Books read, 2017

In 2017, I did something I haven’t done since 2013, which was abandon an unreadable book. Despite that, I easily beat my goal of reading 17 books over the course of the year, in part because my fifth grader and I started our own book club, to help him reach his reading goals in school.

Ironically, A Wrinkle in Time is an easier read, according to the Accelerated Reader website than the Warcraft and Minecraft novels we read, despite being much meatier in all the most important ways. And yes, he and I will be there opening weekend for the movie this spring, so we can play compare and contrast with the book.

This year’s goal is 18 books. I had never intended to have these synch up with the calendar year, but that’s an easy way to remember the goal, I suppose. (It’s going to be grim in 2100, though.)

1. Jan 20: World of Warcraft: The Official Cookbook
2. Jan 23: Razor Girl
3. Feb. 13: The Color of Magic
4. Feb. 17: The Pirate Planet
5. March 1: Devil in a Blue Dress
6. March 27: The Light Fantastic
7. May 2: World of Warcraft: Chronicle 1
8. May 27: Norse Mythology
9. June 29: The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump
10. July 9: Glory Road
11. July 21: World of Warcraft: Chronicle 2
12. July 25: Keep Mars Weird (abandoned)
13. Sept. 4: Treasure Island
14. Oct. 16: The Swords of Lankhmar
15. Oct. 30: World of Warcraft: Traveler
16. Oct. 31: Disney Pirates: The Definitive Collector’s Anthology
17. Nov. 6: Equal Rites
18. Dec. 3: Minecraft: The Island
19. Dec. 14: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
20. Dec. 14: A Wrinkle in Time

My most popular stories of 2017

A post shared by Beau Yarbrough (@lby3) on Sep 1, 2017 at 6:56am PDT

These are the stories readers engaged with the most in 2017, according to Parse.ly, the software that the Southern California News Group uses to track reader engagement. Buckle up, because they’re mostly bummers this year.

• San Bernardino school shooting leaves North Park teacher, student dead, another student wounded
• Survivor recounts San Bernardino school shooting: ‘He was out for blood’
• 2 Chaffey High teachers gone: 1 allegedly duct-taped special ed student to chair, 1 had allegedly inappropriate relationship
• Parent, bus drivers outraged after black baby doll is mock-lynched at Rim of the World Unified transit office
• Residents rattled after reporting chupacabra sightings in mountains of Riverside County

I know, it takes a welcome 90-degree turn there at the end.

San Bernardino, two years later

There's only a handful of people here at the informal memorial to the 14 people who died in the Dec. 2, 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, but I expect people have been coming and going all day. A formal memorial is still in the planning stages. #SBStrong

A post shared by Beau Yarbrough (@lby3) on Dec 2, 2017 at 1:42pm PST

Las Vegas mass shooting

The memorial at Sahara/Las Vegas for victims of Sunday’s mass shooting has grown a bit overnight, and now includes a list of the slain. ???? #journalism #lasvegasshooting #hipstamatic

A post shared by Beau Yarbrough (@lby3) on Oct 4, 2017 at 2:59pm PDT

El Chupacabra

Box Springs Mountain residents say the legendary #cupachabra stalks the hills separating Riverside and the Moreno Valley. Story coming this weekend in the Press-Enterprise. ???? #journalism #cryptid

A post shared by Beau Yarbrough (@lby3) on Jul 21, 2017 at 7:21pm PDT