For the first time since 2011, I don’t have a calendar to ring in each month of the new year, so we will have to play things by ear throughout the year. Today, we celebrate the completion of an arbitrarily selected rotation of the Earth around the sun and look forward to a new year ahead.
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2025: The Year In Books
As 2025 comes to a close, my fifth full year of remote working, I managed to once again surpass my previous records by completing a whopping 66 books, five books more than my previous high set last year and my fifth consecutive year completing the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge. I completed the challenge in mid-October and surpassed last year’s total in early-December. I read 25,279 pages, by far my highest total of all time and just the third time I’ve managed to surpass 20.000 pages.
Of those books, only two were non-fiction and, of the remaining 64 novels, only six were tied to a TV show, either as the source material or as a tie-in. None of the books came out of my dwindling “to-read” drawer, with two hard covers, three paperbacks, 61 e-books and no audiobooks. I was forced to switch my library card from the Chicago Public Library to my local library, which slowed me down a little but still led to 55 of the books I consumed throughout the year.
Over 71% of the books I read this year were by authors I had read before. The 21 authors that I read for the first time this year were:
| Coco Mellors | Aisling Rawle | Stephen Graham Jones |
| Liz Moore | Natalie Sue | Kaliane Bradley |
| Max Brooks | Mary Shelley | Paul Tremblay |
| Nathaniel Hawthorne | Kelly Bishop | Tanya Pearson |
| Liane Moriarty | Benjamin Stevenson | Ashley Winstead |
| Ashley Elston | Alison Espach | Alice Feeney |
| Ali Land | Lindsay Jamieson | Jeneva Rose |
Karin Slaughter, Laura Lippman, Kathy Reichs, Lee Goldberg, Stephen King, Emily Henry, Elin Hilderbrand, and Rebecca Forster were the authors that I read multiple titles from during 2025, accounting for nearly 35% of my total.
22 of the books I read were released this year, while none were released during the 20th century. Two came from the 19th century, with the oldest first published in 1818.
Finally, the breakdown by month, which was fairly consistent across the entire year. Continue reading →
Fitbit XI – Week 49
My second full week of vacation turned into my fifth straight week above 30,000 despite holiday celebrations. The week got off to nice start on Sunday, ending the day with 4500 steps. An improvement on Monday pushed me up to 4700 steps. An additional 31 steps on Tuesday would have put me at 4500. Christmas Eve celebrations on Wednesday, plus a walk around the block, pushed me up to 5500 steps. A trip to my sister’s house on Thursday for Christmas left me 10 steps shy of 4400. Friday left me 20 steps shy of 4600. A slow Saturday ended the week with 2900 steps.
Total steps: 31,142
Daily average: 4448.9
Book 66 (of 52) – Beautiful Ugly
Beautiful Ugly – Alice Feeney
A year after his wife goes missing, an author moves to a small remote island off the coast of Scotland in order to put his life back together and start writing again. He keeps seeing glimpses of his missing wife, which he chalks up to lack of sleep and a hallucinogenic tea that one of the islanders had given him. When he gets too close to the truth, though, he finds out that his wife is still alive and the true reason both of them ended up on this small island.
Alice Feeney’s Beautiful Ugly is one of those books where the journey was more enjoyable than the ultimate destination. I’m not sure what landing would have stuck better for me, but the one we got was not it. Feeney has a new book due out early next year that I had added to my “want to read” list, but now I’m not so sure.
Rays All Time Leaders – Through 2025
To paraphrase from a famous movie, the one constant through all the years has been baseball. As we head into 2026, we continue our look at the all-time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. Today, we take a deeper dive into the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Rays began life in 1998 as the Devil Rays, dropping the Devil portion of their name in 2008. I’ve seen 204 players wearing the Tampa Bay uniform in the 31 of their games that I’ve attended live, five as the Devil Rays and the remaining 26 as the Rays, including the 2008 ALDS and two games at their horrible home dome in 2021.
Home Runs
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| B.J. Upton | 5 |
| Matthew Joyce | 3 |
| Ben Zobrist | 2 |
| Luke Raley | 2 |
| Isaac Paredes | 2 |
Hits
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| B.J. Upton | 18 |
| Ben Zobrist | 16 |
| Carlos Pena | 9 |
| Evan Longoria | 9 |
Runs
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Ben Zobrist | 11 |
| B.J. Upton | 9 |
| Matthew Joyce | 7 |
RBI
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| B.J. Upton | 11 |
| Carlos Pena | 8 |
| Ben Zobrist | 7 |
| Evan Longoria | 7 |
Doubles
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Wander Franco | 4 |
| Ben Zobrist | 3 |
| Evan Longoria | 3 |
| Jason Bartlett | 3 |
| Manuel Margot | 3 |
| Brandon Lowe | 3 |
Triples Continue reading →
Book 65 (of 52) – The Third Gilmore Girl
The Third Gilmore Girl – Kelly Bishop
Actress (and dancer!) Kelly Bishop has had a long a distinguished career, on the stage and screen. In The Third Gilmore Girl, winner of the 2024 Goodreads Choice Award for Favorite Memoir, she tells her story, starting with her childhood in Colorado, where a love of dancing started her on her path. Starting as a chorus dancer, she eventually worked her way up to the main cast, eventually originating the role of Sheila in A Chorus Line, a role which earned her a Tony. She found success on the big screen, playing Jennifer Grey’s mother in Dirty Dancing, and on the small screen, with the beloved role as Emily Gilmore on Gilmore Girls.
