The Lupine Book Club 2017 roundup

2017 has been a difficult year both personally and professionally, though not without a number of highlights. So inspired by Dinosaur Dracula’s end-of-year list, I thought I’d pull together a (shorter) list of some of my favourite things from the year gone by.

1. Horror Movies

I spent a lot of time watching horror movies (sorry, FIL-UMS) this year, and it was absolutely fantastic. New and old, I don’t think I’ve watched so many since I was back in my sharehouse days, the better part of a decade ago. Standouts included The Void, IT: Chapter One, The Devil Rides Out and Drag Me to Hell. Hopefully this tempo will be maintained well into 2018.

2. Transformers: Titans Return

Inspired by the old Headmasters line from the 1980s, Titans Return was my favourite Transformers sub-line since I started collecting them again a few years ago. Distribution in Australia has been a mixed bag (I want that Cosmos, dammit!), but for the most part I was able to get hold of the characters I wanted. My only real regret is that I didn’t make time to review more of the ones I purchased, though some of that may be addressed in the new year.  

3. SNES Classic Edition

The SNES is still my all-time favourite console. Though I didn’t own one as a kid, several of my friends did and so I have many hours of fond memories associated with it.

I missed out on the NES Classic in 2016, and so I pre-ordered the SNES Classic pretty much as soon as they became available. It was an essential purchase, as has brought me many more hours of joy since. Certainly there some additional games I would have liked to see included, but all-in-all I think Nintendo did an exceptional job with this one. Hopefully we’ll see some kind of expansion, or perhaps an N64 Classic further down the line.  

4. The Lupine Book Club’s 5^th birthday

Though it came and went with little fanfare on here, 2017 marked the 5th birthday of the blog. Back when the blog started, I was in a very different state of mind. I was emerging from what I would later realise was a nervous breakdown, and the Lupine Book Club was quite therapeutic in emerging from a particularly dark time of life. It has been a huge help; 2017 was the first year I really felt like “myself” again in quite some time, and the blog has certainly aided in this process.

I originally saw the Lupine Book Club as more nostalgia-focused, in a similar vein to Dinosaur Dracula, Branded in the 80s or The Surfing Pizza. This hasn’t quite happened; things have been very Funko-focused of late, but in 2018 I hope to see it regain some of the diversity I originally had when I was pulling it together. And who knows, there may even be a surprise or two on the cards!

5. I finished (the first draft of) my book!

Though I haven’t said much about it on here, I’ve been working on a horror novella for quite some time now. Well, I’ve finished the first draft and am now in the process of editing it. I hope to self-publish it early next year on Kindle.  More details to come soon, but keep your eye on here, and on my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more information.  

Most importantly, I must extend thanks to everyone who has visited over the years. 2017 was easily the biggest in terms of pageviews, in part due to a concerted effort on my part to write more – but also through the support of other blogs like The Robot’s Pajamas, who were kind enough to have me write the occasional guest post. I look forward to seeing you all again in the New Year!