Book #292 of 2021: From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement by Paula Yoo An informative account of the titular 1982 assault and how it led to more widespread recognition of racial discrimination against Asian Americans, as well as a greater …
Author Archives: Joe Kessler
Book Review: The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer
Book #291 of 2021: The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer I do like this YA sci-fi novel about a pair of queer teens from rival nations alone on a spaceship, but the big twists in the piece are all pretty predictable right from the start, when they wake up to missing memories and an …
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Book Review: Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage by William Loren Katz
Book #290 of 2021: Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage by William Loren Katz An interesting but fairly short and disjointed history text, even in this expanded 25th-anniversary edition of the original 1986 release. The subject, tracing the interactions between various black and Native American populations and documenting the lives of people with joint heritage among …
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TV Review: Fringe, season 1
TV #76 of 2021: Fringe, season 1 This series is a little clunkier than I remember at the start, with lots of empty ominous talk about The Pattern (of strange events happening across the world but mostly in Boston that our new team has been created to investigate) that isn’t as inherently compelling as creator …
Book Review: The Solution by K. A. Applegate
Book #289 of 2021: The Solution by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #22) [Note — this review is more spoiler-heavy than usual! It was too hard to discuss this volume without getting into specifics.] A chilling end to the saga of David, the reluctant recruit who has gradually blossomed over the course of this trilogy into …
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Book Review: Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Book #288 of 2021: Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (Iron Widow #1) This #ownvoices sci-fi / fantasy debut is going to appear on many best-of-2021 lists, my own very much included. Loosely based on the only female emperor in Chinese history, it’s the powerfully intimate tale of a girl raised in a society that …
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Book Review: Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker
Book #287 of 2021: Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker (Scary Stories for Young Foxes #1) Middle-grade horror can be a tricky genre to pull off, with an atmosphere that’s spookily disquieting yet not full-on terrifying, but this Newbery-winning title from 2019 navigates that threshold nicely. Structured as a series of connected …
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TV Review: What If…?, season 1
TV #75 of 2021: What If…?, season 1 The debut animated feature in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is fun, with a few key caveats. I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily a show for all fans, as these alternate versions of events do lean on audience familiarity with the proper timeline for their full effect, but the …
Book Review: To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer
Book #286 of 2021: To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer (Riverworld #1) This Hugo-winning tale from 1971 pitches an intriguing scenario: all humanoids who have ever lived on the earth — including neanderthals from the distant past and an alien who was visiting the planet in 2008 — are resurrected in the …
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Book Review: Sunreach by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson
Book #285 of 2021: Sunreach by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson (Skyward Flight #1) I wasn’t sure what to expect of this first spinoff novella from author Brandon Sanderson’s main Skyward series, especially after not caring for his previous attempt at YA co-writing, Lux: A Texas Reckoners Novel. Luckily, I’ve enjoyed this one a lot …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 