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The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin. In near-future Portland a man discovers that his dreams can change reality and his psychiatrist takes the opportunity to exploit that. Under the guise of attempting to change things for the better, things actually take drastic turns for the worse. I enjoyed seeing precisely how things went differently than Haber wanted due to lack of specificity and the fact that you can't really control dreams or humanity.

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay. Three girls and a governess mysteriously disappear in 1900s Australia while on a picnic. I thought this was fine, but a classic idk. It was a trip to go back and read the preface that explained what the author considered to have happened. ( spoilers? )

In TV, I finished:

My Happy Marriage (season 2): Enjoyed it.

Etoile: New York and Paris ballets swap dancers/choreographers. Loved the dance sequences and Cheyenne and Tobais and Gabin. Would watch a season 2 but ( spoilers )

Andor (season 2): Okay, what can I say about Andor!! It was good. Maybe the fact that it was good is what's making me have so many nitpicky feelings about some things. The last arc has only been out like 2 days so ( spoilers )

Also I got to go to a theater production of Fiddler on the Roof and it was soo good! Clever and funny and heartbreaking. I knew very little of what it was about going in except that it was considered a great musical and I was holding back tears the whole second act.

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin. Everyone is correct, this is a superbly written classic about queerness and shame. I love a book that tells you the terrible ending at the very start and then flashes back and unspools what led to it. Also this absolutely insane burn from Jacques to David after he ghosts Giovanni and then everyone horrifically collides in the bookshop hit me hard--"One book," he said, finally, "that you can surely spare yourself the trouble of reading is the Marquis de Sade."

In TV, I watched Shrinking (seasons 1 & 2). Obsessed with Harrison Ford in this. I feel like they gave him the character info and then basically told him to be himself. Also I particularly love Gaby. Jessica Williams' line delivery is perfection.

Interrupting my classics era to read two new book releases I've been excited for! Usually I have no idea when new books are being released but I had an eye out for these.

The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison. I read the first two in this series last year and this is the end of the trilogy. Celehar annoys more people by being a good person trying to solve past problems and atrocities! He fits my character type of having tons of people who clearly trust, admire, and adore him and yet having like very poor awareness of this and negative self-esteem. A good read.

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. Haymitch in the 50th Hunger Games. Ouch. You sort of know what's coming because it's a prequel but also leans hard into 'well what do you really know about what happened?' because the Capitol is controlling the narrative.

In television, I finally watched Masters of the Air which is a dramatization of the 100th Bomb Group in WWII. I thought it was fine but it definitely wasn't at the level of Band of Brothers. Something about the tone just didn't work for me.

The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy. What it says on the tin. Bleak, pointed contemplation of death after a life that was perhaps not as well-lived as originally thought. I love the combination of bluntness and reflection in Russian stuff. Need to add some more novels to my TBR list.

Flowers for Algernon by by Daniel Keyes. Heartbreaker of a novel about intellectual disability and personhood.

While reading these pretty heavy books, I was watching ridiculous but enjoyable television:

Cobra Kai (season 6): Another final season! I do think they stuck the landing because the last set of episodes that just got released were very fun although during the earlier parts of the season I was kind of like wow, this should have ended in season 5. It is a dumb show about teenagers and old men having karate wars but I love Johnny Lawrence and some of the comedy is gold. Watch a gateway vid: St. Elmo's Fire by lilly_the_kid.

And, speaking of vids, I got a new vid_bingo card and we'll see if I manage a premiere for vidukon_cardiff. April 6th deadline seems very close to me for any of my current ideas.( bingo card )

Passing by Nella Larsen. I need to stop saying 'this was interesting' about every book I read, but it was interesting! A stark look at the impact of appearance and culture. The main thrust of the ending is purposefully telegraphed through the whole novel (novella?) and yet the way it ends is shocking (to me at least). Would reward re-reading I think. There are definitely sections that hit differently afterward.

This week I finished watching Queer Eye (season 9) and, regrettably, Gladiator II. Strongly recommend that anyone considering watching Gladiator II just, do something else. Save yourself the two and a half hours. Rewatch the original.

First new reads and watches of 2025!

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Continuing my reading of new-to-me classics. This was another really interesting POV one. Traditional African culture running up against British colonialism. I didn't originally realize this was part of a trilogy but maybe I'll read the next two. Also, it's becoming a pattern that every time I read a classic it seems to get a new TV/movie release. Wuthering Heights is being redone, Netflix just released One Hundred Years of Solitude, and Things Fall Apart has an upcoming TV adaptation staring Idris Elba and David Oyelowo.

