: I’ve read a few of these, I just need to track down a title for this blank
A middle grade novel.: How to Save a Superhero by Ruth Freeman
A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign.: This one is going to be hard—it also comes close to disclosing more personal information than I want to share—but I think I’ve got one in mind.
A book that’s a combination of genres.: Bloodlines by Peter Hartog (I also used this for the next challenge, so I’ll probably replace this on the final list)

I’m hitting the target on this one—I’ve only managed to hit 1 Stretch Goal (I don’t have many books that apply to the stretches, actually). This isn’t helping that much with my reduce the TBR plan, but it’s not hurting it. So there’s that.

In the months to come, I’m going to have to get creative to find a way to match the challenge with a book. I’m eager to see if I can pull it off.
January – New Beginnings I give you permission to read the most recent book you got on top of your TBR.: Bloodlines by Peter Hartog
Stretch Goal – Read the oldest book in Mount TBR it has waited long enough: Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron
February – Valentine’s Day Gift
Is there that book by an author you love you picked up and still haven’t read because you do not deserve it just yet? Other items got in the way? You have for this challenge to pick that book up and read it: Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith
March – Fresh blooms
For the beginning of Spring I want you to open a book in the TBR pile by an author you’ve never read before: The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True by Sean Gibson
April – New Openings
April is derived from the Latin for ‘to open’ In Mount TBR there may be the first book of a series. Your challenge is to read: Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K.J. Parker
May – Randommmmm
You MAY pick one random book out of Mount TBR and you must read it: Conjured Defense by J.C. Jackson
June – The Longest Day
Find the longest book in Mount TBR and you must read it: The Border by Don Winslow
July – You Came, You Read and You Conquered
In your TBR there may have been a book you know will be a challenging read. Show it who is the Emperor and read that book until it screams for your mercy and then finish it! AMORALMAN by Derek Delgaudio
August – Holidayyyyy
Pick a book that takes you away to another place. Read it and relax: The Ghost Machine by James Lovegrove
September – Back to School
Pick a book with some link to education. Dark Academia; dangerous school, etc.: The Days of Tao by Wesley Chu (I had a hard time finding something for this prompt, and was so happy when I remembered this started at a summer class)

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

I’m Curious: What Was the First Book That . . .

On October 13, 2022

In Uncategorized

I’ve asked this before*, but it’s been a few years and I have new readers/commenters now. So let’s revisit this post.

Here, here, and here, if you’re curious.

If you can remember, what was the first book that destroyed you?

For me, it was either: Where the Red Fern Grows (which I read most of several times, and all of a couple of times); The High King by Lloyd Alexander between the deaths and goodbyes, I still can’t do it dry-eyed; or Bridge to Terabithia—I can’t tell you anything about the plot (there were 2 kids, 1 girl and 1 boy, right?), the characters or anything, and I read it 2-4 times—all I can remember is emotional devastation.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Share the emotional scars we all know you have.

Second Quarter Check-In: 2022 Plans and Challenges

On July 4, 2022

Catching up on things like this is a nice way to spend a day off, I guess. Earlier, I checked-in on my 20 Books of Summer Challenge, and now let’s take a look at the rest.

One of the few concrete plans that I shared back in January was “Cut down on my Goodreads Want-to-Read list and the unread books that I own (a perennial project, but I made some strides last year).” How am I doing on that?

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read
End of 2021	9	45	42	144
Current Total	5	52	43	141

The good news is that I’ve read most of what I’ve bought this year, I’m just not whittling away at the older things. But I do fully expect to see a noticeable change in the physical and e-book numbers by the end of this quarter. Actually, I’ll probably see a noticeable change in the audiobooks, too–I have a handful credits set to expire soon. Well…this is discouraging.

I’m doing a little better with the rest of my plans. A little.

