I started my book review site Good Reports in 1998, which I believe makes it one of the longest-running personal book sites in the history of the Internet. I’ve just finished putting a quarter-century in. I launched Alex on Film and this site in 2014, so I’m wrapping up my first decade with both of them. A good time then to take a look back, and ahead.

For the last several years I’ve talked about how I’d like to do more book reviewing at Good Reports, but it’s been hard. Between the regular science-fiction reviewing I do (at Alex on SF) and new features I’ve started on this site like the True Crime Files and Graphicalex, I’ve moved my book commentary around a bit. But I also read less literary stuff, especially fiction. As I’ve said before here, I’ve fallen into “old man” reading habits: mainly history and politics. And at this point I really don’t see that changing. Another old-man habit is wanting to re-read favourites, or spend more time with the classics. You give up a bit on newer stuff that, even if you think it’s well done, doesn’t speak to you as much. And finally there is the fact that some of the reviews I’ve been doing at Good Reports have been a lot of work. My omnibus review on books about evangelical support for Trump was 2,500 words, and the one on the “Road to Trump” clocked in at over 7,600 words. I find these subjects fascinating, but still that’s a big commitment, for both me and the reader.

Alex on Film continues to get the most traffic of any of my sites now, which makes sense because it’s (1) the site that updates the most, and (2) it’s about movies. That said, I haven’t been writing as much there either. After a while, you feel like you’ve said all you have to say and you’re stuck repeating yourself. There’s also the problem that I don’t care much for new movies and old movies come with so much baggage they feel like a burden to write about. What’s the point of doing up my notes on Citizen Kane or Vertigo or Blade Runner? I’m pretty sure everything that not only needs to be said but could be said about these movies is already out there.

And of course weighing down on all of this there has been the burden of real life. 2023 was a horrible year. I was actually a bit surprised I managed to get through it in one piece. Having made it to the finish line I know I’ll be taking some time off in 2024. I’m very much in need of it. Moving forward, I think I’ll just be updating whenever I can or have something to say. There will be fewer regular postings. At some point in 2024 I hope to start a showcase for my bookmark collection, but that’s the only big new development I see happening. A return to movie quizzes will probably have to wait until 2025, if I manage to last that long.

So there you have it with 25 years online. 1,250 book reviews at Good Reports, another 370 at Alex on SF,  just over 2,000 film reviews at Alex on Film with 200 quizzes, and then lots of other stuff that I’ve posted on here to pass the time. This has always been just a hobby and I think the main thing that’s kept me going is that I’ve only followed my own interests and never taken any of it very seriously. That mindset might see me sticking around for another 25 years, or walking away. You never can tell.