Banana Bread.

Can't-mess-up banana bread. We use butter instead of shortening, and olive oil instead of butter. Works great no matter which one I use.

This recipe evolved from one I got from my Grandma...

I used to grate carrots into this bread, when Thor was little and was very finicky about his food. I have added Quaker oats to the recipe, and wheat germ, and I don't even measure the banana any more, just use 2 of them. It takes a while to bake this one, because it's a dense bread. 

I never have buttermilk, and never remember to buy it, so I just add a tiny bit of vinegar to 2% milk. It works for me.

Banana Bread.

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 tbsp buttermilk

1 tsp lemon juice

1 cup bananas (or a couple of them. I never measure the bananas)

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 Quaker oats

1/4 cup wheat germ, or not. up to you.

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup chopped nuts. again, up to you. my kids are not fans of this idea, so I don't.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan, or muffin tin. Mix butter, sugar, eggs, buttermilk, lemon juice and bananas (pastry cutter works great for this).Add dry ingredients and mix well. Add nuts. Or not. Bake for 45 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Muffins will take a lot less time, the loaf pan will take at least 45 minutes. 

Curry Glazed Chicken. Yum.

Another favorite recipe that I have been tweaking lately. It started out with 3 pounds of chicken and a stick of butter in a roasting pan, which, gross. That is way way too much fat for me. And it used orange marmalade, but again, hard to find an version with no preservatives, and it's way cheaper and easier to use tangerines. I also went from using large pieces of chicken - breast, thigh, drumstick, etc -- to using small pieces of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and thighs.

As almost always, I am not precise in cooking this. I usually double it, because this is one of those recipes that tastes even better the next day.

I use a couple of chicken breasts, or 5 or 6 chicken breast tenderloins, all boneless skinless. I have no idea how much chicken thigh I use, because I buy those six packs of fresh boneless skinless chicken thighs from Costco. So I use one pack. Half a pound, maybe? Quick hint, if you buy those six packs of chicken thighs or chicken breasts from Costco, don't just throw them any which way in the freezer. Lay them flat until they freeze. Last time we bought the chicken thighs, one of us (cough cough Mark cough) dropped them in the freezer and they froze in unfortunate and hard to separate shapes...

Tangerines -- I peel and separate the sections, then dice them up. Before I put them in the pan, I "juice" them by flattening them with the side of the knife against the cutting board.

It's not hot curry, just flavorful curry.

Curry Chicken

6 - 8 ounces bacon (uncured, no nitrates or nitrites or anything, if you want to really cook like me, otherwise            just regular old bacon works. But thick sliced is better, although not crucial.)
a big white onion
3 tbsp flour
3 tbsp curry powder
2 cups chicken broth
3 little tangerines, or a couple oranges, peeled, cut up into bits
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp lemon juice

chicken -- cut up into bite sized pieces. Or use 3 pounds of chicken pieces

Saute the chicken pieces in a little oil, so that they start to brown.I use a pan that can go in the oven, but you can use a frying pan for this part, and transfer everything to an oven safe pan.

Cut the bacon into 1" chunks and fry it til it starts to crisp up a little bit. Chop up the onion and cook it with the bacon until it gets tender. Blend in the flour and curry powder, and stir in chicken broth. Cook over medium heat until it thickens, stirring constantly. Add the diced tangerines, the ketchup, and the lemon juice.

Preheat to 400. Dump the sauce over the chicken, stir it around a little, make sure it's all coated, and bake it for 45 minutes or until the top gets brown. It should get pretty brown, because that's when it starts to taste really really good.

Serve over rice. We like to cook down half a head of cabbage in a little olive oil (maybe a tablespoon or less), til it gets soft and some of it browns, and add that to the rice and curry.

This one I have made at least half a dozen times recently, because damn. It is that good.

Next up, banana bread. Again, super easy and super delicious.

Cinnamon Bread. So super simple.

Make the dough I posted yesterday. Knead the dough, but instead of splitting it into two loaves, just drop it into the mixing bowl for the first rise.