Let’s move on to the Reading Challenges…
2022 Book Challenges

12 Books
I’m still on track for finishing this one with no effort (although I didn’t finish the one I’d earmarked for June in the month, but I should have it done by the end of today/mid-tomorrow)

2022 “Support Book Bloggers” Challenge

I decided to nix this one–I’m working on all the things mentioned here, but feel a little uncomfortable doing these things because of a checklist–and even more awkward about discussing it. But I’m mentioning it again, because I like the idea and want to spread the word about the efforts (it’s just not for me)

2022 While I was Reading

I’m doing okay on this–as usual, I’m not really planning the books for this challenge. When October hits, if I haven’t read everything on the list, I’ll get serious about hunting.

A book with a question in the title.:
A book of non-violent true crime.: I have an idea or two about this one.
A book with a cover you don’t like.: I have a couple of contenders for this one. It’s possible that when I read them, they’ll win me over, so I’ll hold my ifre on this.
A historical fiction novel not set in Europe.: I’ve read a couple already this year that would technically work, but I’m going to see if I get a more straightforward historical fiction.
A book with a character’s name in the title.: I’ve got With Grimm Resolve coming up this month.
A book featuring paranormal activity (fiction or non.):
A book with a number in the title.: Citizen K-9
A food related memoir.: I have no idea. Literally.
A book that’s won an award.:
A middle grade novel.: How to Save a Superhero by Ruth Freeman
A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign.: This one is going to be hard. That it also comes close to disclosing more personal information than I want to share.
A book that’s a combination of genres.: Bloodlines by Peter Hartog (I also used this for the next challenge, so I’ll probably replace this on the final list)

I’m hitting the target on this one–I’ve only managed to hit 1 Stretch Goal (I don’t have many books that apply to the stretches, actually). This isn’t helping that much with my reduce the TBR plan, but it’s not hurting it. So there’s that.

First Quarter Check-In: 2022 Plans and Challenges

On April 5, 2022

Well, this was a humbling post to work on. I’ve got work to do!

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read
End of 2021	9	45	42	144
Current Total	7	47	43	145

I’m doing a little better with the rest of my plans. A little.

Let’s move on to the Reading Challenges…
2022 Book Challenges

12 Books
I’m on track for finishing this one with no effort–. I still need 1 more recommendation, by the way. (hint, hint)

2022 “Support Book Bloggers” Challenge

I decided to nix this one–I’m working on all the things mentioned here, but feel a little uncomfortable doing it because of a checklist–and even more awkward about discussing it.

(still think it’s a good idea, just not for me)

A book with a question in the title.:
A book of non-violent true crime.: I have an idea or two about this one.
A book with a cover you don’t like.:
A historical fiction novel not set in Europe.:
A book with a character’s name in the title.:
A book featuring paranormal activity (fiction or non.):
A book with a number in the title.: Citizen K-9 (starting it this week, which is Quarter 2, but eh…)
A food related memoir.: I have no idea
A book that’s won an award.:
A middle grade novel.: How to Save a Superhero by Ruth Freeman
A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign.:
A book that’s a combination of genres.: Bloodlines by Peter Hartog (I also used this for the next challenge, so I’ll probably replace this on the final list)

I’m hitting the target on this one–I even managed 1 Stretch Goal. You’ll note how this isn’t helping that much with my reduce the TBR plan.
January – New Beginnings I give you permission to read the most recent book you got on top of your TBR.: Bloodlines by Peter Hartog
Stretch Goal – Read the oldest book in Mount TBR it has waited long enough: Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron
February – Valentine’s Day Gift
Is there that book by an author you love you picked up and still haven’t read because you do not deserve it just yet? Other items got in the way? You have for this challenge to pick that book up and read it: Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith
March – Fresh blooms
For the beginning of Spring I want you to open a book in the TBR pile by an author you’ve never read before: The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True by Sean Gibson

I’ve already started planning the 20 Books of Summer Challenge, mostly books that I told myself I’d read in January/February.

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

I Was On a Thing: Barbican Station – Episode 13

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc.

On February 28, 2022

I have Podcasted—is that the right conjugation?—I have Podcast? I have committed Podcast? I have appeared on a podcast, I guess is the way to put it.

