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 …
Author Archives: Joe Kessler
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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Book Review: Fool’s Fate by Robin Hobb
Book #110 of 2019: Fool’s Fate by Robin Hobb (The Tawny Man #3) On balance, this final volume in Robin Hobb’s The Tawny Man trilogy probably has too much falling action after the major plot stakes are resolved. And it’s odd that the Piebald threat which loomed so heavily over the previous books is mostly …
Book Review: The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump by Andrew G. McCabe
Book #109 of 2019: The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump by Andrew G. McCabe The goal of this book is twofold: it joins a thriving genre of political tell-alls concerning the dysfunction and corruption of the Donald Trump White House, while also defending the Federal Bureau of …
Book Review: Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
Book #108: Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey This debut novel from author Sarah Gailey goes far on its concept of a non-magical detective investigating a murder at a school for young mages, but the worldbuilding is nothing special — more The Magicians than Harry Potter — and the procedural elements could have been a …
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Movie Review: Friday Night Lights (2004)
Movie #8 of 2019: Friday Night Lights (2004) Having now seen and enjoyed all five seasons of the fictionalized Friday Night Lights TV program, I wanted to check out this earlier film, which purports to tell a true story about an underdog high school football team. And maybe it’s not wholly fair to compare the …
Book Review: Defy the Worlds by Claudia Gray
Book #107 of 2019: Defy the Worlds by Claudia Gray (Constellation #2) I’m enjoying the blandly-titled Constellation series overall, but this sequel is nowhere near as fun as the YA space opera’s propulsive debut. The second novel is more than half over before its two protagonists are reunited, and the new stakes don’t seem particularly …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 