December, 2014
December 6th, 2014, 1:21 p.m. - "As a lawyer, it's my duty to tell you to shhh"
Brooklyn Nine-Nine – "The Road Trip": I just started watching, and I'm hooked. My favorite moment this week was definitely Diaz high on cold medicine. It's weird to see her in a good mood. Rating: 4 creepy dolls
Supernatural – "Hibbing 911": I was looking forward to this episode since the second I heard about it. They put my favorite recurring character with an awesome one-off who I now want to see more of. With all the women who have turned up this season, I think the writers have finally started listening to the fans' complaints about how there are never enough women on the show. More episodes like this, please! Rating: 4 stolen belts
Modern Family – "Strangers in the Night": Some good moments, but also some dull ones. I like Kristen Johnston, and she was good here, but I wasn't that interested. I do like that the show is recognizing that Alex, who usually has bad luck with guys, is more popular than people think. Rating: 3 roses
The Amazing Race – "Smells Like Dirty Tube Socks": Race karma was soooooo close to getting Robbie and Brooke. Better luck next time, race karma. Also, better luck next time, people who thought the oxen might be as disgruntled as Collin's all those years ago. We were hoping they would be, too. Rating: 4 sharp fish
America's Next Top Model – "Finale": Boooooo. Will should have won. Rating: 3 truly bizarre makeup commercials
December 7th, 2014, 4:28 p.m. - I like that Amazon lists this as "cooking humor"
39. Food: A Love Story (Jim Gaffigan)
Up next: Everything I Never Told You (Celeste Ng)
December 13th, 2014, 2:46 p.m. - "So I can't pull off mid-thigh shorts?" "You can. Just pull them off and give them to someone 20 years younger"
Brooklyn Nine-Nine – "The Pontiac Bandit Returns": I love Craig Robinson. I was excited to see him in the first Pontiac Bandit episode, which I just watched recently, and excited to see that he'd be in another episode. He's definitely a welcome guest star. Rating: 4 lobsters
Homeland – "13 Hours in Islamabad": RIP, Fara. That sucked. Why bother making her a regular this season if she wasn't going to survive it? Speaking of surviving the season, if Dennis does, I'll throw something. Rating: 4 lists of names
Supernatural – "The Things We Left Behind": This might have worked better for me if we'd heard more about Claire this season. We also needed more buildup to the Mark of Cain and how it affects Dean. For a much-hyped "winter finale," this episode fell a little flat. I would have rather seen more of Crowley and Rowena. Rating: 3 ties
Modern Family – "Haley's 21st Birthday": Haley not wanting a tattoo? That seems strange. By the way, if I ever have kids, I'm tempted to tell them babies are made the way Lily thinks they are. Rating: 4 hot dogs
The Big Bang Theory – "The Clean Room Infiltration": Hey, show, you did this bird plot before. It was better then. Rating: 3 balls of wool
The Amazing Race – "Hooping It Up": With a continuing leg and no elimination, this episode basically didn't matter, but it was still good. And I'm so glad there was no elimination because it means I get to keep watching Maya be awesome. She's now on my list of top five favorite racers. Rating: 4 manila envelopes in Manila (and only Amy caught that)
December 20th, 2014, 1:54 p.m. - Yay, scientists!
Brooklyn Nine-Nine – "Stakeout": Even a so-so episode of this show is better than most of what's on TV. I would like to read Terry's book, by the way. Rating: 3 items on the no-no list
Homeland – "Krieg Nicht Lieb": So Quinn was going to set off a bomb with a bunch of civilians around? Really? I don't think so. Also...maybe they should have had Dar Adal in more episodes this season, because his return seems pretty random. And, oh yeah, I don't care about him. Rating: 4 incriminating puddles of water
The Amazing Race – "All or Nothing": This is exactly what I wanted to happen! The wrestlers went out early, the final three teams all deserved to win, and the scientists pulled it off. I definitely didn't expect that, but I'm really happy about it. Too bad next season looks like a disaster. Rating: 5 storage containers
December 21st, 2014, 3:25 p.m. - Well, now I'm sad. Merry Christmas, I guess
40. Everything I Never Told You (Celeste Ng)
Up next: The Empathy Exams (Leslie Jamison)
December 27th, 2014, 2:07 p.m. - "We have to see events for what they are"
Homeland – "Long Time Coming": Um...did I miss the part where something happened? How disappointing after such an excellent season. Rating: 3 lasagnas
December 30th, 2014, 10:47 p.m. - Ending the year on a high note
41. The Empathy Exams (Leslie Jamison)
Up next: Wolf in White Van (John Darnielle)
December 31st, 2014, 12:51 p.m. - Annual year-end book roundup, geographic edition
In addition to listing what I learned from each book this year, I decided to list where they take place, because I'm trying to be more diverse in my book choices. Generally, I'm trying to take more risks. We'll see if that carries over into 2015.
