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Prolific Authors – Five 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 ten authors I’ve read two times, an increase of three from two years ago.

Serpent’s Storm – Amber Benson

Amber Benson

The former Buffy the Vampire Slayer star checks in with the five entries in her Calliope Reaper-Jones fantasy series.

Dan Brown

Brown, who became a publishing superstar with the release of The DaVinci Code in 2003, has a new Robert Langdon book due out later this year.

Diane Carey

First read in 1991, she was a stalwart of the Star Trek: The Next Generation novel line, which accounted for four of her five entries.

The Night Shift – Alex Finlay

Alex Finlay

Five books in four years, including Parents Weekend from earlier this year, have pushed Finlay up this list.

Jeff Mariotte

The former WildStorm VP and DC editor stands pat with his entries from the Buffy and Angel series of novels.

Kimberly McCreight

A New York Times bestselling author thanks to her debut novel, Reconstructing Amelia, she has been a steady presence since 2013.

Yvonne Navarro

All five of the Chicago native’s works that I’ve read revisit the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe.

We Solve Murders – Richard Osman

Richard Osman

An English television presenter, Osman turned his efforts to fiction in 2020 with The Thursday Murder Club, which I came across in 2022.

Tom Perrotta

A nice two-book jump for the American novelist and screenwriter, whose works have a tendency to wind up on screen.

William Shatner

The actor best known for his role as Captain Kirk in Star Trek checks in with his efforts, whatever they may have been, both with his TekWar series and on two Star Trek novels.

 

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Book 45 (of 52) – Mr. Monk In Outer Space

Lee Goldberg – Mr. Monk in Outer Space

When the creator of a legendary cult science fiction show is murdered outside of a hotel convention center, Monk is brought in to solve the case.  Thanks to some unexpected help from his brother Ambrose, Monk is able to tie this murder to another case and identifies the true killer.

Mr. Monk in Outer Space is the fifth of 18 novels based on the USA Network dramedy that ran from 2002 to 2009 from series writer Lee Goldberg. Once again told from the perspective of Natalie, the book over exaggerates Monk’s reactions to some everyday things beyond what would be seen in the show but also hits close to home as an attendee at many comic cons in the past.  I’ve got thirteen more of these books waiting for me, which I’m sure I’ll get to sooner rather than later.

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Book 44 (of 52) – Winter In Paradise

Winter in Paradise – Elin Hilderbrand

Irene Steele thinks she has it all: a job she loves, a beautiful home, and a husband who adores her.  However, when she gets a phone call from her husband’s mysterious employer informing her that he died in the US Virgin Islands, everything starts to fall apart.  Along with her two sons, she travels to St. John, where she finds that her husband led a second life, owning a multi-million-dollar villa that he shared with his girlfriend and their daughter.  While she tries to put the pieces of her life back together, she, and her sons, find that things may be better in paradise than back home.

Last winter, I looked into vacationing in the Virgin Islands as a closer alternative to Hawaii.  I may way to revisit that plan now that Elin Hilderbrand leaves her familiar island of Nantucket and instead takes the reader to St. John in Winter in Paradise, the first part of a trilogy.  She sets up a mystery and a whole host of potential romances, which I’m sure will get resolved in the next two chapters, which I hope to read soon.

 

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Fitbit XI – Week 32

My 30,000-step week streak barely reaches sixteen weeks, thanks to a night out at the ballpark.  Things got off to a slow start on Sunday as I gathered just 3400 steps.  A walk around the block on Monday left me 15 steps shy of 5400.  A small decrease on Tuesday again left me 15 steps away from 5000.  Wednesday saw a big drop-off, going down to 3800 steps.  Things fell even further on Thursday, dropping down to 3100 steps.  Watching the White Sox do battle against the Yankees on Friday turned out to be my high point of the week, finishing 8 steps short of 6900.  The week’s low point came on Saturday, ending the week just 12 steps shy of 3100.

Total steps: 30,705

Daily average: 4386.4

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Book 43 (of 52) – Witchcraft For Wayward Girls

Grady Jendrix – Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

In the late 1960s, unwed pregnant girls are sent to Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, hidden away until they give birth and are forced to give up their babies for adoption.  When four of the girls sneak out into the woods behind the home, they encounter a witch who promises to give them their life’s desire if they swear fealty to her.  When it comes time to pay up, however, they can’t live up to their commitments, causing the witch and her cover to go on the offensive.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is the latest from Grady Hendrix.  He uses the trappings of the horror genre to look at the true horrors placed upon these girls prior to the passage of Roe v Wade, stripped of their ability to choose what happened to their baby and sent away from any and all support systems because of their so-called shame.  I look forward to seeing what he comes up with next.