I actually just rubbed some butter around the inside of the bowl before putting the dough back in it to rise -- there was some dough residue, but I just buttered it and it worked fine.

After it has doubled, dump it out onto a floured surface and pull it out into a rectangle. Mine was about the size of a 9x13 pan. Don't worry about it being even, and if you tear a hole in it, just smash it back together. It can be lumpy and uneven. Add pats of butter, maybe an inch and a half, two inches apart, across the whole thing. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over it. Or be like me and coat the thing with cinnamon. I love cinnamon. And some sugar. This one is up to you...I have no idea how much sugar I added. But remember there is only one tablespoon of sugar in the bread dough, so the dough itself is not sweet. Maybe a quarter cup of sugar for the whole loaf? I guess that would be a starting place, and the next time I make it I will measure.

For this one you need loaf pans. I have a 12 inch loaf pan I got from my aunt, which works super great, but otherwise I would use two regular loaf pans.

Roll the dough up. Line the pan with parchment paper or butter it real good. Cut the roll in two if using two loaf pans, or if you have a great loaf pan like mine, just drop it in there. Let rise for half an hour in a warm place, and bake at 435 for 10 minutes, then at 375 for another 25 - 30. Dump onto a rack to cool.

Again I used part whole wheat flour and part unbleached white flour.

Last night I made french toast for supper. I used the fritter recipe from my 1950's Better Crocker cookbook for the batter, and it was pretty good, although as usual, the very center of my french toast was not quite fully cooked. So figuring out how to make better french toast is on my list for this year. Any hints?

The fritter recipe...2 eggs, 1 cup milk, a bunch of cinnamon, a dash of salt, and 1/4 cup flour. Beat together, coat the slice of bread, and fry in a bit of olive oil. But maybe my bread was sliced too thickly, because the middle didn't quite cook thoroughly, like I said.

Since there are so few commercial breads that I can eat -- all the regular brands have preservatives, and almost all the organic ones use sulfate. I am allergic to sulfates, natural or not, so making my own bread is so much easier and cheaper than trying to find bread I can eat.

Which is also why about every six months I make a batch of doughnut holes. I use the recipe that my Betta (my paternal grandma) and Aunt used, because there is no commercial pastry, no grocery store or bakery pastry, that doesn't have preservatives and dough conditioners and other bad things.

Tomorrow...Curried chicken. So easy. So good.

Amazing bread. Or at least really decent bread. Now with a small amount of knead.

There are various recipes out there for no knead bread. I have tried several, and like them, although I think not kneading bread dough affects the texture. So I have modified one of them, so that it's still super simple, but adds 3 or  minutes of kneading at the most.

Also. Cinnamon bread. Awesome and you can do it.

First the recipe. This one uses 2 1.5 quart pyrex bowls or the equivalent to bake the bread.

Easy Bread

2 tsp salt
4 cups or 1 pound 2 ounces flour.
2 cups lukewarm water
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp yeast, or 1 packet

Preheat oven for one minute. Turn it on, then turn it off a minute later. Just warm enough to help the bread rise. Prep your bowls -- coat the inside of each 1.5 quart pyrex bowl with butter. Be generous, because it tastes good, and the bread will fall out of the bowl.

Mix salt, flour, sugar, and yeast. Add the water. Stir it together, dump it out onto a floured counter or board, and knead it until it's smooth. Or a couple minutes. Don't add a lot of flour, but use enough flour to keep it from sticking to every surface.

Divide the dough in 2, plop in the prepped bowls, and put it in the warm oven with a damp dishcloth over the top. Let it rise til about doubled, or at least an hour, preferably an one and a half to two hours (or if you forget like me, three or four hours).

Punch the dough down - just pick it up and handle it a little to make it deflate somewhat. Drop them back in the bowl, add a dab of butter on top, and let rise for half an hour
(it should be at the top of the 1.5 quart bowl). Preheat oven to 425.  Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and bake for another 25 minutes. Tip out onto cooling rack and try to wait 10 minutes to cut into it.

