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Book 63 (of 52) – The Compound

The Compound – Aisling Rawle

A group of twenty young and beautiful contestants find themselves in the compound, competing in a reality show where they complete tasks, both communal and personal, to get the things they need to survive and to thrive.  As the numbers dwindle, the remaining players start to crack under the pressure, some wanting to leave and go home and some looking to go all the way.

Aisling Rawle’s debut novel, The Compound, was the winner of the 2025 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Science Fiction.  Outside of some hints of taking place in a dystopian world, there isn’t much (or as much as I would have liked) in the way of science fiction.  Covering a similar ground as Ruth Ware’s One Perfect Couple, Rawle goes deeper into the psychology of why the contestants are participating in the show and what they hope, or had hoped at the outset, to get out of it.  This was a pretty good debut, and I look forward to more from her in the future.

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Prolific Authors – 22 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 1xx 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 conclude today with the sole author I’ve read 22 times, a level unseen two years ago.

Jeffery Deaver

In 1999, the first entry of Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme series, The Bone Collector, was adapted into a film starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.  Around that time, I picked up a paperback copy, which I read in 2000.  I slowly added additional titles as I would find them as remainders, picking up new hard covers for $3 or $4.


Things increased in 2015, when I started picking up titles on deals through the Amazon Kindle store or from the library, leading to 17 additional books added to my read bookshelf.  In August of last year, I finished off the Lincoln Rhyme series with The Broken Window.  There is still room to grow, as I have three remaining entries of his Kathryn Dance series, although my local library does not have them available in an electronic format, and what looks to be a new series where he has teamed up with Isabella Maldonado.

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Blue Jays All Time Leaders – Through 2025

jaysnewTo paraphrase from a famous movie, the one constant through all the years has been baseball.  With the hot stove in full swing, we continue our look at the all-time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams.  We continue today with the defending AL Champion Toronto Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays began life in 1977, joining the American League along with the Mariners.   I’ve seen 199 players wearing a Blue Jays uniform in the 32 of their games that I’ve attended live, including a 2015 visit to their home stadium in the country of Canada.

Home Runs

Name Total
Edwin Encarnacion 2
Josh Donaldson 2
Danny Jansen 2
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2
Whit Merrifield 2

Hits

Name Total
Vernon Wells 16
Edwin Encarnacion 11
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 10
Bo Bichette 10

Runs

Name Total
Vernon Wells 7
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 7
Bo Bichette 6

RBI

Name Total
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 9
Edwin Encarnacion 8
Jose Bautista 8

Doubles

Name Total
Vernon Wells 6
Jose Bautista 4
Lyle Overbay 3
Adam Lind 3
Justin Smoak 3

Triples Continue reading →

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Book 62 (of 52) – World War Z

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War – Max Brooks

Years after the end of the Zombie War, an enterprising historian travels the globe to interview the survivors of the global zombie pandemic.  Those survivors, soldiers, doctors, politicians, civilians alike, tell the story of the war, from the initial outbreak of the disease and how society collapsed, adapted, and then fought back and ultimately neutralized the undead threat.

I first became aware of World War Z with the release of the 2013 film starring Brad Pitt and Mireille Enos.  The novel by Max Brooks, released in 2006, tells a similar, but completely different story.  Presented as an oral history, there is no main protagonist to speak of, switching perspectives with each different interview to a different part of the overall story.  It took me a while to get into the story, but I was invested by the end.

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Everything’s Coming Up Jerry

For the first time since 1977, the White Sox will have the top overall pick in next July’s MLB draft.  Despite having the second worst record in baseball in 2025, the White Sox entered last night’s draft lottery with the best chance at the #1 pick, as the Rockies were ineligible for a top-nine pick due to consecutive years picking in the lottery.  Ironically, that same rule is what stuck the White Sox with the 10th pick in this year’s draft, despite finishing last year with the most losses in the history of the league.

This will be the third time the White Sox have had the overall #1 pick in the draft.  In 1971, they selected Danny Goodwin, a catcher out of Peoria High School.  In typical White Sox fashion, they lowballed him and he chose to go to college instead, becoming the first top pick to not sign.  Things went a little better in 1977, when they selected Harold Baines with the top pick.  He would, of course, eventually have his number retired by the team and be elected to the Hall of Fame.  Not to put any pressure on whoever the team ends up selecting come July.

