Ecladragon (Cristyn H)

My BYOK Arrived This past week, my BYOK arrived at long last. I did need to pay some duties on it, but it was fine. I didn't have to pay much in the end, and it was still significantly cheaper than the other similar devices I saw online, especially for me in Canada. It is a white device with a little screen that shows the most recent few sentences I've written as long as I'm writing at the end of the document.

My BYOK arrived

A book review of “Forget Me Not” by Stacy Willingham Genre: Thriller Originally published in 2025 Page Count: 324 pages After being passed over for a promotion, investigative journalist Claire Campbell has gone freelance in New York. The only problem is that she isn’t doing that well both in terms of her mental health and her career. While this was happening, her father called to say her mother was hurt. Because of the divorce, her mother lives alone.

A book review for a book about a girl returning home and finding herself getting closer to the sister who went missing many years before. Also this book was inspired slightly by true crime. #reading

Working on my world Last week I finally got an email which I was waiting for. It had been over a year since I had supported BYOK (Bring Your Own Keyboard) on Kickstarter, so I was very happy when I saw that it had shipped. I know that there will probably be problems with tariffs when getting it into Canada from the States, but with the fact that this purchase was made such a long time ago and it was relatively cheap when compared to other similar items, I don't have much problem paying anything I may need to.

Just a little update on my writing during this busy time (for me)

A book review of “The Grave Artist” by Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado Genre: Thriller Originally published in 2025 Page Count: 394 pages The blissful day of a wedding is shattered when one of the newlyweds dies near the end of the reception. At first it looks like just a selfie-based accident, however it is soon discovered that the incident matches too closely with a couple other incidents that had happened recently. It was murder.

A book review of a thriller that I didn't realize wasn't the first book #reading

A book review of “A Land So Wide” by Erin A. Craig Genre: Fantasy Originally published in 2025 Page Count: 352 pages Greer Mackenzie has lived her whole life in the settlement of Mistaken, a strange little town on the edge of northern North America founded by a Scottish lumber merchant in order to harvest the strange and dangerous wood that only grows there called redcaps. When the town was founded, a deal was made with the mysterious Benevolence to protect the town from the monstrous Bright-Eyeds.

A book review of a fantasy set in a version of 1700s Northeastern Canada #reading

Developing my Critical Media Journal So I'm doing the Anti-Brain Rot Reading Challenge, which was created by thisstoryaintover over on YouTube, and one of the bigger parts of this challenge is creating and maintaining a critical media journal. The purpose of this journal is basically get your thoughts about the book down on paper before you go out and get influenced by how other people see the book.

I'm trying out a critical media journal

A book review of “The Queen’s Necklace” by Adrienne Chinn Genre: Historical Originally published in 2025 Page Count: 384 pages Bryher Finch isn’t doing so well. She was a famous actress in Hollywood best known for her role in a certain series and her relationship with a big-name actor. However, that all begins to crumble when a fake video creates an intense scandal which takes away every part of her cozy life.

A book review about the lives of Anne and Mary Boleyn, and Mary's descendant Bryher Finch #reading

Backlog Adventures – Dead Synchronicity: Tomorrow Comes Today Released in 2015Medium: Video Game A man wakes up with no memory in a refugee camp, sometime after the entire world was changed by a cataclysmic event known as the Great Wave. His name is Michael, and he is our protagonist. In this short point and click, you get to play as him as he explores the camp, finds a way to leave to the city, and eventually learns who he is.

A little post about a game I played a while back whoch I found interesting, but will likely never see the real end of

A book review of “Legends & Lattes” by Travis Baldree Genre: Fantasy Originally published in 2022 Page Count: 304 pages Viv the orc barbarian has hung up her sword for good when she walks away from the adventuring life and instead turns to a recent dream she has developed. She will take the treasure from her last quest and use it to help her build a coffee shop in the city of Thune.

A book review of a cozy fantasy where an orc warrior starts a new life by building a cafe #reading

Draconic Rambling ~ Recipes to Look Forward To One thing I like to do when I know I'm going to need to pack a meal is plan ahead and make myself something interesting. I scroll through recipe websites looking for the perfect meal. It can be a little bit tedious, especially since a lot of these websites like to present me with recipes that are either not appropriate for a work meal (contains fish, would not store well, etc) or ones that contain ingredients that would take me at least an hour of work in order to pay for alone.

I made pineapple fried rice last week and it was really good.

