Preview to Reading for the Hugo Awards (novels)

This year, my older son has decided that he'd like to be a Hugo voter, so we bought him a Supporting Membership as one of his presents. I showed him where we keep the stack of novels to read, and have started texting him with links to cool short stories.

These are the Hugo eligible novels that I've read thus far:
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty
The Stone Sky by N K Jemisin
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee
Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn

Novella length:
The Dispatcher by John Scalzi (edited to add: not eligible, because audiobook was 2016)
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
And Then There Were (N-One) by Sarah Pinsker

I've developed a bad habit of dipping into books and then losing track of them, and hence not finishing them. Included on that list are

New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson
An Excess Male by Maggie Shen King
City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett
River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey
Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

Then there's the books I've purchased but haven't read yet...

Artemis by Andy Weir

The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

Provenance by Ann Leckie

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

The Last Good Man by Linda Nagata

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi

The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente

I really need to buckle down and start reading! 

Favorite Movies from 2017

Hidden Figures: started 2017 off right, by watching this with a few friends. I absolutely adored it and nominated it for a Hugo.

Logan: really good, really sad, loved the character of Laura.

Wonder Woman: loved the first 2/3 of this. Last 1/3 devolved into a more typical action movie, but was still good.

The Big Sick: absolutely wonderful, heart-breaking movie about inter-racial love and traumatic illness

The Last Jedi: I have mixed feelings about Admiral Holdo and the entire subplot of Canto Bight, but Carrie Fisher rocks, Kelly Marie Tran rocks, Oscar Isaac (amusingly) has chemistry with everyone he meets, and the porgs are adorable.

Deadpool (late to the party, I know): finally watched this and loved it, as expected.

Murder on the Orient Express: nothing very new in this new version of the classic, but the acting is great and the cinematography is gorgeous.

Blade Runner 2049: I never quite bought the hype about the first one, with its many different versions, so I went into this with realistic expectations. Sadly for me, I spotted one of the the major plot twists far too early. But I did like most of the plot and the scenery was gorgeous and yes, I'd totally watch it again.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets: I really like Cara Delevigne and she made the movie sparkle in her (unfairly limited) role as Laureline. The sets were gorgeous and the first major scene of the agents in action was truly mind-blowing. After that, the movie devolved into "meh" territory, including the insta-romance and the half-baked conspiracy plot. But I'd still watch it again...

Coco: look, I'll be honest... despite loving the music, I'm that one person who made major issues with this movie. Of course, seeing a Mexican family centered in a major motion picture is a huge step forward for Disney. But I kept thinking about how the kid was pretty clearly being physically abused, and how terrified he was of his older relatives, and how his wishes were completely ignored by them. It's not a pretty picture, when viewed through that lens. Also, the religious view of the movie is that you can't ever get away from your family, even in death... which means that if your family include your abuser(s), you can never get away from them. Grim stuff in what's supposed to be an uplifting children's movie. But I'll watch it again just for the music.

Welcome to 2018

How did I do with last year's resolutions? Well, the whole "more people less screens" resolution worked out so well that I've watched ZERO new TV shows this year, and barely kept up with my old ones. In fact, I felt like I was looking for excuses to drop shows.

Hawaii 5-O loses both its Asian leads? GONE.

Code Black cans Raza Jaffrey after the first season? BYE-BYE

Losing interest in NCIS? (but really, the interest had been fading ever since Cote de Pablo left the show in 2013) SO OVER IT.

I didn't particularly get healthier, but I don't think I got less healthy.

I read 211 books, tried 66 new recipes, and watched 26 movies.

This year's possible resolutions are to get savvier with technology, find a way to get more exercise, and make better use of my physical cookbooks. (I tend to work straight from cooking blogs.) Plus, of course, the usual trio of reading, movies, new recipes.

What I read this fall

I received a Kindle Unlimited subscription for my birthday, which shifted my reading list A LOT - more, shorter, trashier is probably the nicest way to summarize the change. The following are the best things I read in the past three months:

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Silent Voices by Ann Cleeves

Penhale Wood by Julia Thomas

Wilde in Love by Eloisa James

The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavalarro

And Then There Were (N-One) by Sarah Pinsker

Galaxy's Edge: Legionnaire by Nick Cole and Jason Anspach


It should be noted that only the last book in the list came to me from Kindle Unlimited...

