Well, 2018 has certainly been a year, hasn’t it? Time to examine those accomplishments (or lack thereof) and decide what to do with the next 12 months (or not). As you can see, my motivation is at ebb tide at the moment of this missive, so maybe the act of looking back will help… let’s see…
I did manage to exceed my 2017 read count by a whole 176 pages! I was down two books though, with only 29. I do know that much reading that is not counted up includes tons of editing (re-reading), research for writing, and also research into Dungeons and Dragons rules and lore. I’m totally counting the Dungeon Masters Guide & Player’s Handbook for D&D 5th Edition this year! The D&D wiki is also a rabbit hole of infinite depth down which one should carefully tread, lest you be engulfed and never return! So, yeah, I’ll count all that as a win.
The writing has taken a backseat for a while, although I did publish my Horizon’s Unlimited Anthology. I wrote and expanded on several short stories and submitted those. One was over 22,000 words! I have not yet been able to settle into a mindset that will allow me to continue another novel. I also have picked up that new hobby that I mentioned before…
You see, early in the year… Feb/March? I decided to try my hand at being a Dungeon Master for D&D 5th Edition starter set campaign The Lost Mine of Phandelver. This RPG is supposed to be a fairly short introductory campaign to help new players and new DMs (Dungeon Masters) learn the ‘art’ of play D&D. I had played through that campaign myself as a player, so I was hoping it would prove to be an easy way to get started as the man behind the screen… Weeellll…
I have a tendency to embellish things when I think they are a bit on the boring side. My players also have this same characteristic trait. I quickly found that if I dangled a shiny side-story in front of them, they would instantly shoot off in that direction before I could comprehend what I had done to myself. This is how LMoP become a nearly year long campaign with a follow on Custom Campaign #2 to be run me in 2019.
Oh, and we’re maybe…sorta…kinda… going to try recording it an seeing if people on YouTube want to watch it. That means I now have to learn video recording & editing software, etc. I have already started this, and it will be time consuming. It is why the ‘plans’ that I mentioned back in November never really happened.
Anyway, that’s what’s up with my life and hobbies at the moment. But, let’s get back to the BOOKS!
I only had 4 books that (5 if you count my own, but I’m biased) made the 5 star cut this past year. 7 earned a 4 star ranking. There were some good comics/graphic novels in the mix as well, but I count them separately.
Here’s the breakdown for my reads & reviews this year.
Total books read for the year: 23 (+4 Comics/Graphic Novels + 2 RPG Source Books)
Total pages read for the year: 7,646
Book ratings: 5 – 5 stars, 7 – 4 stars, 11 – 3 stars, 2 – 2 stars, 1 – 1 star
Comic ratings: 1 – 5 star, 1 – 4 star, 2 – 3 stars
I would love to hear from any readers in the comments.
How many books did you read in last year? What were your favs?
Wishing you all Happy Reading for 2019!
Showcase of some of my favorites from 2018 are below…
Five Star Books |
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Horizons Unlimited: Volume 1 A Space Adventure Anthology by J. D. BeckwithMy Book |
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Planetary: Mercury by Superversive Press (includes a short story by ME!) |
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A Place For War (Z-Day #3) by Daniel Humphreys |
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I Am Justice (The Frontiers Saga: Part 2: Rogue Castes #9) by Ryk Brown |
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Islands of Rage & Hope (Black Tide Rising #3) by John Ringo |
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Critical Role – Vox Machina: Origins #1, #2 & #3 by Matthew Colville & Matthew Mercer
No Written Review – Buy Here |
Four Star Books |
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Planetary: Venus by Superversive Press (includes a short story by ME!) |
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Fade & Night’s Black Agents by Daniel Humphreys |
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Retaliation (The Frontiers Saga: Part 2: Rogue Castes #10) by Ryk Brown |
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Strands of Sorrow (Black Tide Rising #4) by John Ringo |
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CTRL ALT Revolt! (Soda Pop Soldier 0.5) by Nick ColeMy Review |
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Critical Role – Vox Machina: Origins #1, #2 & #3 by Matthew Colville & Matthew Mercer
No Written Review – Buy Here |
Words from the Wampuscat 