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Book 50 (of 52) – The Locked Ward

The Locked Ward – Sarah Pekkanen

Mandy, who took over the family bar after her parents’ deaths, has her world turned upside down when she finds out that 1) she has a twin sister named Georgia and 2) Georgia is locked in a psychiatric ward accused of murder.  Believing her newfound family is innocent, Mandy digs into Georgia’s life, looking for anything that might prove her innocence.  The closer she gets, however, the more her own life is in danger, leading to a final gambit that she hopes will save her sister’s life.

Sarah Pekkanen returns with her latest solo effort, The Locked Ward, her third straight outing without longtime collaborator Greer Hendricks.  She tells an intriguing tale with an unnecessary twist at the very end.  Despite that, this was another enjoyable read from her and I look forward to what she comes up with next.

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Book 49 (of 52) – Atmosphere

Atmosphere – Taylor Jenkins Reid

When Joan Goodwin leaves academia behind to try and become an astronaut, she expects that her life is going to change.  She had no idea to what degree, though, as she meets a fellow aspiring astronaut who she is drawn to, even if society, and NASA, are not ready to accept it.  Following her first trip into space, she takes over custody of her young niece and finally has everything she has ever wanted, but a shocking incident on the next shuttle flight puts everything at risk.

From April of 2022 through October of 2023, I devoured Taylor Jenkins Reid’s previous four novels.  She’s finally back with Atmosphere, which was released this summer.  This was a bit of a departure from her earlier works, which focused on famous people trying to work through life’s problems despite their social status.  In Atmosphere, while Joan Goodwin is certainly famous in certain circles as one of the first US women to go into space, her life is much more grounded.

Reid took a break following the publishing of Carrie Soto Is Back in 2022, so it may be a while before we hear from her again.  She does have four earlier works which I may try to dive into at some point, but those haven’t taken off like her later works.

 

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Fitbit XI – Week 37

I extended my 30,000-step week streak to 21 weeks thanks to some strong outings.  Things got off to a good start on Sunday as a morning walk around the block helped me finish with 5300 steps.  My first trip to the Salt Shed to see Garbage on Monday lifted me up to 6200 steps.  A big drop on Tuesday left me 34 steps away from 3600.  Wednesday saw a nice bounce back, falling just 26 steps shy of 4300.  Another drop on Thursday put me all the way back down to 3700 steps.  A walk to Walgreens to pick up a prescription on Friday left me just 24 steps shy of 6700.  A fall back to 3700 steps on Saturday wrapped up the week.

Total steps: 33,595

Daily average: 4799.3

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The Robots Are Coming

Major League Baseball announced a huge shift for 2026 with the arrival of a challenge system for balls and strikes as determined by a high-tech camera system.  The so-called robot umpires, officially known as the automated ball-strike (ABS) system, has been used in Triple A since 2022 and was tried out in spring training 2025.  The challenge system will give each team two challenges of the home plate umpire’s strike zone, and they will retain their challenge if the call is overturned.  When a challenge is issued, the umpire will review how the camera system called the pitch and that determination will be final.

Challenges can only be issued by the pitcher, the catcher, or the batter and must be made immediately following the pitch in question.  Players are barred from receiving any help or direction from others in issuing the challenge.

The competition committee, which, per the collective bargaining agreement, is made up of six appointees from MLB, four players, and one umpire, did not have a unanimous vote, with at least one player opposing the rule change.

It will be interesting to see how this impacts the game moving forward.  With limited challenges, will teams implement strategies about when to allow players to challenge?  Will certain players be stopped from challenging altogether?  Time will tell.

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Book 48 (of 52) – One Perfect Couple

Ruth Ware – One Perfect Couple

After hitting a dead end in her research, Lyla agrees to join her boyfriend, an aspiring actor, as contestants on a new reality show.  Planning to treat the show as a vacation, Lyla assumes she will be booted in the first two weeks.  Unfortunately, an unexpected tropical storm after the first challenge, which Lyla one but which booted her boyfriend from the show, left the remaining contestants stranded and injured.  The longer they remain on the island, their numbers, and their food and water supply, keep dwindling.  As tensions start to run high, can Lyla and her fellow contestants manage to take control of their situation until help arrives?

Released in 2024, One Perfect Couple brings Ruth Ware back to my attention for the first time in nearly two years.  While the bones of the plot date back to Agatha Christie and the classic And Then There Were None, Ware wraps it in a contemporary setting to breathe in some new life.  I hope it won’t be another two years before I circle back to Ware’s work again.

