Movie #3 of 2017: Suicide Squad (2016) A complete mess, squandering some pretty good actors who make the most of the bad material they’re given. I’m not particularly invested in the DC Extended Universe in the first place, but this movie gave me absolutely no reason to rethink that decision. ★☆☆☆☆
Author Archives: Joe Kessler
Book Review: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Book #77 of 2017: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children #1) Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is basically about an X-Men sort of school populated by the children from creepy vintage trick photography, all of whom have real superpowers. (The actual photos that inspired particular characters or …
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Book Review: Mark of the Thief by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Book #76 of 2017: Mark of the Thief by Jennifer A. Nielsen (Mark of the Thief #1) I loved Jennifer A. Nielsen’s Ascendance trilogy, but this book (the start of a new series) felt really under-baked to me. The main character mostly just reacts to the decisions of others, his relationships nearly all seem plot-driven …
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Book Review: Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
Book #75 of 2017: Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie Completely deserving of its status as classic literature, with an appropriately timeless archetype at its center. I’m really glad I finally got around to reading this; the familiar story is so much deeper and weirder in its original form than I’d ever imagined. There’s a …
Book Review: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
Book #74 of 2017: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (The Crossover #1) I’m generally not big on either novels in verse or stories that center around sports, but Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover won me over despite being both. It helps that this is a shorter book for middle-grade readers, but also the author’s characters feel …
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Book Review: Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke
Book #73 of 2017: Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke (Inkworld #3) This was an okay adventure story, but it dragged a lot in the middle, and the returning characters felt nothing like the people they were in the first two books. This trilogy has really offered diminishing returns as it went along, so as much as …
Book Review: The End by Lemony Snicket
Book #72 of 2017: The End by Lemony Snicket (A Series of Unfortunate Events #13) The A Series of Unfortunate Events books have always made clear that the Baudelaires are only a small part of a much larger story that is playing out mostly beyond our view. That expansiveness isn’t a problem per se, but …
Book Review: The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star by Nikki Sixx with Ian Gittins
Book #71 of 2017: The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock Star by Nikki Sixx with Ian Gittins A series of diary entries from Mötley Crüe musician Nikki Sixx, annotated 20 years later by Sixx, his bandmates, and other colleagues. The diary was written during a time of intense drug …
TV Review: New Girl, season 6
TV #13 of 2017: New Girl, season 6 I might be mistaken about this, but my understanding is that Fox has not yet made a decision as to whether to renew New Girl or not, so season 6 may be the last season that we get. And honestly, I’d be perfectly happy if that turns …
TV Review: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, season 2
TV #12 of 2017: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, season 2 This show is still goofy as hell, but this season is a big improvement over the first one. Mostly that’s because it finally leans into the wacky fun of the premise, offering up loads of the ridiculous comic book stuff that its more serious sister …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 