TV #17 of 2018: Jane the Virgin, season 4 This season is so propulsive in forward momentum, and it’s fantastic to see Jane blossoming into such a capable adult. Petra, Alba, and Xiomara also get some particularly great plot arcs this season, and I love how fiercely celebratory of Latinx culture the writing has grown. …
Author Archives: Joe Kessler
Book Review: The Lying Game by Ruth Ware
Book #81 of 2018: The Lying Game by Ruth Ware The more suspense novels that I read, the less patience I have with narratives that keep readers in the dark about backstory that is clearly relevant and on the characters’ minds. This particular novel is halfway through before we find out what happened 17 years …
Book Review: I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara
Book #80 of 2018: I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara The day I picked up this book, police in California announced that they had finally made an arrest in the cold case of serial rape and murder described within its pages. I’ve put …
TV Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 3
TV #16 of 2018: Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 3 After some early stumbles, TNG has really settled into itself at this point and is clearly capable of delivering greatness. Not every episode shines – as is often the case with American TV, I think a smaller season order would have let the writers …
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Book Review: Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
Book #79 of 2018: Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan (Takeshi Kovacs #1) This hardboiled science-fiction novel is rich in premise and atmosphere, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the recent Netflix adaptation has done with both. The story is a fairly straightforward noir investigation — and unfortunately comes with the oversexualization of women …
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Book Review: Fortunate Son by Walter Mosley
Book #78 of 2018: Fortunate Son by Walter Mosley In this novel by Walter Mosley, two boys of different races are initially brought up as brothers before circumstances send them off on very different paths. When they reconnect as adults, the white boy has lived a seemingly charmed life but struggles with depression, while his …
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Book Review: Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
Book #77 of 2018: Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney This novel about an 85-year-old reflecting on her life in New York City is one part a love letter to the Big Apple of the 20th century and one part a fictionalized biography of poet Margaret Fishback. The main character voice is endearing, …
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TV Review: Santa Clarita Diet, season 2
TV #15 of 2018: Santa Clarita Diet, season 2 Nearly as great as its debut outing, with laugh-out-loud humor and plot developments that make perfect sense in hindsight but always take me by surprise. I love all the little things about marriage that this series nails, and how healthy the central relationships are even amid …
TV Review: Westworld, season 1
TV #14 of 2018: Westworld, season 1 Given its talented cast, big-budget scenery, and overall concept, Westworld is a series that’s really rich in potential, but this first season comes off as a bit muddled thanks to its J.J. Abrams mystery box storytelling. Too many secrets are kept from the audience for too long, and …
Book Review: So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Book #76 of 2018: So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo This 2018 book presents an outstanding clear-eyed discussion of racism in contemporary America, aimed at providing readers with the tools to have more constructive dialogues of their own. It explores concepts like privilege, microaggressions, and structural injustice, addressing some of the …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 