When I started this blog, I never figured I’d stick with it to review almost 300 books in four years. Maybe because I didn’t think I’d keep it up for five years. But here we are, another year down—what is the fourth-year anniversary gift, anyways? I’m actually pretty proud of this one, especially in light of so many bloggers who have burnt out, slowed down, or stopped altogether. I’ll be even more proud next year (fifth is the the wood anniversary, as you all obviously know), barring stress or serious injury or loss of internet.
When I got started in 2011, I was coming off a long run of Neil Gaiman and China Mieville and wanted to tear into the many classics I’d picked up in college. (I have a book addiction, okay, and tended to assault the SF&F section of used bookstores with the “I’m too busy to read it now but I’ll probably enjoy it sometime in the next XX years” mentality.) Very little of what I read was digitized, and what there was cost an arm and a leg, so buying ebooks didn’t even cross my mind. There weren’t a lot of people blogging about classic SF—it’s still rather niche but back then it was in its infancy, though of course Joachim Boaz was already around and was a featured “WordPress Spotlight” or something for an Alex Schomburg art post right after I started posting. There were a good deal more blogs devoted to noir, in the wake of Hard Case Crime’s emergence, and a few really good ones dedicated to pulp magazines, and many of both have gone silent for one reason or another.
There are many great blogs out there that have lasted far longer than mine, and are going a lot stronger than mine, but I’ve seen staggering number of bloggers bow out, drop out, decline to the post-a-month. Blogging takes a surprising amount of effort, as there’s a good chance said blogger is holding down a real job with real deadlines and real responsibilities that pays a lot better than “would you write a review of this book if I gave you a free copy?”
Maybe it’s because I’ve never lost sight of my goals; to whit, I don’t have any. I don’t do this for (internet) fame and success; I don’t blog for the hits or follows, to watch numbers tick up incrementally. I’m objectively terrible at marketing it—I had Twitter for years before I really used it; I split my audience by reading multiple genres; the majority of my choices are classics (eeew, crusty old stuff) and will probably get to last year’s shortlist darlings by 2020. I request the ARC’s I want to read, and have probably burned some bridges by ignoring/declining some buzz-worthy titles and hip publishers. I don’t bother to plan my reads too far in advance, either—just far enough to avoid decision paralysis, since what I’m in the mood for is apt to change. My day job is all big data and analytics, so this stuff—tag clouds, trend-lines, referrers, all the gooey underlying data that make up the charts and graphs that form a viz—would be a cinch. But that’s not what I’m interested in for a hobby. It’s an outlet.
This isn’t to say I don’t like looking up and finding that I’ve surpassed some views milestone, just that I don’t really pay attention to them. Nor that I don’t appreciate people who comment, Like, +1, or Retweet my posts—I’d like to thank all my readers for that support, even if you’re an infrequent reader who never hits the social media buttons (I know who you are). I want to thank you because I don’t always have time to respond to every comment, and don’t always have something worth saying when you write a cool post on your own site. I think I’m more proud that some of my stuff gets the reaction that it does because I’m so apathetic to self-promotion and “number of views/follows” goalposts, because it gives that response more of a meaning. I’d rather have the community than the 40,000-views-per-day, if you know what I mean.
So, in terms of 2015, I’m halfway through the year and have burned through my reading goal—I lowballed my goal at 60 books and I’m already closing on 45, and I don’t think it’d be too hard a stretch to make 75. (80 I think is still pushing it, if only because I have several weeks coming up where I know I’ll read little-to-nothing.) I formed a “to-read” list in January, read 20 books off of it, and then got sidetracked. I’ve tried to stick to my 2015 Readsolutions but I know I’ve slipped on reading books by female authors, even though I’ve read over twice as many as I did last year (20, give or take a couple of anthologies).
Books that I can confirm will be read and reviewed in the last half of this year:
- A pair of translated ’70s SF books with “ice” in the title. I’ve actually been reading them this week on my vacation, but no promises in terms of speed or efficiency for a review
- A pair of recent-ish neo-noir crime stories; I’m not specifying which in case I change my mind again
- China Mieville’s new collection Three Moments from an Explosion—I snagged an ARC which I’ve picked away at; while I can’t say much until it’s released, Mieville fans should stand up and take note of this one
- Alan Dean Foster’s Midworld, to compare with Hothouse
- A favorite by Clifford Simak
- My first Barry Malzberg
- Depending on how I’m feeling, I have a pair of British Library Spy Classics I’d like to have a go at
- A metric ton of Jack Vance, spanning multiple genres… September may turn into the unofficial Jack Vance Month
- And a couple of horror anthologies for October—including one aptly-named collection of Bradbury’s early work that I’d like to do something special for
Rabindranauth said:
Congrats, that’s a pretty big goal to make! And at the same time, an unsurprising sort of one, given the type of blogger you are. When you’re doing it for fun, or as a release, it never seems to become the job that you read other bloggers saying it is.