A month or so ago, Friend of the Blog, Jeff Quest who took part in a Q&A some time back about the podcast he co-hosts*, Like the Wolfe. invited me onto one of his other podcasts, Barbican Station. Barbican Station is primarily a look at Mick Herron’s Slough House series, but he’s also looking at some of Herron’s other works, which is where I come in. We discussed Herron’s stand-alone, Reconstruction. Reconstruction is an Espionage-adjacent Thriller, but more of something in the Crime Fiction genre. It’s—simply put—great and the work that turned me into a Herron fan.

We spent about an hour talking about Reconstruction, Herron in general, Slough House, and a few other things. It was a blast. Give it a listen–while you’re at it, give it an extra one for me, since there’s no way I’m going to bear listening to the voice that isn’t Jeff’s.

* He also contributed a nice post in my Strolling Down Amnesia Lane series last year.

2022 Plans and Challenges

On January 3, 2022

Thanks to Facebook’s On This Day, today I was reminded of my 2014 New Year’s Reading Resolutions. Boy Howdy, did I do a lousy job with those. Of the 12 specific resolutions, I still need to accomplish at least 5 (there’s room for interpretation on a couple of them)—I still want to accomplish 4 of them. Maybe this reminder will help?*

* Yeah, I’m not counting on that, either. But it’s nice to dream.

So, I’m reticent to get into calling my shots, as it were, too much anymore—there’s a project from 2020 still hanging over my head, too. And a few others, too, I’m sure—I just don’t want to go spelunking through the archives to find more personal failures (minor, to be sure, but technically failures).

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 I made some strides last year)—one 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. (I added this one after scheduling this post, but you know what? I’ve been kicking myself for ages for dropping this…)
Be pickier in the Book Tours I participate in—I’ve already started this (Damp Pebbles Blog Tours ceasing operations helped, too—no slight intended to the Tour Organizers I still enjoy working with, but Emma was better at getting me to take risks). I still like Tours, they expose me to things I wouldn’t normally read—and I’m going to keep doing them. But I’m going to be pickier about them.
Similarly, I’m doing fewer Book Challenges. I like the ones I’ve picked out—but they’re concrete things, no more of these “Read as Many of X as You Can” challenges. They don’t move the needle one bit for me as far as picking books—I read as many as I’m going to anyway, just with a count. But Challenges with specific targets can be fun. I’ll talk about those in a minute.
Get better at proofreading—apparently, there’s a need.
Try to interview more authors (maybe others, too?), and get better at that, too.
There are a few other ideas, but they’re harder to explain than to just do. You’ll know them if you see them.

2022 Book Challenges

12 Books
Perhaps you’ve seen this on everyone’s timeline this last week or so—12 months to read 12 books recommended by 12 friends. This looked like a great way to read something out of my wheelhouse—and so far, it should be. Only 1 of the 9 recommended so far is something that I’d have really considered. I still need 3 more recommendations—so hit the comments, folks!

2022 “Support Book Bloggers” Challenge

This just looks like fun, mostly things I should be doing anyway. Go check it out.

2022 While I was Reading

I’ve done this one for the last few years—and Ramona’s done a great job of stretching me. And will continue to do so—this year’s categories are more challenging than I’m used to (I have to figure out authors’ astrological signs?).

I dig the way this one is organized—if nothing else, my TBR should go down by 12.

I’ll also undoubtedly do the 20 Books of Summer Challenge…that’s been pretty fun.

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!

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

The Irresponsible Reader in 2021: Thoughts, Thanks, and Stats

On December 31, 2021

In Calendar Items, News/Misc., Nick Kolakowski

Programming Note: Over the next few days, I’ll be looking back over 2021—but I’ll try to come up with some new material, too. Many/most others have already done their best-of/year-end wrap-up posts, but I’m a stickler—I can’t start doing this kind of thing ’til the year is over. My brain doesn’t allow me to work that way (I just hate projecting things in general—and some years ago when I just read irresponsibly, but hadn’t adopted the name, the last novel of the year was so far beyond the rest that I can’t start looking back until 12/31 at the earliest).

