Tag: State of the Blog Page 2 of 3

Programming Note: Over the next few days, I’ll be looking back over 2019—but trying to come up with some new material, too. I know a lot of people have already done that, but I’m a stickler—I can’t start doing this kind of thing ’til the year is over (for good reason, I read 3 things that will likely end up on best-of lists after I started seeing “Best of 2019” posts).

As we kick off 2020, as is my custom, I wanted to take a glance back at 2019. 275 books read (plus comics, picture books, short stories, and the like that I don’t know how to count)—I exceeded my goal (nothing like exceeding an arbitrary number to boost the ol’ ego), too; more than 83,000 pages; 378 posts (short of my goal by a couple hundred, but 98 more than last year, so…yay). I had some strong gains in traffic—views and visitors—actually, strong gains doesn’t quite cut it. Consider my mind boggled. I’m also seeing good growth in followers here and on various social media fronts, which is encouraging as all get out—not just growth in numbers, but the level of and amount of interaction is up to the point that my socially awkward self doesn’t really understand it.

So here’s my breakdown of books by genre. Genre labeling is more difficult lately 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 (for example, Brassley’s The Drifting Lands books are fantasy novels in a SF setting, I went with Fantasy). Basically, everything’s the same, with just a percent or two of adjustment. It’s been forever since I’ve read a Western, although I had one checked out from the Library for a couple of months, but I couldn’t manage to get to it. Theological books went up a tad in actual numbers (thanks to the Vos set). Still, 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.

• Enough about me. 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 2019:
• Thanks to everyone for your comments/feedback—texts, emails, comments here/BookLikes/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 better writers—some of you push me to read better books. I’m going to give a particular thanks to Bookstooge, Paul, W&S Bookclub, Lashaan, Emma, and Noelle for their encouragement, retweets, and interaction.
• Flattered thanks to (in no particular order): Asha Seth, rosemikeals42, nikkit321, andrayachristine, Solid lover of poetry, Hannah, workwithlapo and salmanalfarisi, Dalindcy Koolhoven, ailishsinclair, allmyheroesareweirdos, ladolceamara, William J. Fulton, Shawn P. B. Robinson, Davida Chazan, wanderingminds2019, Elle, editorbtg, lollyrugs, Kara Skinner, Blood Rose Books, libarah</a and Matilde Mbulo, Kanwarpal Singh, sara, Tony H, Simon Veith, K. Alice Compeau, deborahkehoe, kelleysdiy, TheArtOfLife, Erwin Wensley, dragonflybooks, virgoebooks, BOOKVENGER-44, Blair Leftly, upstateasb, vickyofficiallyofficial, amiiiesbooks, Madam Mim, Sonam Tsering, indianeskitchen, Occidentally Orthodox (who may not like a lot of what I post, but I hope he comments) and whovinawrites, Ciidagale Raad, KayCKay, BookaholicBrittany, Crystal Grasso (Ward), Jocelyn, SED MADDY, The Happy Book Blog, Justine @ Bookish Wisps, Ailish Sinclair, flowersinthebrain, tracyvende, Britt Skrabanek, TheReadingNook, Tony Self, Somik Bndopadhyay, Sesame Limited, devouringbooks2017, theguywiththebook, geekhutdrone, weewritinglassie, crimebookjunkie, David, Kyles, Thomas Neil, Michelle Eddington, Queerying Literature, IM Fletcher, and Bestiality, karishmarele, Aurore-Anne-Chehoke, Sovely Matters, chapterinmylife, Shana Gorian, Caroline Vincent, Tales of alenshy, The Unseen Library, penninkreviews, Diana, miscellanypages, brian2010, TooFullToWrite, fionac13, lindajacksonblog, Self Development, Vee Aozoraa, happytonic, Elizabeth Ruggiero, adiswings, Kitty Marie’s Book Reviews Blog, rashidul.huda, Lashaan Balasingam @ Bookidote, Naba Kumar Garai, Psychotherapist ,Counsellor, Film Screenwriter,Playwright,Producer – LONDON.UK, Sonam Sangpo Lama, Tammy (great site logo), Curled up with a good book, Kathryn Speckels, ChadeeMañago, 1800PetsAndVets®, Global Books, neoverttun, Isabelle @ BookwyrmBites, KATO NASHIF, William Johnson, tourinfonepal, AKidneyStory, agnieszkaweiner (say that fives times fast), Bill, Aqsa haleem, OwlBeSatReading, bryan_lunsford, Mohit Malviya, jackiesreadingcorner, Patrick Lynn, kbbookreviewer, _forbookssake, thelostwoman, amanja, Steven Colborne, Anthony Day Grandin, Donald Wilson, lisasbooksgemsandtarot, Adrianna, Scarlett Backus, Lee, likeherdingcatsblog, caffeinefocus, intentforcontent, entertainingly nerdy, The Awesome Dad, juniorgareth42, Tom Gamache, proofreadingebooks (the name is making me nervous about my content), Yvonne, Fragilistic, babblingstories, Zoé O’Farrell, kerrimcbooknerd, tracy cole, lidija.biskup, Notes Kecil, Beth Tabler, R., overtherainbowbookblog, simplyclaudianicole, Freedom is the luxury I seek, APB813, Maya’s Musings, David W, Rain Alchemist, alittlebookproblem, forwarddog, Tim Onayemi, Gehad Gamal, Anton Michaux, Brandi Robbins, Mental Health •Lifestyle •Finance, Kelly Curtis, and (last but not least and whatnot) brainyjaney for being new followers (at least for a post or two) of the blog (in one of its forms) 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!). (I typically link to them all, but honestly, who reads it, and it was taking too long to put together the links for all 271 names involved).
• 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 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.
• Many thanks to T Gamache, Steven Max Russo, Dr. Heather L. Beal, Nick Kolakowski, Beth Ruggiero York, Anne Dolleri, Malcolm J. Wardlaw, F J Curlew, Christy J. Breedlove, Richard Steele, Maggie Lynch, Brian VanDongen, Devri Walls, Ian Shane, James Bailey, Melissa Simonson, Ian Patrick, Duncan MacMaster, Sarah Chorn, Jo Perry, Russell Day, Luna Miller, Russ Colchamiro, Gray Basnight, and Matthew Hanover for taking time out of your busy schedules to answer a few quick questions with me this year! For three or four of you, this was the second time you’ve done this—the second and third for Nick Kolakowski, a true glutton for punishment. I thoroughly enjoyed picking all of your brains and hope I can again.
• 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 2020, hope you find plenty of good things to read!

