2016: Target Unmet - Water Pass Garri

At the beginning of the year 2016, I published a post on this blog regarding my reading challenge for the year under review. However, it never went as I planned. Early this year, I set my goals to reading only 25 books. However, it is unfortunate that I couldn't meet this target. You know, life is funny sometimes. You plan, and then the plan changes due to some unforeseen circumstances. Well, it is not that any calamity befell on me during the year 2016 (I thank Almighty Allah for that); I had been busy with my final year in the university. The academic bottleneck was so much that I hardly had time to update this blog. If you notice very well, you will have seen that this blog used to be on a tld (i.e it was www.thoughtwithpen.com), however, due to the too many activities (and some challenges, I couldn't pay for the renewal of the domain and this has caused me to lose a lot of my visitors. Also, throughout the whole year, I was able to publish only three posts (well, this one makes it four)! Anyway, life goes on...

The year 2016 has been an amazing year; I graduated from the university and as at the time of writing this blogpost, I am awaiting clarion call to serve the country. There are a lot of things I wanted to do in the year 2016 which I was not able to do. However, I had learnt a lot. 

Now, let's take a look back at the year 2016: My reviews.

As I have said earlier, I was not able to achieve my goals of reading 25 books in the year 2016. And the ones I read, I never had the time to write reviews on them not to talk of publishing any. So, as a result, I will use this opportunity to highlight them out and quickly summarize them.

1. Odyssey - Hommer: Check review here
2. Out of the Silent Planet: Check review here
3. Digital Fortress - Dan Brown: National Security Agency (NSA) invested multi-billion dollar in a code-breaking machine. The machine can break any code within the shortest period of time - under microsecond and in the history of the machine, the highest time it took the machine to break codes was 2 hours. However, the NSA's code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it couldn't break; panic arouse in the Agency. Susan Fletcher, an intellectually sound mathematician and cryptographer  was called upon to investigate the mysterious code... then she finds out that beyond six, there is infinity. The NSA is held hostage by a code that is so ingeniously complex and attempts to paralyze the U.S intelligence and making it prone to hackers and cybercrime. Susan Fletcher was caught in-between saving the agency she believes in and her life... only to find out that there is a greater tempest and betrayer underneath that threatened not only her life but that of the man she loves.  Dan Brown is the Author of The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, etc. 
4. The Hade's Factor: When an unknown virus claims the lives of four people across the country, Lt. Col. Jonathan Smith tried to find what caused the virus - he's particularly emotionally attached as the virus claimed the life of the woman he loves - Dr. Sophia Russell, a researcher leading the team trying to identify the disease. Everyone thought it was due to the exposure that killed the poor doctor. However, Jonathan would not accept this. He uncovers evidences that his fiance's death was no accident - someone out there has the virus and that the pademic that threatens the world was planned. He set out on a dangerous mission to uncover the Hade's factor.

You can learn more about the remaining ones here (as I am tired of digging my memory to quickly carve out reviews on the stories LOL. Don't mind me, I am just lazy). 

Now, let's talk about the year 2017 - the future.

Well, for the year 2017, I have decided not to set any reading challenge for the year 2017. However, I have intention of reading as many books as possible this coming new year. As a result, I will not be reading too much books. What I planned to do for the year 2017 are as follows:

• Go for NYSC Service to serve my country.
• Develop my web programming skills (LOL... I think I have told you sometimes back that I am a web developer)
• Finish work on a web application that I have been working on since October, 2016.
• Make more money as much as Allah wishes.
• Live the moment and take up new challenges. 
• Write as much poems and articles as time permits (because I have not published any new articles/poems in a very long time. In fact, in the year 2016, I was able to publish only one poem. 
• Do whatever fate brings to me
• And finally... to survive the 365 days in the year 2017 by Allah's mercy.

APPRECIATION

My deep and profound appreciation goes to YOU - my esteemed reader. You know, you have been very faithful to me. Without you, it wouldn't have been possible for this blog to stand. Even though I have not been consistent in publishing, you still take some minutes of your precious time to check my blog once in a while and I so much appreciate that.

And of course, thanks to Google for free blog hosting lol... (As if Google cares to read this blog!).

Thank you for taking your time to go through my blah blah...

Thank you sincerely for the year 2016.

SURVIVE  YEAR THE 365 DAYS IN THE YEAR 2017 BY GOD'S GRACE.

See you next year!