Now the notes.

I use about 6-8 ounces whole wheat flour and the rest unbleached or bread flour. Apparently you are not supposed to have the salt mix directly with the yeast. I dunno, but I try not to dump the yeast right on the salt.  Lukewarm water is easy. Make it body temperature...if you stick your fingertip into it and can't feel the water (try it before you scoff), it's the right temp. I use regular sugar or sugar in the raw, doesn't matter.

Kitchen scales are your friends. I love mine, it's bright red and I got it at Costco for 20 bucks, I think. It's so much easier to put the mixing bowl on the scale, zero it out, and dump the flour into the bowl. So easy. And way less messy. (Also really helps me track my eating, which I am tracking with my FitBit. Amazing how few Kettle Potato Chips are in a serving. Good thing Mark is the one who likes those, not me.)

This recipe makes two cantaloupe-sized loaves of bread, and according to a recipe calorie calculator, if divided into 10 servings, it's 165 calories per serving.

And, when hot out of the oven, a smear of butter and a sprinkling of Sugar in the Raw on a slice of this bread makes a great dessert...The Sugar in the Raw has bigger grains than regular granulated sugar, so it's crunchy.

PS. My own personal PSA: Don't use margarine. Don't use highly processed foods at all. The amount of butter in this recipe is tiny. It amounts to a tablespoon for both loaves, if you butter the bowl and put about a teaspoon on top of the loaf before baking.

Tomorrow...super easy cinnamon bread. Same basic recipe, with some simple tweaks!

I used Tess's old wagon to make a planter. The rooster is from a flea market. I had totally different plans for these plants, but I love them in the wagon.

Now I just have to figure out how to winter the perennials.

Command Central Before and During!!!

 oof. before. v bad. That stupid closet just collected everything and anything and it was a mess. All the papers and mail and stuff ended up on my desktop and on top of that cabinet. I took the bifold doors off the closet because they were just ALWAYS in the way. and I hate them generally. Mark and I found grey curtains at Ikea that look great!

also...for some incomprehensible reason they put two can lights in the ceiling for a six foot square room. I painted two coats of white primer on the walls before the blue, and that area was blindingly bright. I have replacement lights from Home Depot, a spot for the closet and a hanging lamp for above the desk.

 after emptying everything into the dining room. bleh. you can see in this photo that the builder absolutely loves loves loves recessed lights. there are an even dozen in the living room, kitchen and dining room. I find the ones in the living room especially incomprehensible, because I am used to there not being ceiling lights in a living room, and there is a ceiling fan so we could have a ceiling light if we wanted.

I am not a fan of recessed lights. I would get rid of all of them if I could.

 I taped. I never tape the ceiling, but because I was using a Woolie paint pad -- it's a woolie sheepskin paint pad that makes great texture -- I taped the ceiling and promptly hit the ceiling anyway. sheesh.

after painting. this photo doesn't do a good job of conveying what the texture actually looks like. It's much more swirly than it looks here. if we EVER get sunshine again I will try taking better photos of the texture.

notice that the desk is completely useless. it has no imagination, no cool details, just a granite slab and cheapass cupboards. granite desktops might look cool, but damn are they cold in the winter.

I am realizing now that the builder or the previous owner of this house or somebody apparently thought we would be doing minor surgeries here. The lights above the dining room table added up to 180 watts. Now we have a fisherman's lamp from Ikea with a 40 watt bulb and it's so much warmer and funkier feeling. which is what I live for, you know.

I will post photos of that Ikea lamp and the amazing wonderful pretty organized Command Central closet soon!

Things I have done lately.

Listened to my son bitch and moan about the weather in Minnesota. This is a kid who considers winter in the Puget Sound to be just fine, but snow in April makes him despondent. It may of course have something to do with being in the final spasms (I was gonna use a different word there, but couldn't figure out how to spell it...) of senior year at the UofM.