As we kick off 2019, I wanted to take a glance back at 2018. 258 books read (plus comics, picture books, short stories, and the like that I don’t know how to count) — I exceeded my goal (nothing like exceeding an arbitrary number to boost the ol’ ego), 380 posts (short of my goal by a couple hundred, and worse — 15 fewer than 2017, which was down from 2016. This is a trend that I need to reverse). I had some strong gains in traffic — views and visitors — actually, strong gains doesn’t quite cut it. Consider my mind boggled. I’m also seeing good growth in followers here and on various social media fronts, which is encouraging as all get out — not just growth in numbers, but I’m actually interacting with people (and vice versa).

So here’s my breakdown of books by genre, like the one I did last year. Genre labeling is more difficult this year, I read a lot of hybrids, but I tend to go with the overarching genre (for example, Brassley’s The Drifting Lands books are fantasy novels in a SF setting, I went with Fantasy). Mystery/Suspense/Thriller is back to where it should be. Fantasy jumped up a bit, and Urban Fantasy took a dive. It’s been forever since I’ve read a Western, I guess (at least one that wasn’t a hybrid with Urban Fantasy or SF or something) — and I had to add a category for Poetry. Theological books went down in actual numbers, not just percent — but I read some big, technical stuff this year that take a lot of time/energy to read, so I’m not too bothered by that. Still, for someone who doesn’t plan too thoroughly, the percentages stay remarkably the same from year to year — tastes (and series I follow) apparently stay the same.