The best things I cooked earlier this year

A few more great recipes, from earlier this year...

Ja Jang Myeon from My Korean Kitchen: just like my favorite restaurant version

Scallion and Coconut Rice with Pork from Food52: this is fairly dull the day you make it, but as leftovers it's just amazing

Irish Soda Bread Muffins from Well Plated: very easy, and the version with dried cranberries is something special

White Chicken Potpie from NYT: not easy, but so delicious! You can make the filling ahead of time, to speed things up at dinner time.

Thai Green Curry from Rasa Malaysia: easy and tasty. I usually add some extra vegetables.

Shiksa Blintzes from Tori Avey: delicious! remember to drain the ricotta really well before making these.

Custardy Apple Squares by Dorie Greenspan via Serious Eats: so yummy, but a little messy to serve

The best things I cooked recently

I set a more manageable goal of 52 new recipes year, and hit that number around Thanksgiving. Quite a lot of them were really good - maybe I'm getting better at reading recipes and picking out the ones my family will enjoy? Here are some of the best:

Apple Cranberry Tart (with almond paste) from Viking River Cruises: sweet, almond-y, delicious... I would use a better choice of apple than MacIntosh, but otherwise wouldn't change a thing.

Cranberry Brie Bites (on crescent roll dough) from Delish.com: these were a bit fiddly to assemble, and they made a huge mess of my mini-muffin tin... BUT they were amazingly tasty, and even the picky eaters in the family really liked them.

Bourbon Snickerdoodle Blondies from Broma Bakery: these were disappointingly dull on the first day, but got better with age.

Sourdough No Knead Dutch Oven Bread (with yogurt) from Tidy Mom: this is like cheater's sourdough bread and everyone loves it. I did a variation with 1 cup whole wheat flour replacing 1 cup white flour, and molasses replacing the honey, and it's our new family standard.

Easy One Bowl Oatmeal Cookies from Serious Eats: follow the directions exactly, and you'll get perfect oatmeal cookies.

Chocolate Chunk Orange Scones from Cookies and Cups: very good scones; made them without the glaze because they're already quite sweet.

Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Onions from Smitten Kitchen: very good, even though I cheated and used Trader Joe's crispy onions instead of making my own

Teddie's Apple Cake from Food52: easy and delicious. My students loved it.

Pumpkin Bread from Smitten Kitchen: so, so good and much in demand since I first made it this fall.

Momofuku's Soy Sauce Eggs from Food52: use low-sodium soy sauce or they turn out WICKED salty... but still delicious. These are great to keep in the fridge as a high-protein snack.

Hobo Bibimbap from Food and Wine: not quick to make, but most of it can be prepped ahead of time. This was a HUGE hit at my cousin's birthday party, and even the picky eaters in the family enjoy it.

Shrimp Cocktail from Serious Eats: a lot of work, but absolutely worth it

Apple Weekend Cake by Dorie Greenspan (via David Lebovitz): easy and delicious.

Apple Ricotta Cake (AKA Lousia's Cake) from Food52: slightly sticky, but otherwise excellent. This is a great way to use up leftover ricotta...

I also made two great recipes that don't have online links: Copycat Panera Turkey Chili from a website that seems to have gone defunct... fortunately I wrote it down while making it, so I still have the original. It was delicious and made enough food to be lunch all week. Also the Raspberry Rhubarb Muffins from Flour by Joanne Chang. I found many of her other recipes to be frustratingly imprecise, but this worked perfectly except for making 20 muffins instead of jus 12.

What I Read this Summer

I read a lot, like 75 books or so, depending on whether you count "summer" as being the period between the end of school and the start of school, or June 21 - September 21. The best ones I read were

Miss Buncle’s Book by D E Stephenson

Knit One, Girl Two by Shira Glassman

The Moth Catcher by Ann Cleeves

The Stone Sky by N K Jemisin

The Course of Honor by Avoliot

Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn

The Vintner’s Luck by Elizabeth Knox

The Ruin of a Rake by Cat Sebastian

A Queen from the North by Erin McRae and Racheline Maltese

Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee

Edited to add: somehow, this didn't post back when I wrote it in September, and I've been busy enough that I didn't notice. So here it is, almost 3 months late...