Book #79 of 2021: Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry by Harry Kemelman (The Rabbi Small Mysteries #2) A disappointing follow-up to Friday the Rabbi Slept Late. It’s still neat to see a Jewish author incorporating authentic lived details into mainstream fiction — a rarity today, let alone back in 1966 — but whereas the first …
Continue reading “Book Review: Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry by Harry Kemelman”
TV #27 of 2021: Justified, season 3 Structurally, I can admire the way that this season brings its various story threads crashing together at the end, but I’m increasingly thinking that the larger series is just not a great fit for me. Even setting aside the copaganda aspects and the fact that the program continues …
Book #78 of 2021: These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong (These Violent Delights #1) This is a very loose retelling of Romeo and Juliet, pitching the star-crossed lovers as the respective heirs to two rival gang families in 1926 Shanghai. They’re also exes with complicated lingering feelings for one another rather than current sweethearts, with …
Continue reading “Book Review: These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong”
Book #77 of 2021: The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna (Deathless #1) This fantasy novel has some interestingly eerie worldbuilding flourishes early on, but I’ve found the ensuing plot to be slow and overly predictable, which makes it hard to fully invest in the heroine’s journey, much as I always love to celebrate another dark-skinned …
Continue reading “Book Review: The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna”
Book #76 of 2021: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn #2) Another phenomenal piece of epic fantasy, juggling pulse-pounding cinematic action, endearing characters, court intrigue, worldbuilding revelations, and even a hidden traitor subplot with apparent ease. Although I miss the feeling of daringly clever heist shenanigans from the first novel, this sequel is …
Continue reading “Book Review: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson”
Book #75 of 2021: The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Road Map for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make by Ron Lieber As the father to a toddler with a new sibling on the way, I picked up this 2021 title expecting simply a quick overview of the current …
Book #74 of 2021: Bruja Born by Zoraida Córdova (Brooklyn Brujas #2) Switching protagonists for a sequel is always a dicey maneuver, as it tends to lessen the audience’s investment and risk sidelining the very elements that may have drawn them back into the tale. In this case, for instance, one of my favorite things …
Continue reading “Book Review: Bruja Born by Zoraida Córdova”
TV #26 of 2021: Community, season 4 I’d probably agree with the popular consensus that this is the weakest stretch of Community, but it’s honestly not that big a step down from the chaotic year before. Fans were reasonably upset that showrunner / creator Dan Harmon had been fired — not knowing then how abusive …
Book #73 of 2021: Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie At this novel’s start, a dying man rouses for just long enough to utter the five words of the title (except in the US, where it was published as the blander-sounding The Boomerang Clue), thoroughly confusing the stranger who has found him lying …
Continue reading “Book Review: Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie”
Book #72 of 2021: Later by Stephen King This new novel from author Stephen King finds the horror master at his creepiest, blending a ghost story, a coming-of-age journey, and a crime thriller with the usual aplomb. Our child protagonist can see and speak with the recently deceased, not all of whom are necessarily friendly, …
The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more