In television, I watched:

Brilliant Minds (season 1): Zachary Quinto on my TV! I actually loved this show. It feels so much kinder than most medical shows and they really lean into adapting to and living with neurological issues rather than 'we solved your medical mystery and you're cured yay'. NBC, please renew.

Star Trek: Lower Decks (season 5): Final season! I miss them already. Mariner and T'Lyn are my faves <3

Also, I don't usually list all the movies I watch because it would probably be a lot but I have to say I watched Conclave and it was soooo much fun. I love that it's a political drama but also, quite frankly, a comedy from a certain perspective. I was all set to go see this in theaters months ago and then I got absolutely slammed with some kind of respiratory illness and by the time I was better it was out of theaters, boo. Anyway, both this and Brilliant Minds are on Peacock and were worth the $8 to me, although I should go cancel now so I don't forget in February.

Come Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie Mallowan. Travelogue of Agatha Christie's time on an archeological dig in Syria with her second husband. It was interesting to see her writing style in something other than a murder mystery and the kind of everyday travel and life disasters in this were amusing.

TV I've been watching: Great British Bake Off (season 15). The Dragon Prince/Mystery of Aaravos (season 7). Flashpoint (seasons 1 - 3 rewatch). Not much to say about any of these. They're pretty undemanding watches and I'm in end-of-year couch mode.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. One of those classics I had never previously read and I fully see why it is a classic. A+ fantastically fucked up obsessed relationship. A lot of really good intense descriptions. Haunting the narrative! This is one of those love or hate books and I personally love it.

21: The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey by Patrick O'Brian. Three chapters of the latest Aubrey-Maturin book O'Brian was writing when he passed. This was set up to have the typed manuscript on the left pages and the handwritten draft on the right which was interesting but also I couldn't read O'Brian's handwriting for the most part so I could only catch a few bits where things were changed or what happened at the end (duel!) where he hadn't started typing any of it up yet. Will be ending my personal series collection with the final complete book 20.

In TV, I watched Shogun which I hear won many Emmys, good for them. Interesting historical setting, intricate politics, and exploration of cultural differences is a winning combination to me too.

On a roll with this series. Cannot believe I only have 1 book left. But also I've discovered that there are supplementary reference books for the boat terms and geography that I just let fly over my head so maybe I'll have a look at those.

The Commodore by Patrick O'Brian.
The Yellow Admiral by Patrick O'Brian.
The Hundred Days by Patrick O'Brian.

The Nutmeg of Consolation by Patrick O'Brian. Honestly one of the things I love about these books is that really dramatic things happen constantly but they resolve in such almost conflict-less ways. I don't know how else to describe it. Like something that would have huge climactic build up and fall out in other books just doesn't in these, but nothing about them is flat either.

The Truelove by Patrick O'Brian. Alternately, sometimes it feels like almost nothing happens in these books and they're still so engaging. This one was like 200 pages of everyone being jealous over the one woman on the ship before a battle. It's about the characters and historical immersion. I'm already sad that I only have 5 books left before the series ends.

We Are Lady Parts (seasons 1 & 2): In good timing with my subscribing to Peacock for the Olympics, they had recently released season 2 of this series. I enjoyed it a lot and went back and re-watched season 1. The seasons are 6 25-minute episodes so not a huge commitment and very fun.

True Detective (season 1): Oof. This was so brutal I almost had to turn it off. I've definitely gotten more sensitive to horror and violence as I've gotten older. Recently I tried to re-watch some Walking Dead and Criminal Minds and I was like, this is too much. But I did finish this season because parts of it were really fascinating. I love how they did split time periods (1995 vs 2012) and you can literally see all the characters being unreliable narrators of the past when they talk in the current timeline. Rust's dialogue overall is unhinged in interesting and often funny ways. The whole reason I watched this at all was a post I saw of Marty saying 'can you stop saying weird shit' and then Rust immediately saying some more weird shit. Also I must note I never really considered Matthew McConaughey attractive until I saw him as an absolute mess of a character in this but I see it now.

Twin Peaks (seasons 1 & 2): I've heard people talk about this show for years and it was on the library shelf next to True Detective so I thought 'why not'. It was...not what I expected. I mean, yes, it is a crime drama for the first bit but then it is like a supernatural horror soap opera. I wouldn't necessarily say I liked it, although how insane it was made it strangely compelling and I did enjoy the Log Lady and Lucy and Andy and Albert. Lots of recognizable guest stars: Martin Short, David Duchovny, Heather Graham. Hilariously Don Davis is an Air Force officer that is part of covert alien investigation behind the cover story of deep space telemetry so he basically went on to play the same role in Stargate SG-1.