I think this is Fellowes' intention, but despite that Lord Grantham manages to screw up all the time. Sometimes with awful consequences — the doctor he hired for Sybil's labor, of course, but he's also almost lost the estate due to bad investments, and wasn't one of the reason's Edith's fiance left her at the altar…

The Doomsday Book is my favorite of Connie Willis's time travel series, but you should also try Blackout/All Clear. It's basically one book in two parts, and it's a bit too long, but still amazing.

I'm reading In the Kingdom of Ice right now, and enjoying it.

I loved Cloud Atlas, but every Mitchell book since has been disappointing.

I am so excited about the new Ishiguro.

I adored Blackout and All Clear, but I do think they could have been edited down into a single book. But I really loved the ending.

I will never go on Survivor, so I haven't thought about who I would choose as my loved one that much. But I have made all my kids promise me that if they ever somehow end up on the show, they will let me be their loved one.

It is so interesting that you say that about Kristen Stewart, because I just read a review of this movie in The New Republic that basically said Stewart was the best thing in the movie. (The reviewer was unwowed by Moore's performance.)

Yeah, if Alicia can't forgive Kalinda for lying about sleeping with Peter (which I get — I couldn't forgive Kalinda either) then she shouldn't forgive Finn for his actions in this episode. Even if he felt like he had to ask for the high bail or have Alicia removed from the case, he didn't have to blindside her both…

Eh, if you see people out of their usual context sometimes you don't recognize them right away, especially if you're distracted. (I once saw my boss's boss at a Mother's Day brunch and it took both us a few minutes to realize who the other was.)

If they have a plan for how to end it I would just as soon see it go out on a high note than sputter along for a few extra seasons (HIMYM, I'm looking at you).

I had high hopes for Madam Secretary, but honestly I thought Tea Leoni was just terrible.

God, I hope not. After this summer, the last thing I want is a storyline about the IDF.

It seems like they have him on tape saying something. I'm really curious about what it is. I've always thought of Cary as more of a Boy Scout than the rest of the lawyers, so I can't imagine him actually giving them advice on how to evade the law.

I think that whatever Cary said happened after "Parallel Construction, Bitches" — I saw that this weekend, too, and I don't really remember Cary and Bishop even being together. And that episode revolved around fake heroin, anyway.

I'm looking forward to it because it seems like such a good fit with The Good Wife. And pilots are always a little bit bumpy; I'm hoping if the show gets a season or two it will add some depth.

That's going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Or possibly, the rest of my life.

Yes, the way I remember the book, people are constantly coming up Piper to tell her how shocked they are that someone like her is in prison.

Has anyone else read Alan Bennett's The Uncommon Reader? It is a novel about the Queen of England, and the conceit is that in her old age she suddenly becomes obsessed with reading. But this is a quote from the book:

It's just been a really sad year for celebrity deaths.