 Been seriously proud of my kids. Zach is staying put at the UofM (yay! not moving to Boston or DC!) to pursue a Masters in Maternal and Infant Public Health with an emphasis on epidemiology (ha. spelled that one right). Thor is heading off to Winona in the fall to start on a degree in Computer Science with an emphasis on human computer interfacing. And Tess is still a 4.0 drumming engineer.

 And if I am wrong about any of the details there, I am sure my kids will correct me toot-suite.

 Done a little moaning of my own about the weather. Northern Illinois is seriously grey and boring this spring. We are having a thunderstorm (actually more like a thunder minor event, since no lightning and thunder that actually rattles the house but is not loud at all) right now, but mostly it's been just grey. boo.

 Cleaned out my office area. I need a better name than that for it. Cleaned out Command Central. That's more like it. Off of the dining room is a little nook with a built in desk with a granite top. It's not a computer desk. The only indication that the person who built this desk even knows computers exist is that he drilled a hole in the granite top for the cords. There is no room in either cupboard for a printer or a CPU. Also, resting one's arms on a granite desktop in the winter is just freaking asking for hypothermia and frostbite. yikes.

 Repainted Command Central. It was a sage green that just did not work with the other colors in the living/dining/kitchen. Now it's peacock feather blue. Much more better.

 Dealt with the tremendous pile of stuff that came out of the closet in Command Central. We got a filing cabinet. Black, so of course it's gonna get spray painted or covered with fabric or something because it's boring. I still have the box of paperwork that was my "filing cabinet" to sort out, and the Mexican Cabinet is still right in the way of everything in the dining room because I don't know what to do with it, but my Closet Central is now beee-u-t-ful.

 Become really annoyed with car manufacturers and the car buying public. Really, damn. All cars are exactly the same. Neutral colors - and when it comes to cars, red has become a neutral. It's a safe choice. Identical designs. All sedans are now wedge shaped. All SUVs and mini vans are rounded off and streamlined and boring.  No whimsy. No playfulness. No imagination.

Fallen in love with my Alien. Kia's name for the green paint color is Alien, so my Kia Soul has become the Alien to us. I guess I really like naming things. I love my Alien because it is whimsical and different and fun. I don't take cars seriously and I heart having a car that doesn't take itself seriously. While still being an awesome car.

Final THROES. That's the word I was looking for. Zach is in the final THROES of undergrad.

Gotten a virus. It's a hideous virus, that gives you a sore throat and completely messes with all the plumbing in your head. My inner ears are itchy and annoyed and semi-plugged and my sinuses are just mean.

I have to go put the sheets in the dryer so Mark and I aren't reduced to digging out sleeping bags for bed tonight. I hate making beds, especially since we got the world's tallest queen mattress. Forcing the last corner onto the mattress requires a backhoe and an act of Congress.

And we all know how hard it is to get Congress to do anything these days.

things I learned or remembered about painting this week...

Dogs don't understand wet paint signs. Mojo has a blue ear and the tip of his tail is white, and Abe has new white patches on his side. I. HATE. Taping. I also HATE pulling down the tape. No matter what color white paint you have, it doesn't match any ceiling in any room in your house. Unless of course you don't get paint (or the previous tenants didn't) on the ceiling. Door frames in a corner suck. Dogs make good drop cloths. (I neglected to move the drop cloth to where I was painting, but Moj walked past me just as I dripped paint, so he saved our hideous carpet.) I have to start with white walls. Any other color, light or not, will change the color of the new paint. Painting sucks, but having walls painted NOT WHITE is awesome.

Sanding is fun.

No. It's not. Not fun at all.


I have a dresser. I hated this dresser.


We bought it when Zachie was a toddler, when we lived in Lacey, Washington. We bought it from an unpainted furniture place and had it stained a darkish oak.

We were young.

At some point I painted some of the drawers red. Because I did. Four of the eight big drawers.(I have already sanded the red off one of the drawers in that photo there.)

