Book #119 of 2019: Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Foundation #1) There are some interesting ideas and political intrigues in this book, but it’s one of those pieces of mid-century science-fiction that consist largely of genius men declaiming at one another. (A total of two female characters show up, each for about a single page.) The …
Author Archives: Joe Kessler
Book Review: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
Book #118 of 2019: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi A fun story of a thirteen-year-old girl’s (mis)adventures at sea in 1832. Acclaimed children’s author Avi nails the nineteenth-century setting and the nautical feel of this piece, and his plucky heroine comes across as a female version of Treasure Island’s Jim Hawkins, holding …
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Book Review: The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray
Book #117 of 2019: The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray I think I was expecting this novel to be more like An American Marriage or the show Orange Is the New Black, focusing on the adjustment of new inmates and their family members and the overly-punitive nature of the justice …
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Book Review: Permafrost by Alastair Reynolds
Book #116 of 2019: Permafrost by Alastair Reynolds Although everything moves just a bit too slowly at the start and then too quickly by the end, the wicked time-travel plotting of this novella ultimately wins me over. It’s the first thing I’ve read from author Alastair Reynolds, so I can’t compare it to his usual …
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Book Review: Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Book #115 of 2019: Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid This novel delivers a somewhat standard Sliding Doors premise, following in alternating chapters as two parallel timelines diverge after the heroine makes a seemingly inconsequential decision near the start. Both versions of the ensuing narrative have fun romantic comedy elements, and author Taylor …
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Book Review: The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America by Jim Acosta
Book #114 of 2019: The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America by Jim Acosta Although I am firmly on the side of CNN in the conflict between that news organization and a bullying president who abuses his position to discredit their coverage, I really can’t stand this book …
TV Review: Dead to Me, season 1
TV #25 of 2019: Dead to Me, season 1 This show has such well-drawn characters and thoughtful-yet-funny explorations of grieving, unfortunately coupled with a completely ludicrous storyline. I generally don’t mind telenovela-style twists in my fiction, but the mood of the piece really has to be heightened in some way for that approach to work, …
Book Review: Life, The Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams
Book #113 of 2019: Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy #3) Although still not as instantly iconic (or memorable) as the first novel in the Hitchhiker’s series, this next volume has plenty of clever writing and some fun absurdisms about coincidence and fate that raise it above …
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Book Review: Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal
Book #112 of 2019: Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal (Glamourist Histories #1) This Regency drawing-room pastiche has an interestingly low-key magical element, but the characters and plot leave a lot to be desired. The whole novel is full of wide-eyed speculation over who likes who — which is silly because both …
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Book Review: Nightingale’s Lament by Simon R. Green
Book #111 of 2019: Nightingale’s Lament by Simon R. Green (Nightside #3) I’ve been enjoying this pulp paperback series far less on a reread than I did when it was my first introduction to the urban fantasy genre back in high school. The main plot has yet to really kick off beyond vague portentous rumblings, …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 