• Enough about me. 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 2018:
• Thanks to everyone for your comments/feedback — texts, emails, comments here/BookLikes/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 better writers — some of you push me to read better books.
• Flattered thanks to (in no particular order): 500words, Ethan Bayes, Haden Clark, Amy Sparks, lynnm2018, Paula Bardell-Hedley, BookieWookie, awritersramblings446569187, Somya Gujjar, LFBooks, andrea bindi, rimpytoor, Jakirra Ballard, Beardy Book Blogger, A D Solomon, spacefaith1 (thanks for the follow, but not linking to that banner pic, sorry), Alicia Reads, Arrowhead Freelance and Publishing, Stephanie, Tim Miller, KL, [there was going to be another name here, but I’m pretty sure it’s merely an attempt to get us all to buy iffy tourist packages to the UK], ankandas, Jess T., steamstefny, millennialdrowning, Merv, Danielle The Bookworm, damppebbles, oddandbookish, Samantha Loves To Read, irevuo, factfictionfake, savageddt, Charlie De Luca, Higginbotham Publications, Carla Alexandra Rodrigues, jstlouise, Sritha Bandla, James Remmer, moviewarden, Eva Newermann, glenn van nostrand, T.Jaye, Tatiana Ketchum, linaprosserr, annhwkns77, Allie Sumner, lindsayjohnna, thisischechewinnie, vibealittle, cagedunn, Aspen Kendrick, atozmom, https://crossfitmomm.com/, jendionne10, figlia dei fiori, Deb / Being Aunt Debbie, Dog Training Guidance, Cristian Mihai, pitchstory, Jordan Peters, A Star on the Forehead, Tiana (The Book Raven), V Ramasamy, dpranita583 (don’t click on that link if you’re hungry, btw), Peg Glover, SAM, http120111324 (which is one of the stranger monikers I’ve come across online, but I’m pretty sure there’s a person behind this), Clarissa, Jenn, Leah’s Bookish Obsession,Johnny, EduPub, Liv Miles, simplymyswank, Adam Wall, RABT Book Tours and PR, Cali’s bookcamp, lifecanbebeautifulyolo, wisdomfromafather, Ola G, francestaylorblg, ingrid baker, blgkaelabl, Equipping, Williwash, angelgwapaxd, SindrElf, mithilamohan0123, Redeemed Three, The Godly Chic Diaries, littleliteraturekc, pinnaclemotivation, wittysarcasticbookclub, AlbertHolmes, The Sunday Feeling, hellotheregigi, Moonlight Snow, Fashion-Creative thinking, jennifertarheelreader, Jenniely, Pinklotus76, Word Hunter, Russell Deasley, february87, Ontheminds, awesomeyou, whinney, Di Salvo Cambiamento, Arganise Campbell, and Shalini for being new followers (at least for a post or two) of the blog (in one of its forms) 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 (in no particular order): Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris, David Baldacci, Scott Brick, Joel R. Beeke, Harry Bingham, Haya Magner, Miri Leshem-Peli, James Alan Gardner, Nick Offerman, Seanan McGuire, Douglas Light, Francis Portela, Samuel Renihan, Ian Rankin, Gregg Hurwitz, Jody Houser, Pere Pérez, Marguerite Sauvage, Colleen Doran, Preston Randall, Dennis Maley, Thomas Perry, Michael Kramer, Aman Mittal, Charles St. Anthony, Rod A. Walters, Vincent Chu, Sean Grigsby, Benedict Jacka, Gildart Jackson, Michael Allen, Pierce Brown, Peta Lemon, Maria Dasic Todoric, Neil Simon, Max Casella, Peter Michael Goetz, Valerie Harper, Alexana Lambros, Anna Sophie Loewenberg, Jonathan Silverman, Joyce Van Patten, JW Bowe, Katherine Moennig, Alex Wells, Simon Garfield, in60learning, Ryan McGraw, Myke Cole, Joe Ponepinto, David Ahern, B.C.R. Fegan, Lenny Wen, Nurit Zvolon, Rotem Lots-Zaiden, Stephanie Marland, John Hughson, Ali Smith, Sergey Grechishkin, K. J. Howe, Darrell Drake, Marissa Meyer, Stephen