The best: Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being, Max Barry's Lexicon, Karen Joy Fowler's We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Tom Rachman's The Rise and Fall of Great Powers
The worst: Kelly Parsons' Doing Harm, Claire Kendal's The Book of You
Book that Entertainment Weekly named one of the ten best that I disagreed with the most: Walter Kirn's Blood Will Out
Favorite characters: Nao Yasutani (A Tale for the Time Being), Emily Ruff (Lexicon), Wil Parke (Lexicon), Jerome Robinson (Mr. Mercedes), Humphrey Ostropoler (The Rise and Fall of Great Powers), Jamie Morton (Revival)
Least favorite character: Steve Mitchell (Doing Harm)
Book that most lived up to its hype: Karen Joy Fowler's We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Book that least lived up to its hype: Stephen King's Doctor Sleep
Book I was looking forward to that didn't disappoint: Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes
Book I was looking forward to that really disappointed: Tana French's The Secret Place
Good book, good title: Karen Joy Fowler's We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Good book, bad title: Meg Gardiner's Phantom Instinct
Bad book, good title: N/A
Bad book, bad title: N/A (I didn't read any truly horrible books this year, thank God)
Books I'm most looking forward to in 2015: Joe Hill's The Fireman
1. In Japan, World War II is sometimes referred to as the Greater East Asian War. (A Tale for the Time Being, Ruth Ozeki) – Japan, British Columbia
Jim Gaffigan always makes me giggle. Please always make me giggle, Jim Gaffigan.
Well-written, but not as good as I expected from all the hype. Still, I can see why it's on so many best-of-2014 lists.
Here's another that earned its spot on a bunch of best-of-2014 lists. I love Jamison's writing style, though her overuse of punctuation got annoying. She's a great observer of other humans.
And now, what I read, what I learned, and where it came from:
2. The Tale of Genji, written in the 11th century, is considered the world's first novel. (The Thieves of Manhattan, Adam Langer) – New York
3. It's bad luck to use your oven on a Sunday. (The Girl Factory, Karen Dietrich) – Pennsylvania
4. The gunfight at the O.K. Corral didn't actually take place at the O.K. Corral. (Son of a Gun, Justin St. Germain) – Arizona
5. Alcoholics Anonymous has a magazine called The AA Grapevine. (Doctor Sleep, Stephen King) – New Hampshire
6. One of the founders of satellite radio is a transgender woman. (Lost at Sea, Jon Ronson) – England, U.S., Switzerland, France, Sweden, international waters
7. The first edition of the DSM was 65 pages. (The Psychopath Test, Jon Ronson) – England, U.S.
8. At some Christian schools, girls have to have their dresses for formal occasions checked and approved for modesty. (Rapture Practice, Aaron Hartzler) – Missouri, Brazil
9. Complete transparency on the Internet would lead to the destruction of the world. Somehow. (The Circle, Dave Eggers) – California
10. "Clark Rockefeller" once used David Berkowitz's social security number. (The Man in the Rockefeller Suit, Mark Seal) – Germany, U.S.
