Book Recommendation: The Ogre Downstairs by Diana Wynne Jones

I had somehow never read Diana Wynne Jones - I know, I know! - so when Sarah Rees Brennan recommended The Ogre Downstairs I thought I'd give it a try. It's about two families of siblings who are suddenly step-siblings and trying to figure out how to make the new family work, and the new stepfather is horrible (they think), and there are magical chemistry sets wreaking all sorts of havoc. Honestly, it took me a while to get into it. Well, it was a perfectly pleasant reading experience from the start, but I would read a few pages before bed, put it down, and not feel any particular call to pick it up again until the next night. But I think that's more my problem than its, and when I finally got a decent stretch of time when I wasn't falling asleep, I read the last half of it in one go. The magic is very well grounded in the real world, and the way it comes to help the kids recognize that their new family members aren't necessarily as awful as they seem is really well done. My favorites were Malcolm, who comes across as mean but maybe is just shy and lonely and fragile, and the little one, Gwinny, who overcomes her fears with bravery and honesty and open-mindedness, and is much more of a real character than little siblings in YA books often are.

Sadly, this seems to be out of print, but I'm sure your library can get it for you!

Tonight's TV Premiere Reminders: 10/12/11

For these first few weeks of fall TV, I'll have quick posts up at 9am each day reminding you of which shows start that night, with times and channels and maybe a quick thought or two. Remember, you can see my whole fall TV spreadsheet here. (All times Eastern.)

10 p.m.:
Psych season 6 premiere, USA
This isn't my favorite USA show, but it's up there, and it's still better than most shows on other networks. I'm a little behind but hoping to be caught up soon.

Tonight's TV Premiere Reminders: 10/11/11

For these first few weeks of fall TV, I'll have quick posts up at 9am each day reminding you of which shows start that night, with times and channels and maybe a quick thought or two. Remember, you can see my whole fall TV spreadsheet here. (All times Eastern.)

8 p.m.:
Last Man Standing series premiere, ABC
Tim Allen returns to TV! And yeah, this is supposed to be awful.

Tonight's Premieres and a Note

I hurt my back in a way that makes typing painful, so things will be quiet here today. Enlightened and Bored to Death are premiering tonight on HBO - check their site for details.

Congratulations, Tomas Transtromer!

(This was supposed to autopost yesterday and didn't. Sorry!)

Swedish poet Tomas Transtromer has won the Nobel prize. I'll admit I didn't know much about him until yesterday, when I saw that his odds of winning were pretty high and looked him up. I don't tend to follow contemporary poetry very closely - I'll usually take Donne or Tennyson over modern poets - but my friend Michael Magras suggests starting with the collection The Great Enigma or with this site, where you can read several of Transtromer's poems online. Here's the beginning of "Allegro:"

After a black day, I play Haydn,
and feel a little warmth in my hands.
The keys are ready. Kind hammers fall.
The sound is spirited, green, and full of silence.
The sound says that freedom exists
and someone pays no tax to Caesar.
I shove my hands in my haydnpockets
and act like a man who is calm about it all.

Tonight's TV Premiere Reminders: 10/7/11

For these first few weeks of fall TV, I'll have quick posts up at 9am each day reminding you of which shows start that night, with times and channels and maybe a quick thought or two. Remember, you can see my whole fall TV spreadsheet here. (All times Eastern.)

10 p.m.:
Sanctuary season 4 premiere, Syfy
I am slightly bitter that this is replacing Haven, even though, you know, the Haven season is over anyway.

Tonight's TV Premiere Reminders: 10/6/11

For these first few weeks of fall TV, I'll have quick posts up at 9am each day reminding you of which shows start that night, with times and channels and maybe a quick thought or two. Remember, you can see my whole fall TV spreadsheet here. (All times Eastern.)

10:30 p.m.:
The League season 3 premiere, FX
I've never seen this, but the tagline kind of makes me want to: "To be a fan of the show you don't need to know much about fantasy football. You just need to have friends that you hate."

Movie Trailer: The Ides of March

I somehow hadn't realized this was being released this Friday! Yes, the reviews have been mixed, but George Clooney and Ryan Gosling in a campaign thriller? I can't possibly resist.

Is A Gifted Man Really Good for Health Care Reform?

I really wanted to like A Gifted Man, because I like much of the cast quite a lot, but I finally got around to watching the pilot last night, and - no. The more I think about it, the more I hate it. And it wasn't the dumb premise or boring, unlikeable characters or use of my medical show pet peeve in the first scene that got me, actually. It was the portrait the show drew of what's wrong with health care in this country and how to fix it.

Other shows, please take notes.

You know how premium cable shows have all sorts of sex and nakedness all the time because they can, and it loses all impact and often just seems ridiculous? Well, The Good Wife shows what you can do with two master actors (Josh Charles and Julianna Margulies), some well-placed dialogue, and very little skin. It stays classy, makes it past the network censors, and is much sexier than it really has any right to be.