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admiral.ironbombs said:
Thanks Rab! And yeah, it’s only a boring job if you make it into one… can’t let the grind get you down.
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Joachim Boaz said:
Your first Malzberg… a terrifying idea really. I will be crushed if you despise it — haha. At the very least I suspect you’ll appreciate his craft even if the work ultimately frustrates you.
As always, I enjoy reading your reviews! Keep up the great work 🙂
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admiral.ironbombs said:
Dark humor, existential angst, psychological themes of alienation and frustration—what’s not like? Really, I’ve been holding off on the expectation that I will like his works too much (which proved true for Compton at least, who I also need to read more of).
Not sure I will be reading the Malzberg novel(s) you’re expecting, but it’s Malzberg nonetheless and I’m looking forward to it.
Thanks, Joachim!
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Joachim Boaz said:
Tell me which one you’re reading! (but yes, eventually get to Revelations, Beyond Apollo, The Gamesman lease!).
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Joachim Boaz said:
*please
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admiral.ironbombs said:
I want a copy of The Falling Astronauts for its cover (the Ace one with the Meltzer art), and assume I’ll read all of his Apollo books… but the SF one I have picked out will probably be In The Enclosure. Unless I read one of his non-SF books just to annoy you 😛
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Joachim Boaz said:
In The Enclosure is great. I have some of his non-SF novels published with Olympia books– Oracles of A Thousand Hands and his first novel, Screen.
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unsubscriber said:
Congratulations on reaching this milestone Admiral, keep on reading and writing! All the very best.
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admiral.ironbombs said:
Thank you sir! And please keep up those excellent cover series, they are wonderful inspiration and I wish I had easier access to many of those Badger volumes.
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unsubscriber said:
I shall do my best Admiral, keep on providing the inspiration.
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fromcouchtomoon said:
*starts carving wood for next year*
Wow, congrats on four years! May there be another four years and beyond!
Looking forward to your “ice” themed reviews (any chance one of them will be Kavan?) and I will pay close attention to your Miéville post because it will probably be forever before I get to it. I’m also looking forward to discovering your favorite Simak (although I think you already told me) and your first MALZBERG! And your October anthology plans sound like fun. Oh! And Vance! You’ll probably have me reading Vance before the year is through!
I love your blog and am so glad to have stumbled upon it (probably via Joachim). A lot of what you say about blogging rings true with me and I’m glad you’re still at it, even though it’s often bad for my TBR– quit tweeting Octavia Butler eBook deals!
So, yay! Where’s the cake?
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admiral.ironbombs said:
Thanks, Megan! Of course, without your trailblazing efforts I wouldn’t have got around to reading Inverted World, nor would I have stuff like The Wanderer and your BSFA picks on my TBR pile.
“Ice” books — unfortunately no Kaven, I can’t seem to find a copy anywhere, though I may break down and buy the ebook edition. On Jack Vance — since you just listed Babel-17 I think you should throw The Languages of Pao somewhere on your reading list, it has similar themes and is a pretty good way to get into Vance. And I’ll stop tweeting Octavia Butler deals when everybody in the world has read all of them, twice.
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realthog said:
Big congrats on passing the four-year milestone, Chris! And I’m looking forward to all those review . . .
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admiral.ironbombs said:
Thank you, John! The book reviews/posts are coming, I assure you. Including several volumes you made me aware of.
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realthog said:
Including several volumes you made me aware of.
I did?
*puzzled*
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admiral.ironbombs said:
Well, none on that list, but several of your Goodreads posts were influential in recent purchases. 🙂
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Thomas Anderson said:
Congratulations and happy anniversary! I’m looking forward to your Jack Vance extravaganza. He’s been on my shelf for a long while and I just never seem to get around to him. Maybe you’ll help me fix that.
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admiral.ironbombs said:
Thanks! And though his baroque stories aren’t for everyone, I rank Vance quite highly… every SF reader should give him a try at least once.
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DJ (@MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape) said:
Congrats on the 4 years! I honestly don’t read any the classic or older sci-fi novels, but I always enjoy reading your reviews. Maybe oneway I’ll get into them, and I’ll have an idea of where to start.
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admiral.ironbombs said:
haha, Thanks! If you do try to get into the classics (and there’s some good stuff in there 😉 ), I’d suggest following From Couch to Moon (see above, the one disparaging those who would bring good cheer and discount ebook alerts to the interwebs). She alternates between the classics and the new stuff, and has come up with a pretty good list of what old stuff is necessary.
