Movie #2 of 2018: Black Panther (2018) Easily my favorite thing that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has done to date – and I’ve seen all the movies but Spider-Man: Homecoming, as well as every episode of every MCU show. This one tops them all thanks to its rich worldbuilding, complex characterizations & relationships, and the …
Author Archives: Joe Kessler
Book Review: Mind of My Mind by Octavia E. Butler
Book #36 of 2018: Mind of My Mind by Octavia E. Butler (Patternist #2) Octavia Butler wrote the Patternist books all out of chronological order (5-2-4-1-3), but I’m reading them as they take place. This book, the second by either measure, shows the creation of the Patternist network of telepaths that gives the series its …
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Book Review: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Book #35 of 2018: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe This classic man-versus-nature castaway novel has been hugely influential, but it’s pretty rough for a modern reader. 300 years after its initial publication the plot feels threadbare and glacially slow, with little to distract from the author / narrator’s racist views on the inferiority of Africans …
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Book Review: The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore
Book #34 of 2018: The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore This is an interesting account of two black boys with the same name who grew up in similar Baltimore neighborhoods, one of whom became a Rhodes scholar and one of whom is now serving a life sentence without parole. Both …
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Book Review: A Beautiful, Terrible Thing: A Memoir of Marriage and Betrayal by Jen Waite
Book #33 of 2018: A Beautiful, Terrible Thing: A Memoir of Marriage and Betrayal by Jen Waite On the one hand: this is a gripping true story, told engagingly in alternating chapters of the author first falling in love with her husband and then discovering years later that he’s been harboring a dark secret. On …
Book Review: Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man’s Fundamentals for Delicious Living by Nick Offerman
Book #32 of 2018: Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man’s Fundamentals for Delicious Living by Nick Offerman Not nearly as funny as I expected from a comedian of Nick Offerman’s caliber. I still enjoyed the autobiographical sections on the author’s bucolic childhood and subsequent acting career, but without more jokes to leaven the life advice …
Book Review: Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View edited by Elizabeth Schaefer
Book #31 of 2018: Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View edited by Elizabeth Schaefer In honor of the 40th anniversary of the first Star Wars movie, this book presents 40 short stories retelling the events of that film from the perspective of various minor characters — from Jawas to stormtroopers to the thing …
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Book Review: Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor
Book #30 of 2018: Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #3) I’m satisfied by the conclusion of this trilogy, but I do find it a tad underwhelming after that excellent middle volume. There’s a lot of attention given to a brand-new viewpoint character of dubious importance to the …
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Book Review: Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Book #29 of 2018: Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz The entire first half of this novel is an extended Agatha Christie pastiche, wherein a Poirot-like detective investigates some suspicious deaths in a quiet English village. It’s very well done, and would be a fun pastoral whodunnit even on its own merits. But as it turns …
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Book Review: Warp by Lev Grossman
Book #28 of 2018: Warp by Lev Grossman It turns out this short first novel by The Magicians author Lev Grossman went out of print for a reason, and the success of that later work doesn’t really justify this new edition. You can almost see the origins of Magicians hero Quentin Coldwater in its aimless …
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