Happy 2015!

Betsy and I spent a week with her family in Ohio and a week with my dad, stepmom, and other family in Texas. Lots of flying and driving, but also lots of good food and good times.

Also lots of time to read. In just the last two weeks, I read:

• Across the Nightingale Floor, a pseudo-Japanese fantasy novel by Lian Hearn. Intrigue, honor, and forbidden romance, not to mention magic ninjitsu. Good stuff.
• Adventure Time: The Art of Ooo, by Chris McDonnell, which has lots of juicy behind-the-scenes goodness. The art’s cool too.
• The Rift by Gene Yang, the third graphic novel in the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe. Like the first two, this one is decent, but nothing special. I can’t pass up anything Avatar, though.
• The Professor and the Madman, a nonfiction book about the making of the Oxford English Dictionary, by Simon Winchester. This book is AMAZING. I was up till one in the morning reading it.
• The Man in the High Castle, an alternate timeline novel by Philip K. Dick. A cryptic and beautiful little story. I can’t say I understood it all, but what I did get, I liked.
• The Tao of Travel, a nonfiction book about traveling and famous travelers, by Paul Theroux. Very interesting. The kind of book that makes you want to read fifty other books on the same subject.

Besides which, Betsy and I finished watching The Legend of Korra (good, but not great) and Angel (great – not quite as great as Buffy, but a vastly superior finale).

More thoughts on all these stories are likely to percolate into the blog all this week, so brace yourselves.