11. Morning glory seeds are poisonous. (The Weight of Blood, Laura McHugh) – Missouri
12. There are people out there who can memorize the order of a deck of cards in under 30 seconds. (Moonwalking with Einstein, Joshua Foer) – U.S., England
13. Don't ever get admitted to a hospital. Ever. (Doing Harm, Kelly Parsons) – Massachusetts
14. Basically, everyone involved in the West Memphis Three case was incompetent and/or corrupt. (Devil's Knot, Mara Leveritt) – Arkansas
15. In England, there's such a thing as "death by misadventure." (The Book of You, Claire Kendal) – England
16. Many Soviets immigrating to the U.S. stopped in Vienna and Rome first. (Little Failure, Gary Shteyngart) – Russia, Vienna, Rome, U.S.
17. Disney World covers 107 acres. (Will Not Attend, Adam Resnick) – Pennsylvania, New York, Florida
18. People who speak more than one language tend not to mix up words in different languages. (Lexicon, Max Barry) – Australia, D.C., San Francisco
19. Thieves can capture the electronic signal from your keyless-entry device and break into your car without a key. (Mr. Mercedes, Stephen King) – somewhere in the Midwest
20. Combat soldiers carry first-aid items like tourniquets with them in the field, so they can become first responders before a medic can arrive. (Run, Don't Walk, Adele Levine) – Maryland, D.C.
21. Mustard gas was once used to try to treat tumors. (All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr) – France, Germany
22. Fregoli delusion causes the sufferer to believe that different people are really the same person in disguise. (Phantom Instinct, Meg Gardiner) – California
23. Everyone was awful in the '70s. (Cop Town, Karin Slaughter) – Georgia
24. Cleopatra may have used some weird stuff as birth control. (The Fever, Megan Abbott) – somewhere in the Midwest
25. In Nigeria, you can watch the E! network, but you can't buy broccoli. (Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) – Nigeria, U.S., England
26. In 1508, some French rats were served with a court order after destroying a barley crop. They did not appear, but their attorney did. (We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler) – Indiana, California
27. Graham Yost, who wrote a bunch of episodes of Hey Dude, also wrote Speed. (Slimed!, Mathew Klickstein) – U.S., Canada
28. Francis Bacon died from an illness he developed while experimenting with refrigerating chicken in a snow drift. (The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, Tom Rachman) – Wales, U.S., Thailand, Italy, Ireland
29. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are projected to cost around $3 trillion. (Soldier Girls, Helen Thorpe) – U.S., Afghanistan, Iraq
30. "Jacks" is slang for bathroom. (The Secret Place, Tana French) – Ireland
31. The name of Rottnest Island comes from the Dutch word for "rat nest," because the captain who named it thought it was full of giant rats. Those rats were actually quokkas. (The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell) – England, Switzerland, Iraq, Wales, Colombia, Australia, China, Iceland, U.S., Canada, Ireland
32. The stress of poverty is so taxing on the brain that poor people score lower on I.Q. tests than rich people do. (Hand to Mouth, Linda Tirado) – U.S.
33. The first birth control clinic opened in the early 1900s. (Bad Feminist, Roxane Gay) – U.S.
34. Detroit holds an annual parade for an urban-legend creature called Nain Rouge. (Broken Monsters, Lauren Beukes) – Michigan
35. Gasoline goes stale. (Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel) – U.S., Canada, England, Malaysia
36. Amy Poehler and Rachel Dratch grew up in neighboring towns and worked in the same ice cream shop at different times. (Yes Please, Amy Poehler) – U.S., Haiti
37. Parenting by a group, as opposed to just the parents, is called allomothering. (Leaving Time, Jodi Picoult) – U.S., Kenya, Botswana, South Africa
38. A movie character who has a small role but serves as a "change agent" is known as the fifth business. (Revival, Stephen King) – Maine, Oklahoma, Colorado, Hawaii
39. Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland sells a donut called the Captain My Captain, which is topped with Cap'n Crunch. (Food: A Love Story, Jim Gaffigan) – U.S.
40. When the astronauts on Gemini 9 did a spacewalk, U.S. TV stations aired simulations featuring people on wires. (Everything I Never Told You, Celeste Ng) – Ohio, Massachusetts
41. Every spring, people compete in the Barkley Marathons, a 100-mile run in Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee. (The Empathy Exams, Leslie Jamison) – U.S., Nicaragua, Mexico, Bolivia