I may not have been young.

I don't know why I hated this dresser, except that the drawers are kinda shallow, and the red does not work AT ALL in our current bedroom scheme.

So Thor and I have spent much time today annoying the neighbors with sporadic sandings. Our hands do not like the vibrating and shaking and the dust in the eyes is no good.

But now it's looking really cool.  I was going to paint the case with dark gray, so that the grain still sorta shows, and paint the drawer fronts peacock blue, the color of our walls.

Also, I papered the light switch cover with some cool wrapping paper and about eight layers of mod podge.

But I am loving the raw stripped worn wood look of the sanded wood, so I am rethinking the whole thing. I am gonna just oil the hell outta the dresser with lemon oil and leave it at that. I can always finish it later if that doesn't work.

The idea behind our bedroom these days is -- okay. I have an idea. I know what I want. I just don't know what to call it. It's supposed to feel like the colonial days in the Caribbean ( c'mon, spellcheck. I add two "r"s and just one "b", and you can't figure out it's supposed to be Caribbean? Sad and pathetic.) or India or Africa, but not the bamboo pole and palm leaf. Instead it's should be feeling like furniture that was hauled in the hold of a ship from England or The Netherlands or you know, Europe.

Our bed is beyond awesome for this, and is in fact the genesis of this idea.

(the wall is peacock now, not white.)

This has no basis in reality, very likely, it's probably about as authentic as an Indiana Jones movie set. But I like it.

I am really tempted now to do the same sorta brutal sanding to this case.  I have already papered the inside back with the same wrapping paper used on the light switch.


This vanity is from my Mom's cousin's home, and is going in the room too, as my instead of bedside table.

But first I have to sand ten drawer fronts.

Where.

Where is my damn crockpot?

Where are the jeans I ordered?

Where is my cute little vintage crazy daisy pyrex bowl?

Where can I get an awe.some. but cheap vintagey old looking globe?

Where is that disc from Netflix?

Where is a tough question to ask.  I mean, I ask why, I can come up with plenty of them.

Why the Kardashians?

Why did I lose my crockpot?

Why is this keyboard so ridiculous and Why am I using it?

Why am I not independently wealthy?

Why did Harry Potter have to end?

Why?

Why is the sky blue?

Why didn't I get a vote about that?

Mojo

070, originally uploaded by randomjules.

Mojo loves his new and huge backyard. He leaps off the deck -- I need to get a shot of that. It's amazing -- and runs flat out in big loops around the yard. He does skid into the fence sometimes. He is not grace.

cranky.

So cranky lately.

Moments of cool, like realizing that the grill blew across the deck yesterday, during our very blustery day.

But mostly.  Shit.

The tiny number of people who have almost all the money in this country is obscene.  Mark and I have worked hard and tried to save money and do the right things, and yet we still have a house in Tucson that we won't be able to sell FOR YEARS.

Are we better off than we were a decade ago?  Hell, no.  This economy sucks.  We should be so very much better off than we are, and sadly, we are in so much better shape than a whole lot of people we know.

I really don't feel bad for the guy who nets $400,000 a year and doesn't want to pay more taxes.  Pay me $400,000 a year and I will be thrilled to pay more taxes on that, because I realize HOW DAMN LUCKY I AM.  Asshole.

Told you.  Cranky.

On the other hand, we watched Terra Nova last night.  Pretty good, not groundbreaking, but fun.  Not thinking about it too hard, because then I will start to notice the holes and the unoriginal writing and characters and stuff...

And Pinterest.  Sucked me in and won't let go.

I haven't started reading the SciFi/fantasy list yet, but I did get Guards Guards by Terry Pratchett on audible.com and started listening to that.  So so so so so so very good.

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address in a Wordle

This made me happy.

Global Warming Poll Presents Challenge to GOP Candidates...
 According to a new poll, 83% of Americans believe the planet is warming and 71% believe it is caused by humans. (That other 27% are running on faith alone...there is no peer-reviewed science of any kind that supports the natural cycle idea.)