As we kick off 2022, as is my custom, I wanted to take a glance back at 2021 (may it soon be a distant memory). 307 books finished (plus comics, picture books, short stories, and the like that I don’t know how to count)—my mind is thoroughly boggled! I exceeded my goal (nothing like exceeding an arbitrary number to boost the ol’ ego), too; finishing around 86,000 pages; with an average rating of 3.69 Stars. I only DNF’d one book, which is nice (or could I have enjoyed myself more if I’d done more?).

On the blog front, I put up 562 posts—an all-time high for me—82 more than last year!! I had another year of strong gains in traffic—views and visitors—I’m not big-time (never going to be), but those numbers consistently weird me out (which is why I only look every 6-12 months). My follower count (here and on social media sites) is encouraging and humbling, I really feel like I ought to do more to earn them.

I didn’t have any big blog projects for the year this year—I did finish my trip through The History of Tom Jones, but the follow-ups I thought about never materialized, but may in 2022. I also want to get back to my Classic Spenser series…that one is bugging me. I’ll talk about some other plans soon—maybe, maybe I’ll just put them in place instead.

As is my habit, here’s my breakdown of books by genre (and I’m going to have to change things soon, this chart doesn’t show up well anymore, I just like showing the trends). Genre labeling continues to be more difficult as I’m reading a lot of hybrids (most of us are, they’re being produced more), but I tend to go with the overarching genre. Basically, everything’s the same, with just a percent or two of adjustment. It’s been forever since I’ve read a Western or a Horror novel—and “humor” is pretty useless as a category, as a lot of things I read could be considered that. Once again, for someone who doesn’t plan too thoroughly, the percentages stay remarkably consistent from year to year—tastes (and series I follow) apparently stay the same. I need to devote a Saturday afternoon some time to doing the math to make this chart more useful/attractive. I didn’t expect both Fantasy and Non-Fiction to dip the way they did this year—not at all surprisingly Mystery/Thriller/Crime picked up those percentage points, though.

Genre	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012
Children’s	2 (1%)	5 (2%)	7 (3%)	11 (4%)	7 (3%)	5 (2%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
Fantasy	20 (7%)	35 (13%)	28 (10%)	30 (11%)	7 (3%)	31 (13%)	17 (9%)	11 (7%)	15 (8%)	12 (6%)
General Fiction/ Literature	22 (7%)	16 (7%)	21 (8%)	22 (8%)	29 (10%)	27 (11%)	17 (9%)	7 (4%)	30 (16%)	30 (14%)
Horror	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	1 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	1 (.4%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
Humor	9 (3%)	2 (1%)	4 (1%)	3 (1%)	1 (0%)	0 (0%)	1 (1%)	3 (2%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	117 (38%)	90 (34%)	105 (38%)	107 (38%)	102 (37%)	61 (25%)	64 (34%)	62 (37%)	63 (33%)	73 (35%)
Non-Fiction	22 (7%)	28 (10%)	25 (9%)	22 (8%)	10 (4%)	11 (5%)	8 (4%)	4 (2%)	2 (1%)	11 (5%)
Poetry	2 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	1 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
Science Fiction	20 (7%)	20 (8%)	30 (11%)	25 (9%)	27 (10%)	37 (15%)	16 (8%)	17 (10%)	14 (7%)	11 (5%)
Steampunk	1 (0%)	2 (1%)	1 (0%)	3 (1%)	1 (0%)	2 (1%)	7 (4%)	3 (2%)	3 (2%)	11 (5%)
Theology/ Christian Living	38 (13%)	23 (8%)	34 (12%)	25 (9%)	30 (11%)	33 (14%)	42 (22%)	42 (25%)	37 (19%)	10 (5%)
Urban Fantasy	49 (16%)	42 (16%)	25 (9%)	29 (10%)	45 (16%)	36 (15%)	19 (10%)	20 (12%)	26 (14%)	48 (23%)
Western	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	1 (0%)

Thanks to the nifty spreadsheet made by the Voracious Reader, I was able to get a few more stats. I find them interesting, maybe you will, too.

I honestly thought that re-read percentage was going to be higher—it dropped by 2% from last year. I expected it to be in the high 20s/low 30s.

Audiobooks also dropped a little this year, as that’s the majority of my re-reads lately, I guess that explains the drop there. Still, that’s another surprise decrease.