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Fitbit XI – Week 46

A second straight week above 30,000 as winter arrived early in Chicago.  The week got off to a good start on Sunday as I dealt with (or tried to deal with, at least) the snow that had fallen the day before, giving me 6100 steps.  Going back to work on Monday dropped me down to 4600 steps.  A alight increase on Tuesday left me 35 steps shy of 4700.  Meetings on Wednesday dropped me down again, falling 32 steps short of 3400.  Another rough day on Thursday wrapped up 20 steps away from 3700.  A trip to the doctor’s office for bloodwork on Friday fueled a nice increase, needing 25 steps to reach 5800.  A slow Saturday ended the week with 3200 steps.

Total steps: 31,443

Daily average: 4491.9

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Prolific Authors – 21 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 1xx 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 our penultimate entry and the lone author I’ve read 21 times, starting in my freshman year of high school.

Stephen King

I remember my first introduction to Stephen King, 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.

That changed in 2012, when the release of 11/22/63 brought me back into the King fold.  There was another brief lull from between Joyland in 2015 and The Colorado Kid in 2019, but he’s been a consistent read since, especially with the introduction of the Holly Gibney character and limiting, if not outright removing, the supernatural elements in his work.  This year alone has given King a big push, as I’ve completed three books so far with nearly half the year to go.

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Braves All Time Leaders – Through 2025

To paraphrase from a famous movie, the one constant through all the years has been baseball.  With the winter meetings starting today, 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 Atlanta Braves.

The Braves began life in Boston, joining the National League in 1876, before moving to Milwaukee in 1953 and, finally, landing in Atlanta in 1966.  I’ve seen 165 players don the Braves uniforms in the 22 games of theirs that I’ve attended live, including Games Three and Four of the 2003 NLDS against the Cubs at Wrigley Field and a 2021 game against the Yankees at Truist Park on my way home from a trip to Florida.

Home Runs

Name Total
Chipper Jones 3
Freddie Freeman 3
Brian McCann 2
Jeff Fancoeur 2

Hits

Name Total
Chipper Jones 10
Vinny Castilla 9
Brian McCann 8
Freddie Freeman 8

Runs

Name Total
Chipper Jones 6
Andruw Jones 6
Freddie Freeman 5
Ozzie Albies 5

RBI

Name Total
Chipper Jones 7
Brian McCann 7
Freddie Freeman 7

Doubles

Name Total
Brooks Conrad 2
Gary Sheffield 2
Freddie Freeman 2
Nick Markakis 2
Dansby Swanson 2

Triples Continue reading →

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Playing Some Word Games

In early February of 2022, I, along with millions of others, came across a little game called Wordle.  In the nearly four years since, the game was bought out by the New York Times and it, along with some of their other games, has become a daily constant and part of my normal morning routine.  Earlier this week, I played my 1400th game while also raising my overall winning percentage back to 99%.

I’ve managed to solve the puzzle in three tries or less 31.4% of the time.  It has taken me five or six tries 28.3% of the time.  I was unable to solve the puzzle 21 times, accounting for that 99% (rounded up) winning percentage.  I’ve stuck to two starting words for the majority of the time, changing only when my original word was the answer to that day’s puzzle.  My longest win streak of 154 days comes out to a little over five months.  My current winning streak is a little shy of two months.

With a little more than three months until my next milestone, I’ll keep plugging away every morning, looking to improve my totals.

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Book 61 (of 52) – Retreat

Retreat – Krysten Ritter and Lindsay Jamieson

When a con-woman finds that things are getting a little hot in Chicago, she jumps at the chance to take a job in Mexico as a way to escape for a while.  She takes over the identity of her employer, thinking that she and her husband have been killed, she tries to stay a step ahead until the husband’s body washes up on a local beach.  When the second body turns out to be the husband’s mistress and not the wife, she starts to realize that she may be in over her head.

After eight long years, actress Krysten Ritter returns with her second novel, Retreat.  Along with co-writer Lindsay Jamieson, Ritter puts together another interesting tale.  Here’s hoping that it won’t be another long wait before we hear from her, in a non-acting way, again.