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Featured
Blog Launch
Hello! My name is Joe Kessler, and I’ve been blogging in one form or another since 2004. This is the launch of my new home for that, where I’ll be posting book reviews and other short pieces of writing. I’m also debuting a Patreon site for anyone who would like to support my efforts through… Read more
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TV Review: The Umbrella Academy, season 2
TV #44 of 2024: The Umbrella Academy, season 2 Categorically an improvement over the debut year of this comic book adaptation, which I rated at a frustrating 2-out-of-5 stars for all its elements that never really came together or lived up to their potential. The change for the better is felt immediately in the season… Read more
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Book Review: Dragon by Steven Brust
Book #159 of 2024: Dragon by Steven Brust (Vlad Taltos #8) This 1998 title is a bit of an odd installment in the Vlad Taltos fantasy series. It’s not the first volume to take place earlier in the protagonist’s career, back when he was a low-level boss for the Jhereg criminal organization, but it’s unusual… Read more
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Book Review: Ghost Station by S. A. Barnes
Book #158 of 2024: Ghost Station by S. A. Barnes An atmospheric example of space horror, but sadly not as effective as author S. A. Barnes’s earlier novel Dead Silence (unconnected except for occupying the same narrow genre). The premise here is fine: a psychologist joins a small crew on a corporate excursion to a… Read more
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Book Review: Plum Duff by Victoria Goddard
Book #157 of 2024: Plum Duff by Victoria Goddard (Greenwing & Dart #6) This series had been steadily improving, but this sixth volume — the latest so far, barring a few spinoff short stories I haven’t read yet — feels like a step backwards for me. It is big on atmospheric winter comfort and overall… Read more
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Book Review: Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano
Book #156 of 2024: Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano (Finlay Donovan #3) I think this is where I get off the Finlay Donovan train, unfortunately. This third volume feels like a significant step down for the series, which has never quite managed to grab me despite the fun overall premise of a… Read more
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Book Review: ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
Book #155 of 2024: ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King Author Stephen King has said that he wanted his second published novel to be a modern American version of Dracula, and almost half a century on, I think it’s fair to say that he succeeded in that aim. The parallels are there if you seek them… Read more
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TV Review: Farscape, season 2
TV #43 of 2024: Farscape, season 2 An excellent escalation of an already-strong beginning the year before. While the passage of time and their shared experiences together have sanded down the edges and rendered Moya’s crew into more of a cohesive and friendly unit — with the possible exception of Rygel, who remains a bit… Read more
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Book Review: The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
Book #154 of 2024: The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor (Welcome to Night Vale #3) This is not a very Night Vale-centric novel. I mean that both in the literal sense — it’s an origin story for the titular character, most of which isn’t even… Read more
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Book Review: Doctor Who: 73 Yards by Scott Handcock
Book #153 of 2024: Doctor Who: 73 Yards by Scott Handcock One of the better episodes from the latest season of Doctor Who unsurprisingly produces an excellent novelization in the hands of author Scott Handcock, who also serves as script editor for the TV series. This book channels the unsettling folk horror of the original… Read more
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Book Review: The Waiting by Michael Connelly
Book #152 of 2024: The Waiting by Michael Connelly (Ballard and Bosch #5) As usual for author Michael Connelly’s stories about now-retired LAPD cop Harry Bosch and his extended network of supporting characters, this latest title juggles several subplots, mostly in the form of active police investigations. Since the protagonist here is Renée Ballard, that… Read more
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 