Enough about me. Now we get to my favorite part—I want to talk about you, who keep me going and show an interest in what I’m doing here and give some thanks to people for their impact on The Irresponsible Reader (the blog and the person) in 2021:

Thanks to everyone for your comments/feedback—texts, emails, comments here/Goodreads, tweets, FB comments, even the occasional Face-to-Face conversation. Keep it up! I really appreciate the time you took to leave feedback. Hopefully, you can tell that you’ve shaped the conversation here—it has, I assure you. Many of you are pushing me to be a better writer—some of you push me to read better books. I’m going to give a particular thanks to Robert Germaux, Fiction Fans Podcast, The Write Reads, Bookstooge, Allyson Johnson, W&S Bookclub, Lashaan, Emma, and Noelle for their encouragement, retweets, and interaction.
Flattered thanks to (in roughly chronological order): Priya Prakash, David Donaghe, Leigh Hecking, Dark Corners, thebookinhandsam, jenniereads, Bec @ bec&books, MCG, thisdadreads, mybookishbliss, Masha, mybookishbliss, josbees, rtslaywood, deardailydiary81, Operation X, Siddharth menon, Hannah , Ccoutreach, bookish_renee, unclearer, Zeeshan Amin, Cole Rush, saniya | sunnysidereviews, Esther, ljwrites85, Bethany Waller, tubasarwat, Elias Graves, jakeschubert7, Amanda @ Bookish Brews, Joseph D. Newcomer, Hit-Man Slade, Sheri Dye, evidencemutumbu, wallacepublishing, pranjal Narayan, Angela, Cristina Monica @ Hit or Miss Books, Amy, Anketsu, Marilynn Champion, Mahmoud Dualeh, Tarahaddasa, Inspired, davidlonan1, //Anannya//, pattimouse, doggydogguy, Shannon K Sexton, Carol, Prog.Gaming, Stephanie, EmmabBooks.com, Peat Long, sang, and Beth Tabler for being new followers (at least for a post or two) of the blog this year—the size of this list shocks me, and I hope you all got at least something out of it. (I sincerely hope I didn’t miss anyone)
Hearty thanks to all the authors, editors, illustrators, translators, and other people behind the production of the books I spent time with this year—this blog would be nothing without your efforts, your blood, sweat, tears, fears, work, love, dreams, hopes, art and words. Your books were my companions throughout this year, and I can’t thank you enough for them (and I hope I get to spend time with many of you again soon!).
More thanks to all those who requested that I read and talk about your (or your clients’) books. I know how much the work, effort, heart, and everything else that went into your books. It’s super humbling, I know you all didn’t like what I said, but, I am grateful for the opportunity.
I didn’t do as many Q&As this year as I intended to, but many thanks to those who took time out of their busy schedules to answer my questions: Matthew Iden, Robert Germaux, Jonathan Nevair, John McMahon, Ian Shane (for the second time), Matthew Hanover (for the third time), Scott Spires, K.R.R. Lockhaven,
I want to thank one more time, those who pitched in with my Strolling Down Amnesia Lane project:
Robert Germaux, K.R.R. Lockhaven, Jeff Quest, and Ian Patrick Robinson.
My son Owen provided a lot of the technical support I needed this year. Owen’s my best editor (sadly, it’s all after I post something…), too, and he’s saved me from looking stupid on more than one occasion.
All my kids have acted as sounding boards this year–helping with some graphics, jokes, themes, etc. A hat tip to Calvin, Carleigh, and Machen, too.
Micah Burke, who handles the tech stuff that Owen can’t and is a great sounding board. I can’t thank you enough. The instant I make a dime on this thing, you’ll get the first nickel!
A special thanks to my wife. Without your support, indulgence, and patience this thing wouldn’t exist—and I’d read a lot less (the horror!). Thank you. I love you.
And thank you all for reading. Honestly, each time I get a notification of a like, or a share, or a follow, etc. it makes my day. To know that someone took a couple of seconds or more out of their day to glance at this? It means the world to me. Thanks.

Have a great 2022, hope you find plenty of good things to read!

Thanksgiving 2021