Gilpin, Yaakov Malkin, Shmuel Sermoneta-Gertel, Steven Brust, Michael J. Kruger, Kevin Hearne, Tom Rachman, Carolyn Arnold, Walter Kerr, Steve Cavanagh, Barb Taub, David W. Barbee, Mercedes Lackey, Luca Veste, Patricia Briggs, Lorelei King, P. G. Wodehouse, Simon Prebble, Drew Magary, Christopher Lane, Ace Atkins, Cassandra Khaw, Vern Poythress, Rica Newbery, Alan S. Kessler, J. K. Rowling, Jim Dale, Michael R. Underwood, Alex Bledsoe, The Babylon Bee, Jim Butcher, James Marsters, Nicky Peacock, Malka Ann Older, Simon Hall, Stephanie Tromly, Kathleen McInerney, Faith Hunter, Khristine Hvam, Dan O’Brien, Janet Elizabeth Croon, Michael Koryta, Rick Riordan, Michael Crouch, Aida Rascanu, Beatrice Magrini, Ian Patrick, George Guidall, Simon Bower, Paul F. Yeulett, Delilah S. Dawson, Todd Miles, Layton Green, Michael Connelly, Marie Brennan, Susan Duerden, Rhett Dodson, E. J. Copperman, Jeff Cohen, Jenny T. Colgan, Russell Day, Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows, Katherine Kellgren, Ken Jennings, Mark Dever, Luke Daniels, Derek W. H. Thomas, Willie Davis, Jeffery H. Haskell, Reed Farrel Coleman, Dave Barry, Becky Chambers, Lee Goldberg, Beth Mattson, Paul Cornell, Coleman Alexander, Duncan MacMaster, Lisa Lutz, Nick Kolakowski, Jodi Taylor, Chris von Halle, Gail Honeyman, Erica Wright, Joseph Brassey, James Stansfield, M. W. Craven, Andrew Cartmel, Darrin Doyle, Chuck Waldron, Derek & Dave Philpott, Jordan Harper, Amy Stewart, Rebecca BradleyRebecca Bradley, Nicholas Eames, Mark David Zaslove, Fonda Lee, Nicholas Petrie, A. Lee Martinez, Cristelle Comby, Carrie Vaughn, Marguerite Gavin, Jo Platt, J.C. Jackson, Bradley Horner, Jeremy Billups, Jasper Fforde, Emily Gray, Clare Blanchard, Holter Graham, Russel D. McLean, Sinclair Ferguson, Brent Jones, Kevin DeYoung, Cheryl Denise Bannerman, Robert Galbraith, Nevin Martell, Jeremy Arthur, Gail Carriger, Craig Johnson, Greg van Eekhout, Mark Manson, Roger Wayne, Robin Sloan, Therese Plummer, Ruth Sutton, Ben Aaronovitch, Mike Lupica, Andrew Field, Michael Connelly, D. G. Hart, Donald S. Whitney, Joe Ide, Margaret Stohl, Julia Whelan, Gary Raymond, Mark Eglinton, Spencer Quinn, Jim Frangione, Rob Sinclair, Julie Klam, Karen White, Jenn Stroud Rossmann, Arline Cooper, S.L. Huang, Richard B. Gaffin, John Marrs, Jon Rance, Jay Stringer, Napoleon Ryan Heather Wilds, Matt Phillips, Cassandra Gelvin, Christopher A. Hutchinson, Guy Prentiss Waters, Nick Spalding, Sarah Knight, Anna Willett, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Laura Hicks, Gregory Mcdonald, Dan John Miller, Meghan Scott Molin, Ben Sasse, David Rosenfelt, Grover Gardner, Matthew Hanover, J. F. Pandolfi, Steph Broadribb, Lee Child, Betsy Reavley, Mary Oliver, John Burgoyne, Matt Cowper, Jon Voss, GJ Moffat, Nicholson Baker, Bill Todd, Raj Haldar, Chris Carpenter, Maria Beddia, Kurt Scheffler, Janet Evanovich, Winston Graham, Danny E. Olinger, John Owen, Russell T. Davies, Marie Lu and Will Damron 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 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. Sorry, I didn’t list you all by name this year, but I’d have forgotten one (am making a better effort on this in 2019).
• Many thanks to David Ahern, Nick Kolakowski, Chuck Waldron, Derek and Dave Philpott, and Matt Cowper for taking time out of your busy schedules to answer a few quick questions with me this year! (Note to self: I did too few of these this year, work on that).
• 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 2019, hope you find plenty of good things to read!