 But the current crop of Presidential hopefuls are all on the "global warming is crap" bandwagon. Which sucks for them, because most people do not agree with them.

 This is the part that made me very happy...

The campaigns will likely look at the poll and ask, "How did this happen?" The answer may be found in the Republican campaign strategy book. The poll seems to show that the recent campaign appearances and debates staged by the field of Republican candidates has focused Americans on the concern about global warming. The more the candidates talk about the "unsettled" nature of the science, the more the public has become interested in trying to figure out what the science actually says. Playing down global warming, the poll indicates, has had the opposite effect on voters. The law of unintended consequences has turned on the candidates who deny the science, and bitten them on the backsides.

Politicians are so willing to take a stand and start screaming about anything they think will get them elected, and over and over again our country suffers because of it.  Immigration, terrorism, personal freedoms and rights versus safety and security.  So for a group of pols to get bitten in the ass by their own game, awesome.

While I find it impossible to believe that the politicians will learn from this, it is heartening to think that Americans might actually be thinking for themselves instead of blindly believing what politicians are spewing.

It's not class warfare.

‎" There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there -- good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn't have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory... Now look. You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea -- God Bless! Keep a Big Hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along." - Elizabeth Warren More about Elizabeth Warren, running for the Senate in Massachusetts, here.

Noises

early morning, september 12,2011, originally uploaded by randomjules.

Since I know live up against a field, outside of Rockford, in a v quiet subdivision...

The noises around me have changed. Quite a lot.

A plane just flew over and I noticed it, because we just don't hear planes here. We have lived for years on Army Posts, where they have helicopters and cargo planes. On Fort Lewis, WA, our house was across the street from the air field, and McChord Air Base is just down the road, so we got very used to planes and helicopters.

There is highway 20 just over the rise to the east of us, but I really can only hear the traffic early and late.

It's a breezy day, so I can hear the leaves of the tree behind our house rustling. Very soothing and peaceful sound.

And the bugs. I think this is the closest to country living that I have ever been, and I love all the bug and bird noises. Except maybe that really strange noise Thor and I heard last night while hanging out in front of the house.

I am really liking it here. The photo is the view out the back door yesterday morning... So very happy to be back in the upper Midwest! What's not to love?

ABF,,,

Holy crap I hate this keyboard. I always get my fingers on the wrong keys. That title was supposed to say Dang. Anyway...I need a job. Because there is some seriously cool stuff I would like to buy, like a ton of stuff from Thomasville's Reinventions furniture line. But right now, I can't get a job. Because I am needed for other stuff. So my lust for industrial style furniture will go unfulfilled. Sigh. Also. My head cold has devolved into a cough. With disgusting mucus.

Wow.

There are a LOT of noisy bugs in Illinois.

100 books part two.

51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons Not something I have read. Not something I am looking forward to reading. I don't know why.

52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman I think this is the other Gaiman book I found on a plane. So once I get to unpack my boxes, I can read it.

53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson Seems tedious and complex.

54. World War Z, by Max Brooks Who doesn't love zombies? I love zombies.

55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle I know I had my sister's copy of this book. Don't know if I ever read it.

56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman Another Earth-at-war novel. Yay.

57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett Best opening to a novel EVER. I love this book. I love Terry Pratchett. Discworld rules.

58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson An epic. The hero has leprosy. *falls to the bottom of the pile*

59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold I am not buying the edition they show on the NPR page. The cover makes it look like a bad SF romance novel.

60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett I don't think I have read this one yet. But I know it's gonna be good.

61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle Looks like a classic....but another "fate of humankind is threatened" story. Not my favorite stuff.

62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind sigh. Young man on an epic mission.

63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy Thor thought it was weird. The punctuation was inconsistent and mininalist, and it had a dreary dead vibe. So looking forward to reading it now.

64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke This looks v much like a book that would appeal to me, and yet I have not read it. huh.

