I’ll start with the bad news. I’m toning down the pace at which I produce book reviews. Before I was reading three books and writing three book reviews a week, and it was just too much for me. I sacrificed a lot of my long-term goals in order to write 150 book reviews a year.
I’ve decided to tone things down, so I only publish 1 high-quality book review a week instead of 3 slapdash book reviews. I might add on more later if I have time, but from now on just expect one update a week.
Here’s my updates about what I’m working on this month.
- 1st:
- I finished reading ‘The Shadow Which Came Before’. Review published.
- I wrote a little in my mystery project
- 2nd
- I started and finished ‘Peter and Fi.’ Review coming up next week
- I wrote 100 words in my mystery project
- I added a little to my outline for The Great War 2
- 3rd
- I wrote 1500 words in my mystery project
- I added a little to my outline for The Great War 2
- 4th
- I wrote 1280 words in my mystery project.
- Added info to The Great War 2 Outline, and added corrections to The Great War 1 draft
- Read over half of ‘Phalanx vs Legion’
- 5th
- I wrote a little over 1500 words in my mystery project
- I read some of ‘Phalanx vs Legion’ and ‘Four Roads Cross.’
- 6th
- I wrote 1500 words in my mystery project.
- I finished reading ‘Phalanx Vs Legion’ and I read more of ‘Four Roads Cross.’
- 7th
- I’m writing nothing today. It’s Sunday, and I’m taking today off.
- I will write my review for ‘Phalanx vs Legion.’
- I read some of ‘Four Roads Cross.’ It’s good. The author is going deeper into the Alt Coloumb setting instead of exploring a brand new setting.
- I played some ‘Subnautica.’ I have to say the sound design in that game is fantastic, in a super-creepy sort of way. The game is mostly safe, but the music is so spooky that I can’t help but be creeped out sometimes.
- 8th
- I wrote a little over 3000 words today. I’m increasing my minimum daily wordcount so I can power through my Mystery Project.
- I read more of ‘Four Roads Cross.’ It has a slow start, but it’s finally speeding up at about the 50% point. It’s not poorly paced, just a slow burn.
- I started a new workout regime today- or rather returning to an old one. I’m thinking I might start keeping myself accountable for my workouts here on my blog as well. I don’t know, I’ll try it for a month and see if I like it.
- I rode my bike for 7 miles, walked my dog for about a mile and a half and went to the gym and performed the Chest Day for my nSuns workout.
- 9th
- Reading
- I wrote four reviews I’ve been putting off for months
- I’m nearly done with ‘Four Roads Cross.’ It’s really getting better after the halfway point, but it’s getting better in the sense of being a very good culmination of the series. All the main characters from the other books are getting together to save the day in a satisfying fashion.
- I’m about to go read some ‘Trench Talk’, a book about WW1
- Writing
- ~I wrote 3000 words in my mystery project.
- Fitness
- Jumped rope for 10 minutes
- I walked my dog for a mile and a half or so.
- I rode my bike for 7 miles
- I went to the gym and did a Squats/Sumo Deadlift workout.
- Diet went well today.
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- Less than two hours worth of videos watched. Yay being efficient!
- No video games played.
- Reading
- 10th
- Reading
- I finished Four Roads Cross. Review up in 19 days. (aka the 29th) I think the next thing I’m going to read is the Mueller Report.
- Writing
- I wrote 3000 words in my mystery project.
- Fitness
- I jumped rope for 10 minutes.
- I walked my dog for about two miles.
- I rode my bike for seven miles.
- I did overhead presses and incline benched presses at the gym.
- Video Games/Videos Watched/Reddit
- Net total, I wasted around 4 hours today (I think)
- Reading
- 11th
- Reading
- Started reading The Mueller Report. It is surprisingly easy to read for a government document. Also gripping.
- Writing
- Wrote 1500 on Mystery Project.
- Fitness
- I jumped rope.
- I made sunday’s fitness blogpost
- Walked the dog
- Went to the gym.
- I did NOT bicycle my usual 7 miles. I only went about 2. Forgot!
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- I’ve wasted about 5 hours net total.
- Reading
- 12th
- Reading
- The Mueller Report
- Also some ‘Trench Talk.’
- Writing
- Wrote 200 words. I’m tired and it’s hard to focus. I feel bad about being lazy, so 5000 words tomorrow.
- Fitness
- Biked 34 miles.
- Walked the dog.
- Bench day at the gym.
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- Around 4 hours.
- Watched Aquaman.
- Reading
- 13th
- Reading
- More of the Mueller Report
- I’m reading some ‘Trench Talk’ after this.
- Writing
- Wrote 5000 words. Was a pain in the ass. Proud of them though.
- Fitness
- Rode bike 2 miles.
- Jumped rope
- Walked dog.
- Squat Day 2 at the gym… but I only did squats and not the whole routine. I ran out of time due to poor scheduling on my part. Totally my fault.
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- maybe 5 hours total? I need to start keeping a tally of time spent not working.
- Reading
- 14th
- Reading
- Finished reading ‘Trench Talk/Trench Life.’ Wrote it’s review too.
- Writing
- It’s my day off. Doing nothing!
- Fitness
- Walked the dog.
- Video Games/Videos Watched/Reddit surfed
- Lots of vids streamed, some Reddit on top of it.
- Reading
- 15th
- Starting today and for the next four days (aka the workweek) I’m doing a no internet challenge. As a result I will not be updating this page until after the fact. Don’t worry, I’ll take notes on what I do and update this fully later.
