Signing off, and the best of 2018.

 

As summer approaches, sweat begins to build and drip from my brow. The Grim Reader looks forward to hot nights and even hotter days as the merciless Queensland humidity rapidly approaches.

It is with this final post at Beavisthebookhead.com that I wish to thank everybody for their unwavering support, but I have now reached the end of my time here. To anybody who stopped by, commented, shared, disagreed with, agreed with, I simply want to say thank you. Without you, this blog would’ve been nothing.

Why am I calling it quits? A couple of reasons. I began to have night seizures back in October. After a few visits to the hospital, I found out that I have a problem with the amount of fluid in my brain. Basically, there is too much of this fluid travelling between my spine and my brain, and because of this, the ventricle has worn significantly causing seizures and the constant splitting headaches I’ve been getting for the last 12 months. I am getting more tests done in the near future and then perhaps some surgery next year to sort it out. I’ve been on a few different meds to keep the seizures from happening, and though they have worked, they caused mood swings and other shit that I really didn’t need. My current medication is working well and I haven’t had an episode for over a month. I’m feeling way better than I did on the previous ones that’s for sure.

The other reason is that I’ve lost interest in blogging. I recently found that my job is taking up a huge amount of my time and when I’m done I honestly can’t be bothered to write anything. I still enjoy reading and will continue to post a quick review to Goodreads, but that is all. Thanks to all the publicists, publishers and authors that have sent me books for review. Take care of yourselves and each other. Anyway, here are my top 5 books read in 2018…

 

The Grim Reader’s top 5 books of 2018

In no particular order and please note that some were not published this year either.

1. Corpsepaint – David Peak: What can I say? I’m a huge black metal fan and a huge horror fan. This book is a match made in Hell!
2. Bones – Andrew Cull: I gave this collection of novellas 4/5 but really it deserves 5/5. I’ve since read it again and I love the writing and the stories. Fantastic stuff!
3. Little Black Spots – John F. D. Taff: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Taff doesn’t do mediocre books. Little Black Spots is hugely entertaining, brilliantly written and fabulously put together by Grey Matter Press. Dig it!
4. The Sea Was A Fair Master – Calvin Demmer: Who new flash fiction could be so damn good? I’ve never been a huge fan of it but this collection is superb. Demmer ticks all of the boxes and covers a multitude of genres. It’s a must buy!
5. Bird Box – Josh Malerman: I’ve had this on my Kindle for a while. I didn’t enjoy Unbury Carol much at all. However, when I heard about the movie of Bird Box coming soon I decided to give it a go. Wow! I’m so glad I did. One of my favourite books of the last few years!

 

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So there it is. Thank you all and goodnight.

The Grim Reader.