As we kick off 2018, I wanted to take a glance back at 2017. 260 books read — I exceeded my goal (nothing like exceeding an arbitrary number to boost the ol’ ego), 395 posts (short of my goal by a couple hundred, and worse — almost 50 fewer than 2015!). I had some strong gains in traffic — views and visitors — and I’m also seeing good growth in followers here and on various social media fronts, which is encouraging as all get out.

So here’s my breakdown of books by genre, like the one I did last year. Genre labeling is more difficult this year, I read a lot of hybrids, but I tend to go with the overarching genre (for example, Artemis is a SF and Crime hybrid, I went with SF). Mystery/Suspense/Thriller is back to where it should be. SF and Fantasy took the hit to make up for that. it’s been forever since I’ve read a Western, I guess (at least one that wasn’t a hybrid with Urban Fantasy or SF or something). Theological books went down in actual numbers, not just percent — but I read some big, technical stuff this year that took a lot more time/energy to read, so I’m not too bothered by that. Still, for someone who doesn’t plan too thoroughly, the percentages stay remarkably the same from year to year — tastes (and series I follow) apparently stay the same.

• Enough about me. 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 2017:

• Thanks to everyone for your comments/feedback — texts, emails, comments here/BookLikes/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.
• Flattered thanks to (in no particular order): vihasi shah, ravencrimereads , JL’s Bibliomania, littlemissnosleep, charmingkitties, hubblegal, bettybookreviews, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BOOK BLOG, tripleblacktri, SnoopyDoo, discobarbizar, iosappdevelopmentcompanyinbangaloreblog, dawgietime, ellabyrde, QuietBlogster, amandanicolette, pandaduh, GEORGE SORIN VENETE, The Sound of One Man Laughing, catskittiesandmore, saisuresh007, perfectbingosites.co.uk, alexankarr1, mysteryauthorjamesrnelson, Abinotronix, martyn james, Jeyran Main, J. A. Allen, passmethatbook, Tannat, roamingwanderlusts, nzfnmblog and writerlady, Adam Harkus (a blog my two young guitarists will love), Christy Luis, kirilson, Let’s Read Something New, publishquest2017, Genre Book Reviews, gencyazarlarklubu, Reading is My Escapte, Portable Magic, Mollie Player, netbij, Scarlett Brodie, Maria Bardyukova, bloggerfingers, MladenR, Anushka, annebonnybookreviews, thehuntandpeckblog, Richard Klu, The Cable Denning Fan Club, Mr and Mrs NW, abokrose, LizScanlon, theartdive, M.L.S.Weech, Simple Ula, Skulls and Coffee, BellaDonna, vickibrock44, Rizky FAUZI, whatsnonfiction, Reasons To Resist, nishlovepink, foodlove16, Scarletpiper, georgederringer, youngadultallegiance, The Lyrictrotter, shellinoutreviews, Nici Copywriter, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Mrinalini Raj, Shelfleigh, Shaun Hume, dreamnoiseblog, Alice @ Arctic Books, thrillersuspense, texaslawstudent, Lauren, Author Maremma Gee, Person of Interest, Brusque and The Hunt and Peck Blog for being new followers (at least for a post or two) of the blog (in one of its forms) 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 (in no particular order): Rosaria Butterfield, R. David Cox, Miles V. Van Pelt, D. I. Jolly, Alex Wells, Matthew Barrett, Jim Butcher, Kerrie L. Hughes, Carrie Vaughn, Patricia Murphy, Brad Parks, Sam Lawrence & Ben Jackson, Danko Herrera, Taylor Stevens, Hillary Huber, Andy Martin, Zoe Kalo, Gibson Michaels, Ian Rankin, Sinclair B. Ferguson, Jennifer Weiner, John Bowen, J. B. Rockwell, K. S. Villoso, Aimee Byrd, Luca Veste, Paul Goldstein, Max Elliot Anderson, Brandon D. Crowe, Sarah Pinborough, Duncan MacMaster, Marissa Meyer, Douglas Holgate, Danielle Rogland, Faith Hunter, Lloyd Alexander, James Langton, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Leslie