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Prolific Authors – Eight 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 four authors I’ve read eight times, one fewer than two years ago.

Peter David

The prolific comic book writer, who passed away earlier this year, shows up mostly with Star Trek: The Next Generation novels that I read in high school, with only two of his total coming from this century.

Sunburn – Laura Lippman

Laura Lippman

After a five year wait for Lippman’s second back to cross my eyes, she has jumped up considerably these past two years.

Jennifer McMahon

After feeling unimpressed after finishing my first of her works, Dismantled, in 2010, I eventually gave her another try, and she has been a consistent presence ever since.

Riley Sager

One of my newer favorites, I’ve read all of his novels as they’ve been released annually since 2017’s Final Girls through this year’s With a Vengeance, which will count towards the next list.

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2025 Predictions Revisited

Six months ago, I made my annual predictions as to who would win what in the 2025 MLB season.  With the Division Series round in full swing, it is time to revisit those predictions and see what, if anything, I got right.

American League

East: Red Sox

While the Red Sox returned to the postseason as a wild card, the Blue Jays managed to take home their first division title since 2015.

Central: Guardians

The Tigers held first place for most of the season, but a late September surge by the Guardians gave them the crown.

West: Mariners

Hey, that’s two right now.  After years of falling short, the Mariners finally held off the Astros to take home their first division title since 2001.

Wild Cards: Rays, Twins, Orioles

Not a single correct guess here.  The Twins and Orioles bottomed out, while the Rays hung around the race for most of the season, but couldn’t make a run.  Instead, the Yankees, Red Sox, and Tigers topped the wild card standings.

AL Champion: Guardians

Well, their hot run couldn’t last forever.  Since the Guardians are out, the field looks to be wide open.  What a story it would be for the Mariners to make their first World Series appearance.

Cy Young: Garrett Crochet

While Tiger starter Tarik Skubal looks to be the front-runner, Crochet has a chance to get some support here.

MVP: Julio Rodriguez

It’s going to come down to Rodriguez’s teammate Cal Raleigh or Aaron Judge, who had another monster season.

National League

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Fitbit XI – Week 36

A decent enough week, barely managing to extend my 30,000-step week streak to 20 weeks.  Things got off to a slow start on Sunday, needing 15 additional steps to reach 3700.  Monday saw a small improvement, going up to 4000 steps.  Another increase on Tuesday put me 28 steps away from 4400.  A short walk around the block on Wednesday pushed me up to 5300 steps.  Thursday dropped all the way back down to 3800 steps.  Another trip around the block on Friday left me just 5 steps shy of 5300.  A fall back to 4000 steps on Saturday wrapped up the week on an ok note.

Total steps: 30,598

Daily average: 4371.1

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Playoff Pitching Leaders

The Cubs dispatched the Padres yesterday to win their Wild Card series and will be heading to the NLDS against the Brewers this weekend.  While we wait, it’s time to take our updated look at the pitching leaders from the now 33 post-season games I’ve attended since the White Sox won the AL Central in 2000.

Wins

Name Total
Mark Buehrle 2
Jon Lester 2
Jake Arrieta 2
27 tied with 1

Losses

Name Total
Matt Clement 2
31 tied with 1

ERA (> 6 IP)

Name Total
Aroldis Chapman 0.00
Stephen Strasburg 0.00
Kyle Freeland 0.00
Johnny Cueto 1.13
Chad Billingsley 1.35

Strikeouts

Name Total
Jon Lester 25
Jake Arrieta 22
Mark Buehrle 13
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Playoff Batting Leaders

With their Wild Card Series tied at a game apiece, the Cubs will battle against the Padres this afternoon for the rights to move on and face the Brewers in the NLDS.  With that in mind, it’s time to take an updated look at the offensive leaders from the now 33 post-season games I have attended since 2000.  So, without further ado, we start off with:

Home Runs

Name Total
Kris Bryant 4
Javier Baez 3
Paul Konerko 3
B.J. Upton 3
Dexter Fowler 3
Enrique Hernandez 3

Hits

Name Total
Kris Bryant 11
Javier Baez 11
Dexter Fowler 10
Anthony Rizzo 10
Moises Alou 9
Jason Heyward 9

Runs

Name Total
Dexter Fowler 7
Paul Konerko 6
Daniel Murphy 6
A.J. Pierzynski 5
Kris Bryant 5
Javier Baez 5
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