Book #216 of 2017: Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #19) Terry Pratchett’s City Watch novels have been steadily improving as the Discworld sub-series goes along, and this third book continues that happy trend. Whereas the introduction of nonhuman characters into the Watch in the previous volume felt largely like an unfunny joke about …
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Book #215 of 2017: Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters I have to admit, I had some doubts that a white author like Ben H. Winters would be able to bring the necessary sensitivity for this alternate-history novel of a modern America that never fully abolished slavery. Ultimately, though, I decided to trust Winters on …
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Book #214 of 2019: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne On both a plot and a writing level, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child falls far below the previous Potter books — perhaps reflecting the fact that J. K. Rowling was not involved in the actual writing process. (She’s merely one of …
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Book #213 of 2017: The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King (The Dark Tower #2) Although this second novel in the Dark Tower series takes place just after the first, author Stephen King hits the ground running with immediate deadly peril and a propulsive cross-dimensional adventure. It’s a dramatic shift in pace from the …
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Book #212 of 2017: Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger A short but intriguing read on how close social ties may help mitigate against depression, PTSD, and other mental conditions. I thought the author relied on several assumptions that a longer work could have better interrogated, but it’s an interesting thesis with some …
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Book #211 of 2017: The Fate of the Tearling by Erika Johansen (The Queen of the Tearling #3) There are a lot of scenes in this final novel of the Tearling trilogy that feel intended to be climactic but have little narrative build behind them – either in this book or the two before it …
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Book #210 of 2017: What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton This book represents a deeply personal reflection from Hillary Clinton on her loss in the 2016 presidential election. She knows full well that many people are tired of relitigating the campaign, and that some would even like her to disappear from public life forever, but …
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Movie #17 of 2017: La La Land (2016) I liked this movie, but I certainly didn’t love it or think it deserved all of its awards and accolades. I think a lot of my reaction stems from Ryan Gosling’s character, who I never thought showed anything close to a redeeming quality. (Seriously, he gets fired …
Book #209 of 2017: Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach Mary Roach’s in-depth look at the human digestive process is pretty gross, but thankfully less stomach-churning than her earlier book on dead bodies. (The author’s irreverent tone works better here too, where the lighter subject matter makes her jokes come off as …
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Book 208 of 2017: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann A creepy true-crime account of the serial murders that plagued the Osage Indian Nation in the early 20th century, as outsiders sought to gain access to the tribe’s lucrative oil business. The investigation into …
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