- Reading
- Read some ‘Beneath Twisted Trees’
- Read some ‘The Mueller Report’
- Read some ‘Storm of Steel’
- Writing
- Wrote 5000 words
- Fitness
- jumped rope
- dog walked
- 7 mile bike ride
- Gym
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- 16th
- Reading
- Storm of steel
- Writing
- 1500w
- Fitness
- jumped rope
- dog walked
- 7 miles biked (90 degrees F)
- Gym
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- Reading
- 17th
- Reading
- Read ‘This is how you lose the Time War’ completely, and then started reading it again.
- really good
- Read ‘This is how you lose the Time War’ completely, and then started reading it again.
- Writing
- Wrote nothing
- Fitness
- 30 mile bikeride (90 degrees F)
- dog walked
- Gym
- No jump rope
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- Reading
- 18th
- Reading
- Finished Time war for the second time
- Writing
- 0 words
- Fitness
- Jumped rope
- walked dog (100 degrees F)
- Gym
- No bike ride (100 degrees F)
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- Reading
- 19th
- Yeah, I’ve burned out on writing for a little while. Over the last 5 weeks I’ve written 120,000 words. Trying to write 5000 words a day for a week was a mistake. I REALLY feel like burned out. I’m taking a week or two off. I could manage 1500 words a day, but trying to go over that made me feel bad.
- Reading
- Read nothing
- Writing
- Wrote nothing
- Fitness
- Jumped rope
- walked dog (100 degrees F)
- Gym
- No bike ride (100 degrees F)
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- 20th
- Reading
- Writing
- Fitness
- Gym
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- 21st
- Sunday. Not doing anything.
- Reading
- Writing
- Fitness
- Walked dog.
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- 22nd
- Reading
- Mueller Report
- Writing
- Week off
- Fitness
- Gym
- Didn’t do OHP at gym. It was being used, so I did accessory exercises instead.
- Walked dog
- Biked 2 miles
- No jump rope (my bad)
- Gym
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- Reading
- 23rd
- Reading
- Finished the Mueller Report. Wrote my review, Publishing it tomorrow
- A little ‘Storm of Steel’
- Writing
- Nada. Week off.
- Fitness
- 25 mile bike ride
- Gym (squat day, sumo day)
- Dog walked
- No jump rope (mb)
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- 4 hours or so
- Reading
- 24th
- Reading
- Beneath Twisted Trees
- Writing
- Nada
- Fitness
- No jump rope (my bad)
- Gym (OHP and incline bench)
- 7 mile bike ride
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- Subnautica. That game is surprisingly stressful.
- Reading
- 25th
- Reading
- Beneath Twisted Trees
- Writing
- Fitness
- Jumped rope
- Gym
- Walked dog
- No bike ride (lazy, mb)
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- Subnautica
- Reading
- 26th
- Reading
- Started ‘Jade War’
- Read some ‘Storm of Steel’
- Writing
- Fitness
- Gym
- 2 mile bike ride
- Walked dog
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- Subnautica
- Reading
- 27th
- Reading
- Jade War
- Started the ‘The Raven Tower.’
- 2nd person, slow start, not really digging the characters. I’m liking the meta-plot and the worldbuilding to some extent.
- Beneath Twisted Trees
- Writing
- Fitness
- 30 mile bike ride
- Gym- Squats and sumos volume day
- Walked dog
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- Reading
- 28th
- Sunday is my day off.
- Reading
- Writing
- Fitness
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- Overwatch
- 29th
- Reading
- Jade War
- Getting better.
- Raven Tower
- Getting better
- Jade War
- Writing
- 2000 words (so far) in a new project
- Fitness
- Jump rope
- Dog walked
- Gym- Chest and OHP
- Biked 2 miles (I also had to swap tires when the old one wore out. That was fun.(No, seriously, it was fun. I’m definitely going to do more of my bike maintainence from now on.)
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- 6 hours or so? Hard to tell. I need to start keeping tabs on things
- Reading
- 30th
- Reading
- Nada
- Writing
- Going to do that now. Probably write about 1500 words.
- Nevermind! Wrote nothing.
- I intend to start editing ‘The Great War, The Cruel War’ tomorrow.
- Going to do that now. Probably write about 1500 words.
- Fitness
- Walked dog
- Biked 7 miles
- Gym. Only did Squats at gym, and not sumos as well.
- I got there late on account of my bike ride, and then when I got there a guy was using the squat rack. I had to use the smith machine to squat instead. This is bad, because the smith machine doesn’t let you balance as well as the standard squat rack. C’est la vie.
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- Started Talos Principle: Road to Gehenna.
- Reading
- 31th
- Reading
- The Raven Tower- finished. I liked it a lot, but I can’t give it a Highly Recommended. It’s just too niche.
- I went a bit nuts and wrote a large review for the Raven Tower. 1500 words. I don’t really feel like writing/editing after that. MB.
- Beneath the Twisted Trees
- Soulless
- Writing
- Fitness
- 15 mile bike ride
- Walked dog
- Gym- OHP and incline bench
- On my 1+ set I felt some pain in my lower back, so I quit OHP after that pain. Bit of a meh day honestly.
- I think the pain was in part caused by my legs not being wide enough to balance the load, the weight was slightly too heavy, and mostly I HAD BAD FORM! I let the bar go behind my head, causing pain down my spine when it became unbalanced.
- On my 1+ set I felt some pain in my lower back, so I quit OHP after that pain. Bit of a meh day honestly.
- Video Games/Videos Watched
- Reading
John Mendez- Book Reviews and More 