For the first time since 2020, the Cubs are heading back to the postseason. They clinched their spot in the playoffs yesterday, defeating the Pirates 8-4. While they are only the third NL team to qualify, they are still five games behind the Brewers in the NL Central and look like they will be the top Wild Card heading into October. If the season ended today, they would host the Padres in the Wild Card series at Wrigley Field.
Fitbit XI – Week 34
An off week that barley managed to extend my 30,000-step week streak to 18 weeks. Things got off to a strong start on Sunday as I needed just 7 additional steps to reach 4900. Going back to work after a week’s vacation on Monday saw me come within 39 steps of 4200. A small decrease on Tuesday left me 40 steps away from 4000. Another small drop on Wednesday needed 26 steps to get to 3900. Thursday was even worse, finishing with 3800 steps. A trip downtown for dinner and to see a Jeopardy! show at the Chicago Theatre pushed me up to 6400 steps on Friday. The week’s low point came on Saturday, ending the week with 3300 steps.
Total steps: 30,497
Daily average: 4356.7
Book 46 (of 52) – Sycamore Row
Sycamore Row – John Grisham
Three years after the trial of Carl Lee Hailey, Jake Brigance finds himself in another charged trial, arguing in favor of the estate of Seth Hubbard, who wrote a new will and mailed it to Jake the day of his suicide. In this will, Seth, whom Jake had never met, dis-inherits his children and grandchildren and leaves almost his entire estate, estimated at over $20 million, to his black housekeeper. Facing higher powered lawyers arguing in favor of the dead man’s children, Jake seems to be at the end of his rope. At least until his former boss tracks down the one man alive who can explain the reasoning Seth did what he did.
While only three years passed between the trials of Carl Lee Hailey and the Seth Hubbard’s estate, it has been 24 years between A Time to Kill, John Grisham’s debut novel, and Sycamore Row, which was published in 2013. It has been 31 years since I read A Time to Kill, so I have little to no recollection of the details, but it still feels good to revisit these old friends. This outing was much deeper in the legal minutia than having thrills, which also made it a little different from Grisham’s more recent work. At least that which I have read.
Prolific Authors – Six 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 six times, two more than two years ago.
Swan Song – Elin Hilderbrand
Elin Hilderbrand
The best-selling author of novels set on her home island of Nantucket added four new novels to my read shelf these past two years.
David Mack
All six of his entries come from Star Trek: The Next Generation works I’ve read on my Kindle.
Sarah Pekkanen
She has teamed up with Greer Hendricks for four novels but has branched out on her own again in recent years.
Break No Bones – Kathy Reichs
Kathy Reichs
The creator of the books that were the inspiration for Bones, she has been rising steadily as I’ve gained a newfound appreciation for the novel series.
Still The Worst
With their 4-2 victory over the Padres last night, the Rockies won their 41st game of the season, ensuring that, at worst, they will tie the 2024 White Sox for the most losses in the modern era of Major League Baseball. With two weeks to go in the season, it seems likely that they will win at least one additional game, leaving the 2024 White Sox to stand alone in disgrace.
Hanging Up His Platinum Glove
Former Cub Anthony Rizzo announced his retirement this morning after a fourteen-year career. A three-time All Star, Rizzo spent ten seasons with the Cubs, ranking sixth in franchise history with 242 home runs. He was also a four-time Gold Glove winner, winning Platinum Glove honors in 2016 as the league’s best defender. In 2017, Rizzo was bestowed with the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award.
Rizzo, originally drafted by the Red Sox when Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer were in their front office, was the duo’s first big acquisition when they reunited in Chicago, acquiring him from the Padres. Beginning the 2012 season in Triple A, he was recalled at the end of June and quickly became a mainstay of the lineup and a crowd favorite. As the Cubs were rebuilding around him, he signed a long-term contract extension in 2013. He cemented his position in Cubs lore by catching the final out of the 2016 World Series, ending the longest championship drought in American professional sports. However, as the Cubs struggled to repeat the team success of that season, Rizzo also struggled in later years, contributing to an offense that has severely regressed since 2016 and was one of the Cubs who refused to get the COVID vaccine, keeping the team below the 85% threshold for the 2021 season. At the trade deadline, he was traded to the Yankees.
After re-signing with the Yankees after the 2021 season, Rizzo spent three injury-marred seasons in New York, culminating in last fall’s World Series loss to the Dodgers. A free agent following the season, he went unsigned and sat out the 2025 season prior to today’s announcement. He will officially retire as a Cub and join the organization as a team ambassador.
Fitbit XI – Week 33
A strong week of vacation helped extend my 30,000-step week streak to 17 weeks. Things got off to a strong start on Sunday as I gathered 5600 steps thanks to a visit to Rate Field to see the White Sox battle the Yankees. Labor Day saw me come within 23 steps of 4600 on Monday. A small increase on Tuesday again left me 40 steps away from 4900. A Cubs game Wednesday night left me just 27 steps shy of 7300. Thursday saw a big drop-off, needing 13 more steps just to reach 4400. A doctor’s appointment on Friday put me 27 steps short of 5700. The week’s low point came on Saturday, ending the week just 24 steps shy of 3500.
Total steps: 35,857
Daily average: 5122.4
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.
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.
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.