First Monday Book Day: Progress?

I recently re-discovered my abandoned StoryGraph account, which has been dormant for about two and a half years.  Out of curiosity, I went through the 84 books that I had on my "to-read" list in January of 2021 to see how many I ended up reading since then.  Of the 120 books I have read in the last 30 months, 21 were on that list.  And that feels about right, for every 4 books that I make note of thinking "hey, I might enjoy reading that" I read one of them.  For every 6 books that I actually pick up to read, one of them is something that I've thought about reading before. Most of my reads end up being me grabbing something off a shelf at the library or bookstore that catches my eye in the moment.

Speaking of bookstores, I bought two novels this month at our local bookshop (it was my wife's birthday, so she got a gift card, and that meant that we both ended up in the bookstore and one thing led to another ... and then it turned out that her card only worked for online purchases, so we had to come back later to pick up her book and one thing led to another again ...)

  • Either/Or by Elif Batuman - I really liked The Idiot, so I'm hoping this is also good.
  • It Lasts Forever, and Then It's Over by Anne de Marcken - I saw this book somewhere and it seemed like it was made for me.

I also read three books that had previously been languishing unread on the bookshelves of my house.  I say "on the bookshelves" but most of my recent book purchases are stacked very neatly on our dresser in the bedroom, only books already read get the privilege of being shelved. Anyway, all told, I came out of the month with a net of one less book in my house that I haven't read.  At this rate, I'll have read everything in the house in just a couple of decades or so.

What are you reading?

Minor Details: Games of August 4

IOWA CUBS 10, ST. PAUL SAINTS 9 IN IOWA (11 INNINGS)

Payton Eeles homered in the ninth to tie it 4-4.  Each team scored four in the tenth.  St. Paul scored one in the eleventh, but Caleb Knight hit a two-run homer to win it for Iowa.

Multi-hit games:  Eeles was 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs.  Diego Castillo was 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs.  Wynton Bernard was 2-for-5 with a triple, a walk, and two runs.  Edouard Julien was 2-for-5 with a double.

Home runs:  Eeles (3).

Multi-RBI games:  Eeles 4 (7); Alex Isola 2 (29).

Stolen basesJulien (6).

Pitching prowess:  Justin Topa pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Ronny Henriquez struck out two in a perfect inning.  Jeff Brigham gave up one hit in a scoreless inning.

Loss:  Hobie Harris (3-5).

Opposition standout:  Chase Strumpf was 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs.

Record:  St. Paul is 16-17, tied for fifth with Gwinnett and Toledo, 6.5 games behind Columbus.

WICHITA WIND SURGE 3, NORTHWEST ARKANSAS NATURALS 2 IN WICHITA

Trailing 2-0, Wichita scored two in the eighth and won it in the ninth on a walkoff walk.

Multi-hit games:  Jake Rucker was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games:  Rucker 2 (52).

Stolen bases:  None.

Pitching prowess:  Travis Adams pitched six innings, giving up an unearned run on two hits and a walk and striking out four.  Regi Grace pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.  Jarret Whorff pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Win:  Whorff (2-2).

Opposition standout:  Tyson Guerrero struck out seven in six shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.

Record:  Wichita is 12-21, in fifth (last) place, eight games behind Springfield.

GREAT LAKES LOONS 3, CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 2 IN CEDAR RAPIDS

Great Lakes took a 3-1 lead in the fourth, scoring all of their runs in that inning.

Multi-hit games:  None.  Cedar Rapids had five hits.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games:  None.

Stolen bases:  None.

Pitching prowess:  Ty Langenberg pitched six innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on six hits and striking out five.  Spencer Bengard pitched three shutout innings, giving up one hit and two walks and striking out one.

Loss:  Langenberg (3-1).

Opposition standout:  Jacob Meador struck out five in 4.2 innings, giving up one run on one hit and four walks.

Record:  Cedar Rapids is 18-18, tied for second with Peoria, 5.5 games behind Wisconsin.

ST. LUCIE AT FORT MYERS (2)

A doubleheader was rained out.  Fort Myers is 20-12, in first place, one game ahead of Lakeland.

TODAY'S TILT

10:00  DSL Rangers Blue at DSL Twins

Happy Birthday–August 5

Hiraoka Hiroshi (1856)
Pepper Bassett (1919)
Bill Pleis (1937)
Dwight Siebler (1937)
Tommie Aaron (1939)
Nelson Briles (1943)
Bernie Carbo (1947)
Rick Mahler (1953)
Dave Rozema (1956)
Steve Gasser (1967)
John Olerud (1968)
Carlos Pulido (1971)
John Wasdin (1972)
Bobby Kielty (1976)
Eric Hinske (1977)
Mark Mulder (1977)
Carl Crawford (1981)

Hiraoka Hiroshi is considered by some to be the father of Japanese Baseball.

Catcher Pepper Bassett was a seven-time all-star in the Negro Leagues.

Right-hander Steve Gasser did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for four years before being traded to the Mets in the Wally Backman deal.  A second round draft choice, he did not play in the major leagues.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–August 5

Happy Birthday–August 4

Jake Beckley (1867)
Dolf Luque (1890)
Chick Galloway (1896)
Ski Melillo (1899)
Bill Hallahan (1902)
Joe Strong (1902)
George Caster (1907)
Tuck Stainback (1911)
Luke Easter (1915)
Don Kolloway (1918)
Dallas Green (1934)
Frank Kostro (1937)
Ray Oyler (1938)
Cleon Jones (1942)
Johnny Grubb (1948)
Roger Clemens (1962)
B. J. Surhoff (1964)
Matt Merullo (1965)
Troy O’Leary (1969)
Bob Howry (1973)
Eric Milton (1975)
Scott Linebrink (1976)
Josh Roenicke (1982)
Jason Adam (1991)

While this is a pretty good day for names, it should be pointed out that none of these players was listed here because of his name.  In fact, each of them had a substantial baseball career.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–August 4

Happy Birthday–August 3

Silver Flint (1855)
Ed McFarland (1874)
Harry Heilmann (1894)
Jim Hegan (1920)
Roger Repoz (1940)
Dan Meyer (1952)
Bob Davidson (1952)
Jim Gott (1959)
Mike Jeffcoat (1959)
Sid Bream (1960)
Mackey Sasser (1962)
Kevin Elster (1964)
Rod Beck (1968)
Troy Glaus (1976)
Travis Bowyer (1981)
Mark Reynolds (1983)
Matt Joyce (1984)
Travis Blankenhorn (1996)

Bob Davidson was an umpire from 1985-1999 and 2005-2016.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–August 3

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.