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Prolific Authors – Fourteen Books

It is time once again to take a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, I’m once again on pace to set a new record for books read in a year, so I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into 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.  We continue today with the sole author I’ve read fourteen times, although under two names.

Erle Stanley Gardner

I’ve been aware of Gardner as the creator of Perry Mason for years but had never read any of his work until 2015, when Hard Case Crime released the first of their republishing of his Cool and Lam series, written under the penname A.A. Fair.  Since that time, six entries of the series have been released.

Erle Stanley Gardner – The Case of the Lonely Heiress

Thanks to the new HBO interpretation of Perry Mason, six of those books have also been republished, all of which I read between 2020 and 2022. In addition to those, I’ve stumbled across a few other editions over the years, including the most recent book of his I’ve read, The Case of the Howling Dog.  Since HBO cancelled the show after two seasons, I may be stuck with the earlier editions of the remaining books.

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Book 55 (of 52) – Forget Me Not

Forget Me Not – Stacy Willingham

When her mother is injured in a fall, Claire Campbell returns home to South Carolina for the first time in years.  Looking to come to terms with her sister’s disappearance 22 years earlier, Claire finds herself accepting a job at a farm where her sister worked for part of that fateful summer.  When she finds an old diary, however, she starts to suspect that things on the farm may not be what they initially seemed and that the story of her sister’s disappearance, and assumed death, may not be complete.

Forget Me Not, the latest from Stacy Willingham, returns to the land of adults, although one who is looking back to her childhood in order to make sense of the trauma of her sister’s disappearance.  Overall, this was a good, interesting story, although the ending, where everyone was connected in the past, did seem a little contrived.  Here’s to whatever comes next, whenever that happens to be.

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Book 54 (of 52) – We Are All Guilty Here

We Are All Guilty Here – Karin Slaughter

When two teenage girls go missing on the fourth of July, it becomes personal for Officer Emmy Clifton.  While she is able to arrest the man thought to be responsible and locate the bodies of the girls, she loses her best friend in the process.  Years later, after the assumed killer has been freed thanks to a scathing podcast, a similar crime takes place, robbing Clifton of even more.  This time, though, she is determined to cut through the secrets of the town, and her family, in order to save the kidnapped girl and find the true killers.

Karin Slaughter returns with We Are All Guilty Here, the first entry in what is meant to be a new series.  Taking place in rural, small-town Georgia, it shares some of the institutions, if not the characters, of her earlier series.  Emmy Clifton looks to be a strong lead character for the new series, so I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next.

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Fitbit XI – Week 40

Another unspectacular week, as I just barely managed to extend my 30,000-step week streak to 24 weeks.  Things got off to an ok start on Sunday, finishing with 4000 steps.  A nice improvement on Monday left me just 15 steps shy of 4500.  A drop on Tuesday put me back down at 3700 steps.  More of the same on Wednesday had me 4 steps shy of 3800.  My work “year-end” holiday luncheon on Thursday was the best day of the week, needing only 8 additional steps to reach 5300.  Friday finished 4 steps shy of 4200.  A cool Saturday wrapped up the week needing 2 more steps to reach 4500.

Total steps: 30,063

Daily average: 4294.7

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20 Years Later

White Sox win the 2005 World Series

Jenks with a deep breath.  He OKs the sign.  From the stretch, with a runner at second.  Here’s the 1-2 pitch to Palmeiro.  A ground ball, past Jenks, up the middle of the infield.  Uribe has it.  He throws.  OUT!  OUT!  A White Sox winner!  And a World Championship!  The White Sox have won the World Series and they’re mobbing each other on the field.

The celebration is on the mound right now at Minute Maid Park in Houston on Wednesday, October 26th, 2005.  The White Sox have won their first World Championship since 1917.  And the players are absolutely going wild on the infield.  Enjoy the celebration, Chicago.  This is long overdue.

John Rooney
10-26-2005

Twenty years ago tonight, the White Sox ended their 88-year title drought, winning their first World Series since 1917.  Sadly, they’ve only returned to the playoffs three times in the twenty seasons since and failing to finish above .500 thirteen of those years.

Much of this year was spent celebrating the championship team, as well it should have been, but hopefully there will be more focus now on winning another.  Hopefully it won’t take another 70+ years.

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Book 53 (of 52) – A Killer’s Game

A Killer’s Game – Isabella Maldonado

When FBI agent Dani Vega goes undercover to infiltrate a team of killers responsible for the death of a congressional chief of staff, she understands that she is putting her life at risk.  When that team is led into a trap and forced to fight each other to the death in an elaborate game planned by a former client, she is really put in a precarious position.  Can her Army Ranger training keep her alive until the FBI can locate and rescue her?  Or has she finally reached the end of the line?

A Killer’s Game is my first time reading Isabella Maldonado’s solo work, following her collaboration with Jeffery Deaver last fall.  I liked the Dani character, even if the situation she found herself in was a little over the top.  Overall, a good effort and I hope to read more going forward.

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Prolific Authors – Thirteen Books

It is time once again to take a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, I’m once again on pace to set a new record for books read in a year, so I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into 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.  We continue today with the three authors I’ve read thirteen times, one more than two years ago.

The House of Last Resort – Christopher Golden

Christopher Golden

The prolific author first entered my bookshelf in 1998, thanks to a Buffy the Vampire Slayer tie-in, but his latest was an original concept.

Brad Meltzer

I was originally exposed to Meltzer through his comics work for DC, eventually trying out his prose work in 2002, when I read both The Millionaires and The First Counsel.  Since then, he has been a pretty steady presence as new work is released, last seen in 2022 with The Lightning Rod.

Bravo – Greg Rucka

Greg Rucka

I first became aware of Greg Rucka through his prestigious comic book work.  In 1999, I read the first entry in his Atticus Kodiak series, Keeper.  I followed up with the next three entries the following year, bringing my up to date with his work.  From that point on, I picked up each of his original works as they were released, including three more entries in the Kodiak series, three novels based on his Queen & Country comic book series, one standalone work, and, most recently, the two books in the Jad Bell series.