New Year
A new year
A clean slate
But let’s be real
Expect the same
Resolutions are nice
But mostly for show
You’re the same
Everyone knows
But it’s a new year
That much I see
So hey
Here’s to 2015
Month: December 2014
2014: My year in blogging
Hey guys, last year I hadn’t blogged long enough to get one of these reports at the end of the year. Honestly, I’m pretty ecstatic about where my blog is and where I think it’s going. And it’s all because of my readers. Because of you. Y’all have no idea how much I enjoy this. All I can say is thank you. It’s been a memorable 2014 and I promise to keep the posts coming next year. Now check out the full report to see what you helped accomplish! Seriously, it’s all you. I just happen to have my name in the title.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 30,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 11 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
My 2014 Reading Biography
AKA the books I read this year.
Honestly, I’m not sure that “reading biography” is a thing that people say, but I saw it on another post and I’m stealing it. How about we make it catch on and then eventually everyone who reads this blog will be able to say they had a hand in a new tag/meme on WordPress. I can see it now.
“Hey guys, this is my reading biography. As started over at Write me a Book, John!”
Maybe? Anyway, this is going to be a much shorter post than I’d have hoped at the start of the year. I’m pretty sure you know by now that my goal each year is to read 50 books. I think it’s a nice round number that’s definitely attainable, considering I read 44 a couple years ago in just seven months. Guess how close I got? Just guess. I’ll wait.
Hurry up.
Okay. Time’s up. I read…seven books! SO close to my goal! Not. It was a terrible reading year. I mean, how can I even say I’m a reader with that kind of number? It’s really disappointing and there’s no explanation. I’m just a loser. Here’s the mediocre list anyway. And I’m even going to post the date I finished each one so you really get an idea how bad it really was.
1. Valediction (Spenser #11) – Robert B. Parker – January 1
2. The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank – March 7
3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Harry Potter #1) – JK Rowling – March 13
4. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl – March 26
5. London Bridges (Alex Cross #10) – James Patterson – April 12
6. The Fault in our Stars – John Green – June 12
7. The Drop (Harry Bosch #15) – Michael Connelly – June 21
Pages Read: 2193
Reading Time: 36:07
Series Books: 4
Authors: 7
Amazon 100 Books: 4
That’s it. That’s all there is to know from what I read in 2014. This means I’ve read a whopping 22 books since January 1, 2013! What am I doing!? No. 2015 will be better. I know it.
How was your 2014 reading year? It couldn’t have been any worse than mine.
The Texans Make the Playoffs if…
Most of you don’t know that I’m a die hard Texans fan. I’ve watched through some pretty rough seasons and some surprisingly good ones. And even though this year has been a struggle, the Texans can still make the playoffs with some help from a couple guys.
The Houston Texans can make the playoffs if:
They beat The Jacksonville Jaguars. Okay. Not the most difficult proposition.
The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Diego Chargers. Wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world until they lost their starting quarterback this week. Now they must beat the Chargers (who are also vying for a playoff spot) with a quarterback who has all of one career NFL start. Oh great.
AND the Cleveland Browns beat the Baltimore Ravens. The Browns are starting their third string, rookie quarterback today after losing their first two to injury. Fantastic.
So all the Texans need is a backup quarterback to lead his team to victory and a third stringer to do the same. Nothing big, right?
If all those things happen the Texans would be in the playoffs as the sixth seed. But they’d be in.
That’s all today. If you’re a fan of the NFL, then sit back and watch the final week of the regular season. If not, well then don’t. Ha.
Go Texans!
UPDATE: The Texans beat the Jaguars. The Chiefs beat the Chargers. But Cleveland could not come away with a win in Baltimore. The Texans finish the season 9-7 and miss the playoffs. Sad John.
My Birthday (poem)
Hey guys, today’s my birthday! I know, I know. You can’t wait to wish me a happy birthday and tell me how awesome I am in the comments. 😉 I’m turning 23 today, and it was a rather nice year. Now read my poem.
My Birthday
My birthday’s today
You should know
Cause we’re friends
I think so
I have no plans
Or much to do
But sit here
And talk to you
I’ll get some texts
And phone calls too
That’s all nice
But I’m no fool
No one cares
Nor should they
Because after all
It’s just a day
Get Anything Bookish This Christmas?
I have to be honest. I’m not big on Christmas. I would be perfectly fine if we didn’t celebrate it at all. Which is why each and every year I tell my family that I don’t want anything, and mean it. But of course they still try to find something to get me. Which is fine, I guess. I’d prefer they spend their money on more useful things. Anyway, this year I did just as I have in previous years. I said I didn’t want anything. Which left them to just get whatever. It was basic stuff. Pretty much all clothes. AND SOCKS! But for the second year in a row one of my brothers got me something bookish. They’re bookends! But they look almost exactly like one of our former pets. Here. Look.
Uh can you say awesome? I’m even going to dust off my bookshelves before I use them. Last year he got me some fancy bookmarks. Or was it two years ago? One of the two. Anyway, these little guys were my only bookish gifts this year and I think they’re great.
What about you? Did you get anything bookish this Christmas? Like books, maybe? Tell me.
Are any of you on SnapChat? You see from the picture that I am. Add me “jguillen12” I’ll send you the most random snaps you can imagine. Unless you’re boring, then I won’t. Ha.
The Top Ten Books of 2014…on Twitter
BookVibe has compiled a list of books most mentioned on Twitter in 2014. Might as well just get into the list because I’m sure you’re more interested in the ten books than any preceding comments I have.
10. Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
I suppose it would be unwise to think that a list like this wouldn’t include some classics, right? I mean, don’t high school kids have to read this? Maybe?
9. 1984 – George Orwell
I don’t know if high schoolers are reading this, but I’m not particularly surprised by it.
8. Jurassic Park – Michael Crichton
Hey. This is a definite surprise to me. It’s obvious that this made the list because of the new movie coming out next summer, but it is still nice to see people talking about it (even though we’re coming up on movie four and there are only two books.) But I read this in high school and then read the second one. Enjoyed both.
7. Eleanor and Park – Rainbow Rowell
Haven’t read this one, but I know it’s popular. My only question is if her real name is really Rainbow. And I actually know the titles of all of her books even though I haven’t read any of them. That’s cool.
6. Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
When a book is adapted into a major movie that immediately gets some awards buzz going, well it’s hard to imagine a world in which Twitter isn’t right on board with that. Still haven’t read this, though I’m about 90 percent sure I know what happens. Eh.
5. Hannibal – Thomans Harris
Okay.
4. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
Obviously an American classic, but wasn’t this book just released as an e-book for the first time this year? Maybe that helped?
3. Looking for Alaska – John Green
I would have to go back and take a look at my banned books post, but I think this made the list. Cause I know it was published a few years ago and I figured that two of his other books would make this list over this one. Hm. What do I know?
2. A Game of Thrones – George R. R. Martin
There is absolutely nothing for me to say about this. Who wouldn’t expect this?
1. The Fault in Our Stars – John Green
Well it sure looks like John Green is right at the top of the literary world at the moment. Heck, this is the only book on the list I read in 2014. And he has another movie coming out next June. And is there anyone out there who doesn’t think his other works will be adapted at some point? Doubt it. I still would just like to mention that I have the same initials as John Green. Cause that somehow matters. This book actually had more than double the mentions on Twitter as the second book on the list. Sheesh.
So that’s it! The top ten books of 2014 on Twitter. Any surprises?
Writing Pet Peeves #2: Text talk
I told y’all I’d continue this series at some point. Well today’s the day.
Text talk. Ooooh. Do not get me started. This probably should have been the first post in the series because I think this irks me more than bad capitalization does. But it’s a close race. Anyway, we live in the age of the smartphone, right? Smartphones that have been made to help us do the simplest of tasks, right? Including our terrible writing.
See, I know not everyone is going to be like me and text/tweet with nice complete sentences and proper punctuation. But some people take it way too far. I just recently saw “ion” in a tweet and didn’t understand why that word was used in that context. Then I realized that someone was trying to say “I don’t” and had shortened it. Like what the? I also see “tryna” quite a bit. Which of course is “trying to” shortened. Tell me I’m not the only person who is annoyed with this nonsense. Cause these are just two examples of SO many.
Like all the stupid acronyms. I use “lol” because that’s my way of acknowledging that the other person was trying to be funny and I noticed. No laugh. No anything. But at least I’m acknowledging it. But seeing “smh” or “idgaf” or “lmao” or “rofl” or “fml” or “wtf” or any of the gazillion acronyms that are constantly used is about as annoying as it gets.
AND lastly, those who text with no sentences or punctuation or anything. They just type big blobs of text. Please stop. Just let your phone do that stuff for you like everyone else.
If you don’t know what all the acronyms mean…you lucky soul.
A New BookTube Channel!
Sorry guys, this isn’t MY new channel. Although I’ve considered starting a channel for a really long time. Probably all of 2014. But I don’t think I’d only talk about books. Anyway, let me first tell you what BookTube is, at least in my eyes. It’s rather simple. Posting videos on YouTube about books. See! Told ya. Think of all the things that book bloggers blog about. Reviews. Favorite authors. Favorite series. TBR lists. All that fun stuff. That’s what people upload videos about. I guess the best way to say it is that they’re book bloggers who upload videos instead writing of blog posts. That’s how I think of it.
So, remember this post from a week ago in which I revealed to you all who I think are the best bloggers out there? Well it just so happens that Aly from the list decided to upload her first YouTube video last week! I feel like I influenced the decision a little bit. So now here’s what you should do. Watch her first video. And then go ahead and hit subscribe because would you rather read boring posts written by book bloggers or have her upload more interesting videos? I vote for videos.
She talks about her favorite books and she’s a little bit random. Which makes it even more interesting! And you must watch all the way through because I guarantee that you’ll laugh if you do.
That’s all. Here’s the video.
Why Writing is Better Than Sex
Okay. So I have three emails that I use to varying degrees. The first is one I’ve had for years and its inbox has thousands of emails. The second is one I made when I got my Galaxy S4 last year that I now only use for important things. And I’ll occasionally give it to a someone trying to send me a writing sample or whatever. The third one is not used at all. I have the app but I just don’t need it for anything.
Well, the third email is the one that is linked to my official website for contact purposes. Cause I’m so important that I need an email for contact purposes. Anyway, I randomly checked the third email’s inbox today and found something great. An email from Global English Editing. They found my website and had a nice infographic for me to check out called “Why Writing is Better Than Sex.” It’s actually very funny and maybe more true than one would think. So without further delay, I give you “Why Writing is Better Than Sex.” Tell me what you think!
The original can be found here.
And thanks to Angela from Global English Editing for emailing it to me!
Johnny Reads 