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Fitbit IX – Week 46

Another down week, as we wrapped up the working portion of 2023 on the wrong side of the 30,000-step plateau for the second straight week.  Things got off to a decent-enough start on Sunday, finishing 21 steps away from 4100.  Monday turned out to be the best day of the week, coming just 14 steps shy of 4800.  Things fell off on Tuesday, needing 9 additional steps just to reach 3200.  An increase on Wednesday put me back up over 3700 steps.  Another increase on Thursday put me only 29 steps shy of 4200.  Friday picked up those additional 29 steps and finished exactly at 4200 steps.  Saturday saw another big decrease, dropping down to 2800 steps.

Total steps: 27,013

Daily average: 3859

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Prolific Authors – 15 Books

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, since I’ve far surpassed my reading output of any year on record, I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through October. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 118 books, so there could be some movement over the past two years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  Today, we continue with the two authors I’ve read fifteen times, up one from 2021.

Richard Castle

Debuting in 2009, the television series Castle follows the lives of Richard Castle, a best-selling novelist, and Kate Beckett, a New York homicide detective, as they solve various unusual murders.  As Castle, portrayed by Nathan Fillion, wrote and released Nikki Heat novels on the show, those novels were released in the real world as well, the first of which, Heat Wave, was released in 2009.  The two most recent efforts, Heat Storm and Crashing Heat, were released after the cancellation of the show, though it appears unlikely that there will be any future installments.

Frozen Heat – Richard Castle

The first seven books in the series were eventually revealed to have been ghost-written by Tom Straw.  It is unknown if Straw wrote the final entries, though I highly doubt he was responsible for the last one, which had a much different feel to it.

Stephen King

I first read King’s work during my freshman year of high school.  In fact, I remember reading Pet Sematary after finishing my Biology final at the end of freshman year, waiting for the class to be dismissed.  My total reached nine novels by 1993, but then college and other pursuits got in the way and King fell out of my favor.

Joyland – Stephen King

That changed in 2012, when the release of 11/22/63 brought me back in to the King fold.  I’ve added six of his more current work, half of which has been through the Hard Case Crime imprint, which limited, but did not completely remove, the horror elements.

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Book 54 (of 52) – Solitude Creek

Solitude Creek – Jeffery Deaver

When a fake fire causes a stampede at a concert, CBI agent Kathryn Dance starts an unofficial investigation.  When a second incident occurs, at a book signing, the investigation turns into a manhunt.  Can Dance find the perpetrator while balancing her personal life and a gang war that points to an inside man within her task force?

Because I can never do this right, I jumped into Jeffery Deaver’s Kathryn Dance series with Solitude Creek, the fourth and, to date, final entry.  The character, introduced in 2006’s The Cold Moon, is a brilliant interrogator and body language expert, pretty much the opposite of Deaver’s more famous Lincoln Rhyme.  I’m sure I will work my way backwards and get to the other three entries in the series.

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Fitbit IX – Week 45

Things fell off this week, putting me back on the wrong side of the 30,000-step plateau.  Things got off to a slow start on Sunday, finishing 37 steps away from 3800 as the first significant snowfall of the season came down.  Monday saw a nice increase, coming just 38 steps shy of 4300.  Things were just slightly worse on Tuesday, dropping 16 steps to finish above 4200.  Another small decrease on Wednesday left me just 27 steps short of 4200.  A day off on Thursday, where I actually went out and got out of the car for lunch, ended just over 4100 steps.  Friday saw a bit of a drop, coming 25 steps away from 3800.  Saturday saw a bit of a bounce back, garnering 3900 steps.

Total steps: 28,277

Daily average: 4039.6

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Prolific Authors – 14 Books

4Way 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, since I’ve far surpassed my reading output of any year on record, I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through October. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 118 books, so there could be some movement over the past two years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  We continue today with the author I’ve read 14 times, down one from two years ago.

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.

Fools Die On Friday – Erle Stanley Gardner

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.

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Book 53 (of 52) – Monday Mourning

Monday Mourning – Kathy Reichs

When three sets of bones are found buried in the basement of a pizza place, Montreal police call in forensic anthropologist Temperence Brennan to determine if there is a crime worth investigating or if they have been there for a hundred years or so.  When she narrows down the victims to the 80s and 90s, the hunt is on to find the perpetrator.  Taking the investigation into her own hands, Brennan tracks down the building’s previous tenants and digs into their pasts.  Can she find the truth before she becomes the next victim?

After a thirteen-year absence, I found myself returning to the works of Kathy Reichs with Monday Mourning, her seventh entry, and my third, in the Temperence Brennan series.  That long break, along with the six years since the adaptation Bones left the air, helped alleviate the issues I had previously had with the series.  I was able to enjoy the book for what it was, rather than compare it to the show that I watched for twelve seasons.  I might even try to revisit the rest of the series sooner rather than later.

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Prolific Authors – 13 Books

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, since I’ve far surpassed my reading output of any year on record, I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through October. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 118 books, so there could be some movement over the past two years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  Today, we continue with the two authors I’ve read a total of thirteen times, an increase of one over the past two years.

The President’s Shadow – Brad Meltzer

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.

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.

 

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Fitbit IX – Week 44

A nice bounce back week put me back on the right side of the 30,000-step plateau.  Things got off to a slow start on Sunday, finishing 30 steps away from 3900.  Monday saw a very small increase, coming just 21 steps shy of 4000.  A trip to the mall for lunch on Tuesday left me just 29 steps short of 5400.  Wednesday saw a big drop, going down to 3600 steps.  The big Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday actually saw an increase, falling just 20 steps shy of 4200.  A trip down to West Lafayette on Friday saw a bit of a drop, coming 23 steps away from 3500 after the expected nighttime band practice was moved outdoors.  Danny’s Senior Day on Saturday was easily the best day of the week, garnering 9500 steps while traipsing across the Purdue campus.

Total steps: 34,072

Daily average: 4867.4

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We Are, Once Again, #1

For the third season in a row, and the third season in program history, Purdue is the #1 ranked men’s college basketball team in the country.  Following their victories over #11 Gonzaga, # 7 Tennessee, and #4 Marquette while winning the Maui Invitational last week, the team moved up from #2 to take the top spot, becoming the first Big Ten program to do so in three consecutive seasons.

Their next big test will come in three weeks, when they battle Arizona, the current #2 ranked team, on a neutral court in the Indy Classic.  Hopefully they will retain their #1 ranking when I head to Mackey on December 21st to see them battle Jacksonville.