There is something about how Murakami writes about the most mundane activities of daily life that I love, and then when he goes from the mundane to the surreal, it's just awesome.

I read that this year, too. What a novel. The character that really captured my attention was Smerdyakov

I keep meaning to start reading the Baroque Cycle, but I keep putting it off because of the length.

After I finished reading Gravity's Rainbow a year or two ago, I thought I was ready to attempt Ulysses. I was wrong. I think it is a book that I need to read as part of a reading group.

I've made numerous attempts to read Bleak House but I always find myself giving up a couple hundred pages in. I keep telling myself that I will eventually read the damn thing.

I finally got around to reading The Brothers Karamazov and loved it. It was my first time reading Dostoevsky and I am eager to read more of his work; I plan on reading Demons in 2016.

What if genre fiction is where "serious literature" happens?

I haven't read it, yet. It is up next on my to read list.

My favorite book from 2015 was Mark Z. Danielewski's The Familiar Volume One: One Rainy Day in May.

On the jazz front, The Matthew Shipp Trio put out a great album called The Conduct of Jazz and Kamasi Washington's The Epic lives up to its title.

I just got around to listening to Marilyn Manson's The Pale Emperor this past weekend and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. I had pretty much given up on Marilyn Manson after The Golden Age of the Grotesque.

I haven't purchased or listened to that many records that were released this year; I've mainly been buying older jazz and opera albums and expanding my musical horizons. That said, here are some albums that were released in 2015 that I found myself really enjoying:
1) The Light Princess Original Cast Recording by Tori…

I spent a year living in Milwaukee and saw some outstanding shows. One of my favorite local acts was The Danglers. I discovered them when they opened up for Ike Reilly at a small bar in Riverwest (I can't remember the name of the place). A great show!

Can Sufjan Stevens release an album of songs about serial killers? I want an album with songs like John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

Rhythm Nation era Janet is my favorite Janet.

Sadly, no. Based on her Wikipedia entry, it doesn't look like she's ever been nominated for an Emmy (or a Golden Globe). What's up with that?

I really enjoyed tonight's episode except for the fight sequence among the shipping containers. That sequence looked like it was filmed on someone's iphone and it completely took me out of the show.

It's about ethics in comic book tv/film criticism.

Lois: Drink your milk.
Dewey: It's lumpy.
Lois: Then chew it!

I would love it if that album were given the deluxe reissue treatment. It was pretty remarkable and mature album considering she wrote most of the stuff when she was 15-16 years old.