Outside of Gilmore Girls and some of her more recent work, I was not familiar with her work or her backstory. It sounds like she has had a wonderful and fulfilling career and has lived a full life. I hope to experience more of her work in the future.
Fitbit XI – Week 48
My first full week of vacation turned into my fourth straight week above 30,000 despite weather that changed seasons multiple times. The week got off to a slow start, as frigid temperatures on Sunday left me just 2 steps short of 3800 steps. A warmer Monday pushed me up to 4500 steps. A bigger warmup on Tuesday led to a trip into the city for lunch, leading to 6800 steps. Wednesday needed 45 more steps to reach 5000. A slower day on Thursday scored 4200 steps. Despite a trip to the barber on Friday, I came 31 steps shy of 3600. A better Saturday ended the week 7 steps away from 3800.
Total steps: 31,706
Daily average: 4529.4
A Signing!
Munetaka Murakami, a 25-year-old left-handed slugger from Japan, is coming to the south side, signing a two-year, $34 million contract with the White Sox. Murakami set the single-season home run record in the NPB in 2022 en route to the Triple Crown, swatting 56 in 141 games for the Yakult Swallows. With the posting fee, the White Sox are on the hook for a total of $40.575 million.
Murakami does come with some question marks, which is why he fell from the expected nine-figure deal he was hoping to get when he posted in November, mainly contact issues and injury concerns. His strikeout rate has approached 30% in recent seasons in a league that does not look for strikeouts like MLB pitchers do. He’s also missed significant time the past two seasons, thanks to an oblique strain, a broken toe, and elbow surgery. He’s expected to play first base for the White Sox, so his defensive limitations will likely be minimized.
Murakami becomes the first Japanese player to suit up for the White Sox since Kosuke Fukudome in 2012 and the first one signed directly from Japan since Tadahito Iguchi in 2005. Can he help boost the White Sox offense enough to help them avoid a fourth-straight 100-loss season? That is certainly the hope.
Prolific Authors Wrap Up
Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school. This year, I’ve far surpassed my previous record for books read in a year, so I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into all of those books I’ve read through August of this year. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 114 books, so there should be some movement over the past two years. Without further ado, it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much over the years. Today, we wrap things up with a look back at the 109 authors I’ve read more than once.
Largest Increase (since 2023)
Pieces of Her – Karin Slaughter
Karin Slaughter – 7
Stephen King – 6
Laura Lippman – 6
Jeffery Deaver – 4
Lee Goldberg – 4
Elin Hilderbrand – 4
Kathy Reichs – 4
Largest Increase (since 2011)
Solitude Creek – Jefferu Deaver
Karin Slaughter – 19
Jeffery Deaver – 18
Erle Stanley Gardner – 14
Richard Castle – 13
Stephen King – 12
Phillies All Time Leaders – Through 2025
To paraphrase from a famous movie, the one constant through all the years has been baseball. As we head into the holiday season, we continue our look at the all-time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. Today, we take a deeper dive into the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Phillies began life in 1883 and are the oldest continuous franchise that hasn’t moved cities or changed names. I’ve seen 144 players wearing the Phillie uniform during the 23 times I’ve seen them play live, including three times, across three different trips, in the city of San Francisco.
Home Runs
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Jimmy Rollins | 4 |
| Brad Miller | 3 |
| Mike Lieberthal | 2 |
| Bobby Abreu | 2 |
| Aaron Rowand | 2 |
Hits
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Jimmy Rollins | 20 |
| Ryan Howard | 11 |
| Pat Burrell | 8 |
| Shane Victorino | 8 |
Runs
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Jimmy Rollins | 6 |
| Ryan Howard | 5 |
| Pat Burrell | 5 |
| Carlos Ruiz | 5 |
RBI
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Jimmy Rollins | 15 |
| Ryan Howard | 5 |
| Brad Miller | 5 |
Doubles
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Jimmy Rollins | 6 |
| Ryan Howard | 4 |
| Pat Burrell | 3 |
| Jayson Werth | 3 |
| J.T. Realmuto | 3 |
Triples Continue reading →