65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson Vampires. I hate vampire fiction. But now I am doomed to read at least one more.

66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist Sagas. Epics. Aren't there any light fun fluffy books on this list?

67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks I loved these as a teen. My kids won't touch them with a ten foot pike. But now. Ha! They have to. because I have turned this into a competition.

68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard Really? Really? ugh. ugh. ugh.

69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb Tess has these, but I can't borrow them, because I MIGHT CREASE THE SPINE. Tess is insane.

70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger It took me forever to read this. Because ugh. I don't like it very much. Thank God I don't have to read it again, because I think I got rid of it.

71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson Is it just me, or do really a lot of sci-fi/fantasy writers have three syllable last names?

72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne Another classic, read as a kid.

73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore meh.

74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi Interstellar war. I should have maybe actually glanced through the list before I decided to read them all...

75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson huh? (just go look at the description. See if it makes any sense to you.)

76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke Classic space novel. I like the genre.

77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey Truly wish I had glanced at the list before I got this dumb idea.

78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin Anarchists and Utopia. Okay.

79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury I remember creepy. And it's set in Illinois. hmmm.

80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire Yuck. Made it through a couple chapters. So ugh and yuck and repulsive. Won't be reading any more of it.

81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson I hope some of these series are good (I guess they should be, since they are favorites of NPR listeners...) I didn't realize this is more like 250 books than 100, what with all the trilogies and series.

82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde Enjoyed thoroughly. Want to read it again, and the subsequent works.

83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks Why is there so much fighting in space?

84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart i used to read Arturian stuff. I think this is one I missed.

85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson Could be interesting. Starts in a monastery though, and how often does anything good start there?

86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher homeland erupts into war, young lord or prince or duke or whatever must save the kingdom. sigh.

87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe okay.

88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn I have, until now, avoided Star Wars fiction.

89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan Borrowed this from Marilyn. Haven't read it yet. But now, I have to.

90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock Stars an albino prince. Okay.

91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury Read it a very long time ago. Bradbury was very good at creepy, if I remember correctly. We shall see.

92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley I like zombies. This book has vampires.

93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge Far distant future.

94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov Part of the Robot series. I love Asimov.

95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson Another trilogy. About Mars.

96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle Crud. I think we just got rid of this book. Now I have to replace it. Anyone know of a good used book store in the greater Chicago area?

97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis Time travel plots seriously piss off Tess.

98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville Sounds interesting, if dark.

99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony This looks fun. I wonder why I have never read it...

100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis I like Lewis, have read Narnia books a million times. I didn't even know these books exist.

Right below the list, there's a link to Heady, Not Heavy: 5 Smart Playful Summer Books...Why didn't I see that list first?

Top 100 sci-fi fantasy books, according to NPR.

list here

Thor and I have decided to read the list. Although there is no way either of us is committing to actually reading everything all the way through. I read a bit of Wicked, and that counts, because ugh. I hated that damn book.

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien Okay. Not starting with this one. I suppose watching the movies don't count.

2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams Really like the new Dr Who on BBC. Again, doesn't count.

3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card I haven't read this one?

4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert 8 million pages long, set in a desert...I lived this, why do I have to read about it. (Of course, these are just my impressions/opinions/random and illogical thoughts. Not meant to have any resemblance to reality. Or, as Jon Kyl would say, "not meant to be a factual statement.")

5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin eh. Seems bulky.

6. 1984, by George Orwell Read this in college, in high school, lived through the Bush administration.

7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury I have come around to the belief that while banning books is wrong, there is nothing wrong with throwing away the crappy ones. Not that this is a crappy one. I bought it a while ago, haven't gotten around to re-reading it yet.

8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov adore Asimov. Have read tons o' his stuff. Including the Foundation books. But looking forward to reading them again.

9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley been in my "to be read" pile for months now.

10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman Oh, my gosh. Best book, most amazing ideas, concepts. Loved loved loved this book.