A book review of “The Killer on the First Page” by Ian Ferguson & Will Ferguson Genre: Mystery Originally published in 2025 Page Count: 304 pages Miranda Abbott, who once graced television screens as the mystery solving Pastor Fran, is now the majority co-owner of I Only Read Murder. She owns it along with her almost-ex-husband Edgar in the small town of Happy Rock. The two of them, mostly Edgar, have prepared for this murder mystery author festival and now it is time for several famous authors to descend upon the town and try to sell books.

A book review of a book where the killer can in fact be found on the first page #reading

Backlog Adventures ~ Wargroove You start the game playing as a vampire commander from the undead kingdom of Falheim. Her name is Sigrid. She is sneaking into the castle of Cherrystone, the neighbouring kingdom. Actually, it's more like she's destroying any guard she comes across with the intent of killing King Mercival. He is killed before he can tell his daughter Mercia something important. …

I've been trying all sorts of games while defeating my backlog. Here is one that interested me if only for a little while

Draconic Ramblings Wrapped 2025 I think for this year I need to go a little easy on myself. I didn't actually post as much on here as I would have liked, and I didn't try very hard to reply to the few comments I got. Thank you, by the way, to the people who did comment. It could have been because I was being lazy, but the way I understand it, laziness usually has a reason.

Happy new year :D

A book review of “Bad Juliet” by Giles Blunt Genre: Historical Literary Fiction Originally published in 2025 Page Count: 352 After having been abandoned shortly before their wedding by his former fiancée and letting all his university teaching opportunities fade away in his depression, Paul Gascoyne finds a job as a tutor at the Trudeau Sanatorium in upstate New York. In the town of Saranac Lake, it is one of multiple facilities in the United States that exists only to help those who suffer from tuberculosis in the clean air of the Adirondack Mountains.

A book review of a novel set at the Trudeau Sanatorium for tuberculosis patients shortly after the sinking of the Lusitania. Also Happy New Year :D :D #reading

Personal Curriculum: Reading to Learn For a while now, I've been thinking about reading more nonfiction, but sometimes you read a nonfiction book. It's hard to understand because you lack a basic understanding of the subject, or you wish to learn more about the subject. Still, there is a pile of books staring you in the face metaphorically, and you're hesitant to read more books on that topic until later.

I'm doing some personal curriculums this year. The first one is about language

A review of “The Locked Ward” by Sarah Pekkanen Genre: Thriller Originally published in 2025 Page Count: 320 Georgia Cartwright has been accused of killing her sister on her birthday. She was the adopted sister and the victim of this terrible crime, Annabelle, was the only biological child of the upper-class, Southern Cartwright family. Now awaiting the trial, she has been sent to a psychiatric institution. Things aren’t looking good for her.

A book review of a thriller where one character spends most of the time in the locked ward in a hospital. Also merry Christmas :D #reading

Backlog Adventures – The Bibliophile Princess by Yui Released 2016-2022Medium: Light Novel Books count as a part of my backlog, even if the pile that has been building up for a long time goes by a different name. The Bibliophile Princess is a series of light novels that I started reading in 2022 after I was looking for a new manga series to try. I accidently tried this light novel, but I just went with it.

I finished reading Bibliophile Princess a little over a month ago. Now I'm talking about it

A book review of “Hemlock & Silver” by T Kingfisher Genre: Fantasy Originally published in 2025 Page Count: 359 pages Healer Anja has spent a good chunk of her life learning about poisons and how to help people who have been poisoned. She has discovered treatments that have saved at least a handful of lives. One day she is summoned by the king to save his daughter. Princess Snow has been suffering from a mysterious poison with no known source.

A book review of a story that took some inspiration from Snow White #reading

Nonfiction Recommendations – The Mind Mappers by Eric Andrew-Gee Topics: Neuroscience, History, CanadaOriginally published in 2025 The Mind Mappers is about a friendship between two neuroscientists starting in the early 1920s. One you may have possibly heard about was Wilder Penfield. There was a Heritage Minute about him where a woman with epilepsy smells burnt toast right before she has a seizure. In order to help her, Penfield uses probes on her brain to find the exact spot that triggers her to smell that smell.

I'm recommending nonfiction now. The Mind Mappers was an enjoyable read #reading

A book review of “The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections” by Eva Jurczyk Genre: Mystery Originally published in 2022 Page Count: 336 pages Liesl Weiss has a pretty nice job. She works alongside the head of the department of rare books and special collections at the library of a university in Toronto to make sure that everything runs smoothly. She makes sure that invoices are paid, that important information is recorded where it won’t get lost, and that all of the books are kept in order.