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DJ (@MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape) said:
I already follow her blog too! (Like yours, I found her from S.C. Flynn’s interviews). Even though I don’t read the classics, I’m still interested in what some of the notable ones are. Plus, most blogs I read are new release SF/F, so helps mix things up a bit too.
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nikki @bookpunks said:
YOU HAVE A COPY OF Three Moments from an Explosion ALREADY? *dies of jealousy* *reanimates because I have enough Mieville on my pile right now that the wait isn’t actually that bad upon consideration*
I find blogs and bloggers who are completely apathetic towards any sort of social media plan sympathetic. All authenticity all the time then usually, which always appeals to me. Not that promotion nec equals inauthentic stuff, just, it can, so good for you and who cares, I’m glad you’re having fun.
I really, really need to get around to reading some Vance. In part for the apocalypses and in part because I have this big ole SF Gateway collection of three or four of his works that looks interesting. Which ones will you read? I won’t be surprised if you end up getting me all excited to read them sooner than later.
I am also very curious to see what comes out of the “ice” titles. I found doing that with the word “city” a few months ago way more fun than it reasonably should have been. Anything to force me into finally reading things I want to but am putting off for irrational reasons.
Happy four years!
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admiral.ironbombs said:
Don’t burn out on Mieville, but since you’ve just about finished his bibliography what’s one more collection? Plus that novel I hear is coming next year… 😉 I’m just glad that limitless imagination of his is able to crank out another book every few years.
For Vance, I’m debating the Alastor Cluster trilogy or the Planet of Adventure quartet. But I’ve really wanted to re-read his Dying Earth books. He also wrote mysteries, and I picked up some volumes by Subterranean Press that collect six of them. And I have Araminta Station just waiting to be read… ugh, you see why I need to devote a whole month to the guy.
I’m a huge fan of Vance’s style, but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and I’m honestly not sure what to suggest as a first Vance read… maybe the Jack Vance Treasury which has some of his best short fiction and award-winning novellas? You might dig the Dying Earth books because apocalypse, but the first one is more of a vista of semi-related short stories, and the Cugel books, while fantastic, are some of his most baroque stuff… trippy, picaresque adventures of a ruffian-rogue.
I remember your “city” pairing and thought that was a pretty good idea—I’ve been trying to work more paired/themed reads together this year and it’s been pretty good so far. At the least it’s kind of fun to do some comparing and contrasting of similar works.
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Manly Reading said:
For first read Vance, I’d recommend Lyonesse, as its that bit more accessable.
Not much of a first post; but congratulations on the four year milestone. Its let me to a lot of good stuff – not least The Red Right Hand.
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Peter S said:
Congratulations! I admire those who can maintain a book review blog, it must be a lot of work. I actually like how you review books from different genres, i read more than one genre myself and it’s interesting to read read reviews of things I’m not aware of.
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admiral.ironbombs said:
Thanks! It can be a lot of work, and can also lead to a frustrating reading experience (if you spend more time focusing on your upcoming review than the book at hand). I’m just happy that it keeps me reading… I used to read a lot as a kid but stopped somewhere along the way, and with the blog I’ve pushed myself to read more.
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Keishon said:
First off, congratulations for four years of blogging! I think you have a great blog and a great voice and I plan to be a frequent reader.
Second, I love this post because it mirrors much of my thoughts as well when it comes to promoting yourself (am apathetic as well) and doing this more for love rather than for fame or money, follows and likes (although all are appreciated). Your blog should reflect all the things you care about and draw people who care about (or didn’t know they cared about) them as well. I hope you don’t burn out anytime soon or lose your internet connection. I wish you many more years of blogging and I look forward to finding some good reads.
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Mike White said:
Congrats! As someone who’s been blogging for nearly 10 years, but can’t seem to do better than boom and bust cycles, I really admire your consistency. And you keep my list of to-find books full!
Do the authors of your ‘Ice’ books happen to be Kavan and Barjavel? I ask because they’ve been sitting at the top of my to-read pile for awhile… I’m trying to decide whether they should be next.
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admiral.ironbombs said:
Thanks Mike—your journey through the history of apocalyptic fiction has led me to a good number of great books.
For the ice books, Barjavel is one (nailed it, nice!). Kobo Abe’s INTER ICE AGE 4 is the other… About halfway through and I’m impressed by its weirdness. I’m still looking for a copy of Kavan since it sounds so interesting.
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Mike White said:
That is a weird book. Surprisingly compelling as well. I’m looking forward to your review.
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