Hard to beat Lev Grossman's The Magicians series. Somewhat billed as a grown-up Harry Potter story. Also, I would always recommend Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.
Just finished The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. I'm a fan of his work and this one was quite good -- a gripping and ever-so-slightly magic realist tale of a runaway slave. Whitehead really delves into the different experiences slaves and former slaves had around the South. The book also reminded me of his zombie novel Zone One -- lots of parallels between that tale of escape and suvival and this one.
Jimmy Corrigan the Smartest Kid on Earth is one of my favorites.
They blended in too well with the rest of the pleated khakis.
I am a huge proponent of The Beef and Dairy Podcast Network: http://www.beefanddairynetwork.com
It is an extremely British and dry comedy podcast that posits a world where everyone is obsessed with cows and eating beef. Lamb is a dangerous gateway meat favored by teenagers. Cows can be mayors. It's just unbelievably funny and a fully realized world.
Night here now, but I'll share a picture of a typical Malaysian breakfast -- a banana leaf-wrapped cone/pyramid of nasi lemak: Rice, egg, curried meat, peanuts, etc. You can buy these delicious parcels anywhere.

I've watched the pilot. It was interesting but honestly kind of a mess. I like Baz Luhrman, and I'm up for magical realism, but there was so much going on and it seemed to happen really slowly. I did enjoy it, but I'm having a hard time turning back to it to watch the other episodes.
Cixin Liu's The Wandering Earth short story collection. Loving the weird Chinese sci-fi.
Sad news but inevitable, I guess given that no one watches the show. I love it, research it often, and believe it will become a touchstone in the future. Favorite episodes? Hard to choose, but I love the musical episode.
The Kramer connection to the box cutter is so inspired.
The whole thing reminds me of the genius The Onion issue that came out a few weeks after 9/11. At the time it was so cathartic. This one is my favorite:
http://www.theonion.com/article/american-life-turns-into-bad-jerry-bruckheimer-mov-220
American Life Turns Into Bad Jerry Bruckheimer Movie
I'm very partial to The New York Times recipe:
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015819-chocolate-chip-cookies
It's from this 2008 article about the search for the perfect cookie. I am a huge fan, and so is everyone I make these for.
I am too lazy to use two different flours so I just use regular flour. The real secrets are making the cookies big enough (bigger than golf balls before they bake) and the sea salt on top.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Princess Bride, and Jack Handey's (yes, that Jack Handey) The Stench of Honolulu are all laugh out loud.
I read this and really liked it. The book is dense, but a cracking story that moves fast -- more "Reamde" or "Cryptonomicon" than "Anathem." The first part is very "The Martian" with people using science to improve their situation. The second part is very different -- more like "Anathem" I guess, but for me was a good payoff.
Jonathan Lethem has written some good New York novels, including Motherless Brooklyn, Fortress of Solitude, and Chronic City. Probably more, but I don't love any of those other ones.
I recognize this show is very good, but I have a hard time getting through stories involving terrible people making bad decisions all the time. Even cartoon horses. After a false start, I later came back to it and finished season one, but halfway through the first episode of season two I bailed. Maybe I'll go back to it one of these days.



BOOKSLooking for a good SciFi/Supernatural bookNov 22, 2016 at 7:41 AM