A book review of a book with a long title, interesting characters, and a little bit of mystery. #reading

Backlog Adventures – A Journey with Sherlock Holmes Medium: Video games, novels, and short stories For the past few months, I've had to label individual newspapers at work so that they would get to where they need to go. This is one of the more chill parts of my job, and while I'm going it, I like to put my headset on and listen to an audiobook. It makes it so that I won't get interrupted, or at least it's supposed.

Just a little post about how I've been getting into Sherlock Holmes #blogging

A book review of “The Knight and the Moth” by Rachel Gillig Genre: Fantasy romance Originally published in 2025 Page Count: 389 pages Six is a Diviner in the great Aisling Cathedral. Her job is a hard one. She was a foundling child who was brought in almost ten years ago by the abbess who told her she was special, and this was a job that only she could do. Every day she, along with the other five Diviners who are also only known as numbers, needs to taste blood, be temporarily drowned, and then dream of the six Omens to help guide the people of the Stonewater Kingdom.

A book review of a fantasy novel I enjoyed reading #reading

A book review of “The Other Valley” by Scott Alexander Howard Genre: Speculative Fiction Originally published in 2024 Page Count: 290 pages Within the valley there is a town at the side of a lake. The town is surrounded by a fence on all sides, but this is for the protection of those who live there. If you travel east of this town, you will find yourself in an identical valley with an almost identical town down to its occupants.

A book review of a book that has an interesting speculative concept #reading

A book review of “The Tenant” by Freida McFadden Genre: Thriller Originally published in 2025 Page Count: 356 pages Blake Porter is living his best life. He is a VP of marketing as big company, a job which allowed him to buy an expensive brownstone house. He shares it with his fiancée Krista who is beautiful, supportive, and is the love of his life. They don’t have the date set for their wedding, but with his job they don’t have to worry about much.

A book review of a thriller I read a while ago. #reading

A book review of “The First Death” by Kendra Elliot Genre: Mystery thriller Originally published in 2023 Page Count: 313 pages Rowan Wolff was rescued after she was kidnapped along with her brother when she was five years old. Their babysitter who had been with them at the time of the kidnapping turned up as a part of a string of serial killings. The man who had held her captive for those few weeks was arrested and charged for multiple murders.

A book review I wrote a while back about a book that had been on my shelf for a while

Rambling – Shrinking my Backlog Over the summer I put a pretty big dent in my gaming backlog. At the start of the season it had about 365 games in it. Now that it's the start of September and I'm writing this it's now down to 319 games. While yes, I have finished several games and was able to remove them from the list after having experienced their credits, I don't think that's the main reason why my backlog shrank so much within the span of a few months.

Rambling – Shrinking my Backlog

Over the summer I put a pretty big dent in my gaming backlog. At the start of the season it had about 365 games in it. Now that it's the start of September and I'm writing this it's now down to 319 games. While yes, I have finished several games and was able to…

A book review of “How High We Go in the Dark” by Sequoia Nagamatsu Genre: Science Fiction Originally published in 2022 Page Count: 288 After the death of his daughter, Dr. Cliff Miyashiro travels to the same facility that she had been working in. This brings him all the way to Siberia where a strange neanderthal woman was found within what can be described as a crater. He’s there to study her and then he will go back home and be with his wife and granddaughter.

A book review I wrote a while ago and now I'm posting online.

Novel November – Preptober 2025 #2 For this past week I was working on characters. The main character I worked on was my protagonist and the relationships she has from the start of the novel. I wanted to think about how I wanted to start this novel first, while also thinking about events that should take place a lot closer to the end. My main plan was to get an idea of how the first part of the story will go up until she meets the ghost and her adventure begins.

Here is this weeks update for my novel planning.

Novel November – Preptober 2025 #1 So if you've followed my blog for a while you would know that I have a history of participating in National Novel Writing Month. Unfortunately it shut down earlier this year. There were a ton of similar events and programs that started last year because of multiple mistakes on NaNoWriMo's part, and I was thinking that I would try one of these ones.

This year I'm not participating in NaNoWriMo because that's not a thing anymore and even if it was I would do something else. Instead this year I'm participating in ProWritingAid's Novel November and I'm going all in with the planning. This will be a fun project. #amwriting

A book review of “Decoding Dot Grey” by Nicola Davison Genre: Contemporary Fiction Originally published in 2022 Page Count: 277 Dot Grey is a girl in 1997 who has a whole future ahead of her. She dreams of being able to help animals and is currently working at an animal shelter. She lives in a small rental apartment in the basement of her landlord and there she keeps her small menagerie of animals which include a lizard, and a rat.

A book review