Hung, Derek Landy, Rupert Degas, Lee Child, Dick Hill, Shawn Hartje, Ace Atkins, Seanan McGuire, J. Gresham Machen, Alan Bradley, Jayne Entwistle, Christopher Hansen, J.R. Fehr, Loren D. Estleman, Owen Laukkanen, Reformed Forum, John Scalzi, Samuel G. Sterling, Danielle Pollock, Joshua Torrey, W. Robert Godfrey, Carolyn Arnold, Steph Broadribb, Sarah Kuhn, Dave Barry, Patrick Frederic, Benedict Jacka, D.J. Bodden, Mindy Kaling, Geehardus Vos, Sam Allberry, Graeme Simsion, Josh Bazell, Robert Petkoff, Rob Shackleford, Chrys Cymri, Jason Miller, Stephen Oram, Steve Cavanagh, David Baldacci, Scott Brick, Doree Shafrir, Paul Cornell, O. Palmer Robertson, Paul W. Cohen, Rick Riordan, Kieran Culkin, Robbie DaymondRobbie Daymond, Steve Hamilton, Spencer Quinn, Jason Parent, Amber Benson,E.J. Copperman, Jeff Cohen, Zoë Sharp, Alex Bledsoe, Patrick Ness, Ash Gray, Craig Johnson, George Guidall, Cory Barclay, Stephen Wellum, Stephan Pastis, Jared Goldsmith, Emily Ruben, Ryan McGraw, Michael J. Kruger, J. Ligon Duncan, Russ Colchamiro, George Bachman, Stephen Clark, Mark Jones, Don Winslow, Patricia Briggs, Lorelei King, Holter Graham, Gabe Hudson, Reed Farrel Coleman, Jacqueline Chadwick, Robert Germaux, Bradley Horner, B.C.R. Fegan, Lenny Wen, Chris Grabenstein, Jeff Woodman, Michael Connelly, Nathaniel Barber, Rachel Isgar, Ph.D., Cornelis P. Venema, Ben Sasse, Angie Thomas, Bahni Turpin, Chrissy Lessey, M. T. Miller, Shaun Hume, Jo Perry, Layton Green, Jason Reynolds, Guy Lockard, Alex BehrAlex Behr, Hart Hanson, Ari Fliakos, Joseph Brassey, Amy Stewart, Adam Sternberg, David Rosenfelt, Grover Gardner, Josef Matulich, Matt Cowper, C. J. Williams, Lucy Treloar, Kristin I. Morris, Joseph J. Zielinski, Ph.D., L.G. Metcalf, O.Hallesby, Leigh Bardugo, Mozhan Marno, Michael RN Jones, John Calvin, Joe Ide, Mindy M. Shelton, Tia Sorenson, Daniel Falatko, Robin Sloan, Rich Leder, Brian Cosby, Michael Allen, Scott R. Swain, Alan Jacobs, David Yair, ilana Graf, Natalie Jackson, Krysten Ritter, Carl R. Trueman, Katrina Shawver, S. J. Rozan, James E. Dolezal, Jonathan Fesmire, Dan Sofer, Edgar Cantero, Kyla Garcia, Doogie Horner, JJ Harrison, Sue Grafton, Joe Zieja, Tehila Sade Moyal, Fatima Pires, Hugh Martin, K. J. Howe, Peter Clines, Alejandro de Gutierre, S.C. Flynn, Alan Sepinwall, Andy Weir, Susan E. Davis, PT, Howard L. Hibbard, Robert Crais MacLeod Andrews, Robert Kolb, Harry Bingham, Siriol Jenkins, Kevin Hearne, Luke Daniels, Shane Kuhn, Pete Simonelli, Joel Beeke, Heather L. Beal, Jubayda Sager, Isaac Alexis, MD, Max McBride, Janet Evanovich, Peter May, Harry Connolly, Max Wirestone, Ned Vizzini, Robert Fass, John Murray, Ben Aaronovitch, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan, Luis Guerrero, David Z. Hirsch, Robert B. Parker, Michael Prichard, Neil Gaiman, Maria Bardyukova, Quiet Riley, Jr., Rik Hoskin, and (last but certainly not least) Tom Garcia this blog would be nothing without your efforts, your blood, sweat, tears, fears, work, love, dreams, hopes, 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 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. Sorry, I didn’t list you all by name this year, my records got a little confusing.
• Many thanks to Faith Hunter, Nathaniel Barber, B.C.R. Fegan, Russ Colchamiro, Duncan MacMaster, Ben Jackson, and D.I. Jolly for taking time out of your busy schedules to answer a few quick questions with me this year!
• Thanks to Alex Behr who sent me a very attractive looking signed paperback copy of Planet Grim a couple of weeks ago, and I keep forgetting to send a thank you to. So, while I’m hitting everyone else up here…
• A shout-out to my wife (inside joke). Seriously, dear, 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. Seriously, 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 2018, hope you find plenty of good things to read!