Liza's "Mein Herr" outfit is my all-time aspirational Halloween costume. Now, let me just lose 15 pounds.

Gotta love Christmas songs that explicitly refer to "Satan's power." Unless you're singing the new, wussified version, which you should never do.

Curious: what adaptation choices have you disliked? I wasn't crazy about the Frank-beating-people-up interlude, but I understand why it was included. And I really like what they've done with Black Jack Randall.

I think its absence from year-end lists is absolutely attributable to it only telling half a story. The second half of this book and all of the second book are very strong. Maybe I'm overrating the show in my mind because I'm so excited about what's to come.

I forgot I even watched The Musketeers until I read this. Perfect summer show.

I only read six new books this year. Of these, most were disappointing series finales (staring very pointedly at The Book of Life). Of the rest, Boy, Snow, Bird was my favorite.

I thought there was a slight possibility Outlander might sneak into the high-20s or low-30s, but alas. I've been into the book series for 10+ years now, and it's so lovely that people are taking it seriously on a wider level. I'm only tentatively in on Jamie (which is probably appropriate for this point in the story),…

The last book in Follett's century series is terrible. Enjoy Fall of Giants and walk away. Unless you really have a desire to read 200 pages of people saying, 'we are all going to die in our sleep because nukes.' Follett, we know no nukes were launched at America or Russia during the Cuban missile crisis. Not a lot of…

Wow. That "Death of a Soldier" certainly is stark (and bleak). The last lines remind me of the end of W.H. Auden's "Musee des Beaux Arts" (how the ship that witnessed Icarus' fall "had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.")
I so, so agree about circling back to Stevens. I found many of his poems utterly…

Someone really needs to explain Marilynn Robinson to me. I've been reading Gilead at a pace that can only be described as glacial. She's clearly an excellent stylist, but I feel like I'm reading Sunday-school lessons, and I don't like it. I guess I like plots more than I thought.
To that end, I just picked up The…

The only emperor is the emperor of ice cream!
What's your favorite Wallace Stevens poem? I probably read "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" once a week.

Anna K is easier going in the beginning, but I'd keep leaning right into War and Peace. Brothers K will probably exacerbate any feelings of seasonal depression you might have. That said, I did read it over Christmas break in college.

A Devi-centered story would be incredible. Elodin, too. On the other hand, is there a way I can anti-buy a Denna-centered story?

Others have mentioned better Dickens adaptations, but I'll give some love to Our Mutual Friend. The romantic heroes both act downright villainously at times, and Bella is far more interesting than your standard Dickens heroine, though she softens far too much for my liking. The Boffins are delightful.
I've never seen a…

While this version is a close second, all adaptations of a Christmas Carol must take a backseat to the Muppets. After all, the Muppet Christmas Carol is the only version that has Sam Eagle extolling the virtues of British education: "It is the American way….erm…ahem…It is the British way!"

You must stop everything and watch Bleak House immediately. The supporting characters (I mean, Mr. Guppy alone) put the supporting characters of Little Dorrit to shame. And I say this as someone who adores Little Dorrit.

I went to an OSU/PSU game in Happy Valley the year of the scandal, and it was creepy as hell. They had removed the Paterno statue from the stadium grounds, but the fans had made the site a Paterno memorial. Like the kind you see on the side of a highway where someone died in a car crash. Flowers and signs that said…

Jane Campion, for one.

Wishbone. Man, French jailors are inept. It's like, not only did you fail to notice that they replaced Charles Darnay with Sidney Carton, you didn't even realize that Sidney Carton is a goddamned dog.

I don't mind being called Annie from time to time, but I'm still filled with white hot rage against Anne of Green Gables for claiming that Annes are better than Anns. Explain to me how the addition of an "e" increases your scope for the imagination?