Book #59 of 2018: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller I fell in love with this satirical novel back in high school, and I wish I could say it holds up just as well today. And on some levels, it absolutely does: it remains a brilliant skewering of military doublespeak and the absurdity of war, and author …
Author Archives: Joe Kessler
Book Review: Mad Ship by Robin Hobb
Book #58 of 2018: Mad Ship by Robin Hobb (Liveship Traders #2) Overall, I would say that this sequel is an improvement over the first Liveship Traders book. The plot moves a little more quickly, and there’s great character work turning the most insufferable figure from the previous story into a compelling protagonist. These features …
Book Review: Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy’s Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother by Sonia Nazario
Book #57 of 2018: Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy’s Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother by Sonia Nazario This true-life illegal immigration story is initially quite powerful, but it loses a lot of focus once its subject has successfully crossed the southern border into the United States. Before that, it’s a heartbreaking …
Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Book #56 of 2018: Cinder by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles #1) A sci-fi retelling of Snow White / Cinderella is a great story idea, but I’m a little underwhelmed at how author Marissa Meyer has exectued it here. The villains are pretty one-note, the love interest is whiny and entitled, and there are some …
TV Review: The Mindy Project, season 5
TV #13 of 2018: The Mindy Project, season 5 My previous criticisms of this show – namely its inconsistent characterization and plotting, heavy reliance on slapstick, revolving cast door, and frustrating politics – unfortunately apply to this penultimate season as well. (What better way to resolve a love triangle cliffhanger that ended the previous season …
Book Review: Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch
Book #55 of 2018: Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch The opening of this story about a boy working for a Victorian-era animal trader lulls a reader with Dickensian charm, but it all turns absolutely brutal by the end. After a pleasant start our urchin hero sails out of London in search of a Komodo dragon, …
Continue reading “Book Review: Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch”
Book Review: Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
Book #54 of 2018: Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive #3) I think I can honestly say this is the first time I’ve read a book of more than a thousand pages and thought that it should have been longer. Author Brandon Sanderson has always been juggling a lot of plots, characters, and worldbuilding …
Continue reading “Book Review: Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson”
Book Review: A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas
Book #53 of 2018: A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas (Lady Sherlock #1) I cannot over-emphasize how much I love Charlotte Holmes, author Sherry Thomas’s take on the famous consulting detective. She’s every bit as genius as the original figure, and Thomas writes insightfully about the restrictive Victorian gender roles that would stifle …
Continue reading “Book Review: A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas”
Book Review: Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff
Book #52 of 2018: Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff There are reasonable criticisms to be made about Michael Wolff’s inside account of the first six months of Donald Trump’s presidency, and I’m hesitant to trust any particular anecdote within. In general terms, however, the book paints a credible picture …
Continue reading “Book Review: Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff”
Book Review: Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
Book #51 of 2018: Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow This definitive biography of America’s controversial Founding Father is meticulously-researched, exhaustively-detailed, and above all engaging to read. It really brings the past to life, especially in relating the political struggles that took place after the Revolution as Alexander Hamilton and other patriots pursued different visions of …
Continue reading “Book Review: Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow”
The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 