Highly recommend the time loop short story "Twenty thousand last meals on an exploding station." Narrator is stuck in a time loop in the 3 days before a space station explodes, and instead of fixing things, decides the best thing to do is to eat at every restaurant on the station.

GANDALF: Its a good thing you're an idiot, Pippin, or we would have been in real trouble when you looked into the Palantir.

PIPPIN: You could phrase that a little nicer.

GANDALF: I really couldn't.

It's a *long* read - if you want the TLDR, I recommend reading the bit on Whole Foods (boo amazon), then Trader Joe's (boo union busting), then Market Basket (yay successful resistance of corporate enshittification). But it's all great.

Hope they were tasty at least! Pretzels seem harder since they have to do the boiling step.

I remember re-reading a while back after becoming a parent, and just being like ... I can't suspend my disbelief for how well-behaved that baby is.

Oh no, I'm so sorry!

We are probably going to make dragon cinnamon rolls using the same shaping technique! Fingers crossed that it turns out...

I also appreciate that Chimera Carnival comes with instructions for how to make the dragon pretzels which were depicted in the book. Because literally, when we passed that part, my kid and I immediately looked at each other and were like, "we need to make those."

We also picked up Beetle & the Hollowbones by @alizalayne.bsky.social and the sequel, Beetle & the Chimera Carnival! These books are SO good, with the most beautiful art. The details in all the pictures make the world feel so real, and the characters and stories are richly compelling.

Summer Vamp by Violet Chan Karim was the one my kid was most looking forward to, and it doesn't disappoint! Vampires + summer camp is an awesome combo, and the book is a delightful exploration of making friends in the most unexpected places.

2024 Headline of the Year nominee (January)

I'm wondering if it'll wind up being turkey tails.