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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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Movie Review: Jurassic Park III (2001)
Movie #42 of 2026: Jurassic Park III (2001) The first JP film not to be directed by Steven Spielberg also marks a clear point of diminishing returns for the franchise, which might explain why it went dormant afterwards until the reboot Jurassic World in 2015. It’s the shortest installment as well at a mere 92… Read more
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Book Review: Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund by Molly Crabapple
Book #139 of 2026: Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund by Molly Crabapple A startlingly urgent and cogently argued work of twentieth-century history, shining a welcome light on a sect of Jewish thought and political action that has largely been forgotten or obscured in the modern discourse. As… Read more
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Book Review: Saturn by Ben Bova
Book #138 of 2026: Saturn by Ben Bova This is the thirteenth novel set in author Ben Bova’s epic Grand Tour of the solar system, and if you’ve been reading them through in chronological order as I have, the previous volumes Mars and Jupiter might lead you to expect another hard science-fiction tale of humans… Read more
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Book Review: Doctor Who: The Dr Who Annual Compendium One edited by Michael Stevens
Book #137 of 2026: Doctor Who: The Dr Who Annual Compendium One edited by Michael Stevens For two decades during the run of Classic Doctor Who (1965-1985), a licensed third-party publication called an annual was released every year, containing tie-in stories, comics, and other materials involving the characters from TV. More recently, some of these… Read more
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TV Review: Homicide: Life on the Street, season 5
TV #38 of 2026: Homicide: Life on the Street, season 5 Probably my favorite run of this program yet, and not only for the snazzy update to the opening credits (although it is a definite upgrade). We get a new major character too in the form of Michelle Forbes as the incoming chief medical officer… Read more
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Movie Review: The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Movie #41 of 2026: The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) Sequels pose an interesting creative dilemma: how do you recapture the magic that audiences loved in your original piece without repeating yourself to weaker effect (and ideally push some sort of larger story forward in the process)? Overall, this oddly-titled JP film manages to thread… Read more
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Book Review: The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher
Book #136 of 2026: The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher When they were eleven, Briar Jones anxiously waited in vain for an admittance letter from Britain’s famous magic boarding school. Their rich best friend did get in as a legacy student, and our protagonist never saw him again — until seven years… Read more
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Book Review: A Face in the Crowd by Stephen King and Stewart O’Nan
Book #135 of 2026: A Face in the Crowd by Stephen King and Stewart O’Nan I was looking over a list of Stephen King titles recently when I saw this one that I didn’t recognize. Since I believe it’s the only published fiction of his that I haven’t read yet — aside from a few… Read more
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TV Review: Blake’s 7, season 1
TV #37 of 2026: Blake’s 7, season 1 Not mindblowing as yet, but certainly a solid slice of 70s British sci-fi. All I knew about this show going into it was that it was created and written by Terry Nation, better known as the guy who came up with the Daleks on Classic Doctor Who,… Read more
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Book Review: Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
Book #134 of 2026: Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend (Nevermoor #1) There’s a heavy Roald Dahl flavor to this middle-grade fantasy debut — in terms of both the unhappy homes of Matilda or James and the Giant Peach and the eccentric wealthy benefactor of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory — but… Read more
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 