My week in geekery

First and foremost, my week has been dominated by one man. He used to be the only wizard in the yellow pages; now he's pretty much the first and last line of defense between the human world and any dark forces that might threaten it. Harry motherfuckin' Dresden.
I'm a little late in getting to the latest book of the Dresden Files, Cold Days, but it was well worth the wait. As a Chicago resident, I love seeing my city get the spotlight, even though sometimes the geography of the city is hilariously wrong. Harry has always been geeky, sarcastic, and a tiny bit clueless, but he's also a total badass, and despite all of the changes in his circumstances, that hasn't changed. I was staying up late at night and avoiding my friends at lunch so that I could get some extra reading time in, and once I finished all I wanted to do was go back and reread the series from the beginning.

I'm also reading a book along with my boyfriend, The Telling by Ursula Le Guin (not to be confused with the movie of the same name starring a couple of Hugh Hefner's ex-girlfriends). Le Guin is probably best known for her Earthsea novels, and she's also won high acclaim for her Hainish cycle (including the 1969 Left Hand of Darkness, which netted her both the Hugo and the Nebula). Although I'd heard a lot about her, this is the first novel of hers that I've actually read. I suggested it for the two of us because Le Guin is considered one of the best writers in sci-fi and fantasy, and because she deals with the kind of social issues that I'm passionate about - gender, religion, race, environmentalism, and so much more. It's been hard to restrain myself from reading the entire thing. It's beautifully written, philosophical, and perfectly paced to draw the reader along. I will have to get my hands on more of her works once I'm done.

Another piece of pop culture that I was terribly remiss in not watching earlier is The Raid: Redemption. I'm a huge fan of action movies, and when this one came out in 2012, it was very well reviewed, and for good reason. It's a superb example of the genre - tense, engaging, heavy on action sequences without being too concerned about having a tricky plot. A SWAT team in Jakarta goes into a building to take out a mob boss, and they end up biting off more than they can chew. There's really not much more to it, and that's exactly what I like about it.

And finally, Game of Thrones, season 4 is premiering this Sunday! I've been a fan of the books for over a decade, and the series hasn't disappointed yet. I'm going to a viewing party, and there's already talk of a themed potluck. One guy is talking about making sliced dragon dick (aka pork chops). Should be sweet.