Book #171 of 2019: Redwall by Brian Jacques (Redwall #1) This is a fine if straightforward adventure story, and definitely one that grows on me as it goes along. The brave woodland creatures in its cast represent a fun change from most children’s fantasy literature, and the bucolic setting lends the tale a certain timeless …
Author Archives: Joe Kessler
Book Review: Resistance by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Book #170 of 2019: Resistance by Jennifer A. Nielsen On the surface, this novel about teenage Jewish resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Poland is a welcome piece of YA historical fiction, educating all ages about a lesser-known aspect of World War II. The characters are invented, but they are inspired by Jennifer A. Nielsen’s extensive research …
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TV Review: Veronica Mars, season 2
TV #34 of 2019: Veronica Mars, season 2 Let’s start at the ending. This season is so much more serialized than the first, with major storylines unfolding over multiple episodes and a lighter focus on the cases of the week — and although a few of those sub-plots peter out before the end, they mostly …
Book Review: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Book #169 of 2019: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) This middle-grade fantasy debut is a fun ride with an engaging young character voice at its center. The plot can be a bit episodic, and the worldbuilding doesn’t go much deeper than bringing traditional Greek myths into the modern …
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Book Review: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Book #168 of 2019: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (Simon Snow #1) In Rainbow Rowell’s 2013 novel Fangirl, her protagonist writes an extensive fanfiction called “Carry On, Simon” about Simon Snow, a popular Harry Potter-esque fantasy series that did not, at that time, actually exist. Rowell later released this follow-up, which is decidedly not that …
TV Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 4
TV #33 of 2019: Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 4 Another season of Star Trek that’s generally solid, but not exactly spectacular on an episode-by-episode basis. The sinister Starfleet xenophobia in “The Drumhead” definitely makes me sit up and pay attention, and there are a few other gems like “Future Imperfect” and “Clues” scattered …
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Book Review: This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Book #167 of 2019: This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone A quick novella about two women on opposite sides of a reality-spanning conflict, who use time-travel to counter one another’s moves (and counter-moves, and counter-counter-moves, and so on). Each field operative has more in common with her …
Book Review: The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
Book #166 of 2019: The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson This nonfiction book is partly about the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and partly about the serial killer H. H. Holmes, who operated his infamous ‘murder castle’ nearby during that same time. Both …
Book Review: Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams
Book #165 of 2019: Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy #5) This final Hitchhiker’s book is, unfortunately, mostly toothless. It skates by on some borrowed goodwill from earlier in the series, but it also abandons numerous plots, concepts, and figures that really deserved a proper send-off of their own. And …
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Book Review: Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
Book #164 of 2019: Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson I reread this title for my book club meeting tonight, but I mostly stand by my previous review from 2017: “A sobering and deeply moving account from death row lawyer Bryan Stevenson on the injustices that pervade our justice system, …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 