11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman "I don't think that means what you think it means."

12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan I have read four of these. Or five. Or three. Nobody EVER dies. That is not realistic, even for a fantasy novel.

13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell Fascism on the farm. Woo. (so it's totalilatarianism. Sue me. Which you can do, because at least there we are still a free country.)

14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson

A seminal work in the genre that would come to be known as cyberpunk.

huh. Sounds interesting.

15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore a graphic novel. Cool. I like graphic novels and manga.

16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov see #8. I have read this more than once. Will read it again.

17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein one of those books one is sure one has read, but one doesn't necessarily remember the readin'.

18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss My children will love this. There are a bunch of their books on this list. Books I have now committed myself to reading. Whoops.

19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut I read Vonnegut when I was younger. Now for some reason I just feel like it would be too depressing.

20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley Read it several times. Holy crap, Shelley was wordy.

21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick Read Phillip K Dick a lot in high school. Really like it. Hated Blade Runner -- the Harrison Ford movie based on the book -- the first couple times I saw it, then I liked it.

22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood Feels like one of those books I should have read.

23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King I really really like some of King's stuff. Have avoided this one, though I am unsure why. Guess I will have to give in now.

24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke I dunno. I read a lot of stuff as a teenager, might have read this one. Will have to read it again to be sure.

25. The Stand, by Stephen King I remember the mini series, pretty sure I read the book, but have been wanting to read it anyway. And watch it on Netflix.

26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson

Weaving contemporary imagery with Sumerian myths,

I really like new stuff, and I don't off the top of my head know what the hell Sumerian myths are, so cool.

27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury Another blast from the past. Adding it to my TBR pile. (to be read.)

28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut Have read this one.

29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman 75 comic books. Luckily collected into ten trade volumes.

30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess Haven't read it, really don't want to, but will try it at least. sigh.

31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein ??? Was this a really good movie or a terrible one?

32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams Rabbits!!! Read this one more than once as a kid.

33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey The Dragonriders of Pern. Have read everything repeatedly, some copies till they practically disintegrated, have multiple copies in my bookcase now. Or would, if I had unpacked them already.

34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein I am pretty sure I have read some Heinlein, just don't know which.

35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller Always a sucker for a good tale with monks.

36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells Classic. Will read again.

37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne Deranged submarine captain.

38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys Never read. The title doesn't sound very sci-fi, it always seemed like it should be some sort of WWII novel, a coming of age and depressing as hell, novel to me.

39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells Read it, watched several movies, used to listen to the rebroadcast on radio on Halloween. Classic's classic.

40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny Zelazny is weird, but awesome. Abe ate the second book in the series, took me a while to find the right edition to replace it.

41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings a mystical orb, in five volumes. Not particularly appealing cover art (if you follow the link, you see a synopsis and cover of each book.) This one is falling to the bottom of the TBR.

42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley Love MZB, love her Darkover novels, have read Mists once or twice.

43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson Curious about this one, because it seems so run of the mill. But NPR listeners love it. We will see.

44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven Good book. Looking forward to reading it again.

45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin For whatever reason, LeGuin has always struck me as rather froufrou. I guess I will find out if I am right.

46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien

These creation myths of Tolkien's Middle-earth, for those who found The Lord of the Rings too breezy and slight

Can I get a woo?

47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White The first book, when Arthur was a young man, was very good -- at least I remember it that way, it has been many years since I have read it -- and Disney's The Sword in the Stone is based on it. Camelot is based on the last two books.

48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman I believe this is the Gaiman book I found on a plane, so I have it on my Kindle and in the bookcase. If my books were in a bookcase.

49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke Is this a book I have read, or one of those that everyone is supposed to read so eventually you think you might have read it?

50. Contact, by Carl Sagan Should have read this one, if I haven't. "Billions and billions." I miss Carl Sagan.

So. The rest of the list tomorrow.