Emails and What We've Been Reading: This week, our e-mails include Rob Kristofferson's thoughts on the best reads of 2011 and a challenge for Dietrich and I to come up with some predictions as to what the new year might hold for the book industry. Meanwhile, Dietrich shares some thoughts as he savors John Hodgman's That Is All while I wrap up Dan Wells' outstanding John Wayne Cleaver trilogy with I Don't Want to Kill You.

Tickling the Funny Bone: Inspired by our recent reading of John Hodgman's incredible and hilarious That Is All, this week Dietrich and I take a look at the books that have made us laugh. More than that, though, we take a look at why humor is so hard to make work on the written page and fully admit that our sense of humor may be a little sillier than that of other people. In addition, we take a look at how humor can be used in non-comedic works for a variety of purposes. But we couldn't do this topic without bringing up some of our favorite books that have made us laugh, ranging from the iconic Douglas Adams to the gleefully despicable characters of A Confederacy of Dunces and beyond.

Off the Bookshelves: This week, Dietrich spends some time checking out new cult classics, finally catching up on Tucker and Dale vs. Evil and re-watching the amazing and brilliant Black Dynamite (which leaves me wanting to rewatch it too). Meanwhile, I rave about the Nick Hornby-scripted An Education and implore people to check out The Intruder, a provocative and intense film about racial tensions that's lapsed into the public domain (and is watchable on YouTube here).

Emails: We kick off this week with a trio of very different e-mails, all of which focus on very different things. To start with, Robert Kristofferson shares his thoughts on Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Next, we get a slew of great-sounding recommendations, including a discussion as to why the novelization of the Star Wars prequels might just be worth reading after all. Finally, we try to help a parent who's working to show his son how to balance video games with reading, offering some thoughts about books and selections that might be right up a gamer's alley.

What We've Been Reading: Once again, a holiday break finds us with lots to talk about, book-wise. Dietrich catches up with the astonishing and stunning Winter's Bone, which both of us pretty easily pick as our best book of 2011. Beyond that, he finally reads the first book in the Discworld Watch series, and he shares some thoughts about a wide-ranging collection of essays from a favorite author. Meanwhile, I find an icy-cold and disturbing piece of noir from Jim Thompson, get back into the adventures of John Wayne Cleaver, and report back on the final fate of the insane world created by John Hodgman.

The Best of 2011: It's been a good year for reading, and while Dietrich and I both have lots to talk about - from the new Stephen King to a great Depression story of immortality, from a surprisingly moving romance to Texas horror - we both pretty easily settle on our favorite book of the year, the astonishingly beautiful Winter's Bone, by Daniel Woodrell. But there's time to get into lots of other favorites from the year, and we take the time to give out lots of shoutouts to the books that we loved this year. And, as a bonus, we share some thoughts on our favorite games and movies of the year, while deciding that our thoughts on the best TV of the year would kind of be unnecessary...

Off the Bookshelves: For once, Dietrich has a lot more movies than I do to talk about - a side effect of having Christmas traveling to do. All I have to share is some thoughts on the middling Sherlock Holmes sequel and the generally great The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; meanwhile, Dietrich looks at the docudrama Margin Call, the sociologically provocative The Wave, and we share some thoughts on Waiting for Superman (and why I don't know that I'll be able to watch it).

What We've Been Reading: In this, our last recording for 2011, Dietrich and I have a lot less books to talk about (due in no small part to the fact that we were both in the process of finishing up our respective school tenures). But we'd feel awkward if we left you with nothing! So I share some thoughts on the newest Terry Pratchett book and why I think it's good, but not up to par with his best, while Dietrich tries to sell people on a book about economics - a job I hope he succeeds with.

Off the Bookshelves: Dietrich shares some videogame knowledge, as is his wont, as he discusses Metro 2033, and we debate whether you would have had to play the first 2,032 volumes in the series to follow this one. Meanwhile, I try to review four movies in a very short amount of time while giving them all the attention and love they deserve.