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2025 College Football Kickoff

With a new coach and a revamped roster with nearly 60 transfers, the Purdue Boilermakers kick off their 2025 gridiron campaign today.  With Danny having graduated last spring-ish, I did not make it to any games last fall, so my games attended total remains at 32, covering six different stadiums in a whopping three states, including one bowl game.

All-Time Team Records

University Won Loss Winning Pctg
Syracuse Orange 1 0 1.000
Penn State Nittany Lions 2 0 1.000
Ohio State Buckeyes 1 0 1.000
Wisconsin Badgers 1 0 1.000
Louisiana State Tigers 1 0 1.000
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 4 1 0.800
Purdue Boilermakers 19 11 0.633
Northern Illinois Huskies 1 1 0.500
Illinois Fighting Illini 2 7 0.222
Indiana Hoosiers 0 3 0.000
Michigan Wolverines 0 1 0.000
Michigan State Spartans 0 1 0.000
Minnesota Golden Gophers 0 1 0.000
Florida Atlantic Owls 0 1 0.000
Northwestern Wildcats 0 3 0.000
Western Michigan Broncos 0 1 0.000
North Carolina State Wolfpack 0 1 0.000
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Looking Ahead To 2026

Eschewing their traditional day after the All-Star Game release, Major League Baseball released their tentative 2026 schedule on a random Tuesday at the end of August.  For the fourth year in a row, MLB is keeping with a balanced schedule, playing 52 games against division opponents, 64 games against non-division opponents in the same league, and 46 interleague games, with series against every team in the opposite league.  With a young and improving White Sox team already looking ahead to next year and the Cubs trying to lock down a Wild Card spot, the 2026 season looks like it could be an interesting one for the city of Chicago.  So, for one day, at least, let’s turn our attention to next summer for both teams.

The White Sox open their season on March 26, the earliest North American start in league history, under the dome in Milwaukee against the Brewers, followed by a trip to South Beach to face the Marlins.  They open up their home schedule against the Blue Jays on April 2.

Aside from the Brewers and Marlins, the interleague schedule sees the White Sox going on the road to face the Phillies, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, and Padres, while the Pirates, Reds, Dodgers, Braves, Mets, Rockies, and Nationals make their way to Rate Field.  The rivalry with their north side foes continues with a three-game weekend series at home Wrigley Field in mid-May followed by a weekday series at Wrigley Field in mid-August.

The White Sox wrap up the 2026 season in September with series against the Twins, Guardians, and Tigers, should it matter.  The season ends at home with a three-game series against the Rockies.

On the north side, the Cubs kick off their season at home against the Nationals and the Angels before heading out on the road in early April.  Aside from the Angels, the Cubs will host the Twins, A’s, Yankees, Blue Jays, and Tigers, while travelling to visit the Mariners, Orioles, Guardians, Red Sox, and Royals.

Twelve of their 24 games in September are against their NL Central rivals, with six coming against the Brewers, which could make a difference should the Cubs find themselves in contention once again.  They end the year with a three-game road trip to Boston to face the Red Sox.

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Fitbit XI – Week 31

My 30,000-step week streak reaches fifteen weeks, the longest I’ve seen since before the COVID lockdowns of 2020.  Things got off to an ok start on Sunday, coming just 14 steps shy of 4200.  A walk around the block on Monday pushed me up to 5400 steps.  A small decrease on Tuesday left me with 4700 steps as we said goodbye to Michael before he left for school.  Another strong day on Wednesday was 22 steps away from 4600.  A big drop-off on Thursday left me an even 30 steps short of 4000.  Friday turned out to be my low point of the week, finishing with 3700 steps.  A return to Rate Field on Saturday finished up the week strong, coming just 6 steps shy of 5800.

Total steps: 32,424

Daily average: 4632

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Book 42 (of 52) – By A Spider’s Thread

By A Spider’s Thread – Laura Lippman

When a man’s wife and children go missing, he hires Tess Monaghan to find them and bring them home.  As she digs into his, and her, background, she finds that the wife he claims to know may not be who he thinks she is.  Can Tess track down the missing family, and the mysterious man accompanying them, before any more blood is shed?

Laura Lippman returns with By a Spider’s Thread, the eighth entry in her Tess Monaghan series.  Following the events of The Last Place, Tess once again finds herself single, though I assume that will be taken care of sooner rather than later.  She also finds herself facing her Jewish half more seriously than she has in the past, due to her Orthodox client.  I’ve got four more Tess novels to go, not to mention any other works in Lippman’s oeuvre, so there’s plenty for me to enjoy moving forward.