Book #238 of 2021: The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders This sci-fi novel plays with a few interesting concepts, especially in its setting of two opposing cities, the only human settlements in the narrow hospitable zone of a tidally-locked planet that will either burn or freeze anyone who wanders …
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TV #66 of 2021: I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, season 1 A fun sketch comedy series that’s also quite short, with only six episodes of under 20 minutes each. Not every skit is a winner for me, and overall they lean on awkward cringe humor and shouting more than I’d probably prefer, …
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Book #237 of 2021: The Body in Question by Jill Ciment Two middle-aged jurors in a major murder trial — who go unnamed until a verdict is reached two-thirds of the way through the text — embark on an affair while sequestered, after which one must return home to her dying husband and deal with …
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Book #236 of 2021: The Gap Into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge by Stephen R. Donaldson (The Gap Cycle #2) This sequel is a major improvement over its predecessor, deepening the worldbuilding of the space opera setting and populating it beyond a simple archetypal trio. We also switch our focal protagonist from the rapist lowlife Angus Thermopyle …
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Book #235 of 2021: The Unknown by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #14) It’s hard to pick the single goofiest element of this story. Is it the Yeerks infesting wild horses — the first earth animal hosts we’ve seen — to sneak into the setting’s equivalent of Area 51 and discover what the government is hiding …
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Book #234 of 2021: Wayward Witch by Zoraida Córdova (Brooklyn Brujas #3) Although I appreciate that this third heroine in author Zoraida Córdova’s Brooklyn Brujas trilogy is less foolhardy than her older sisters — as shown by how she’s the only one whose adventure doesn’t begin with her own selfish spell gone wrong — the …
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Book #233 of 2021: Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #20) Should a mystery story be solvable by its audience? That’s a philosophical question, and I suspect perhaps a matter of personal taste. Do we prefer tales where we are expected to simply observe as a detective protagonist investigates and unravels the puzzle, …
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Book #232 of 2021: Void Moon by Michael Connelly This title is a neat divergence from author Michael Connelly’s usual work. Although set in the same continuity and Los Angeles / Las Vegas locale as his Harry Bosch stories, it follows two new characters, with no appearance from the detective or his regular supporting cast. …
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TV #65 of 2021: Kim’s Convenience, season 5 Given the Korean-Canadian representation on-screen, I’ve always felt like this sitcom had the potential to turn into something special, but even in this final season, the writing just never delivers. I count a grand total of three plot elements that span multiple episodes / would identify a …
Book #231 of 2021: Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth by Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson, and Jason Stanford An interesting look at the historical record surrounding the Alamo battle site in the Texan war for independence from Mexico. The first half of the book contextualizes what’s known and unknown about …
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