TV #50 of 2017: Orange Is the New Black, season 4 Still a powerhouse this many seasons in, with an ever-deepening roster of characters and flashbacks. It’s hard to really discuss the arc of season 4 without spoilers, but it was a powerful indictment of the corporate prison system, with inefficiencies and unchecked (if not …
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Book #150 of 2016: The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein A heartbreaking novel that kept making me want to run home and hug my wife and my dog as tight as I can. This story of a family from the perspective of their dog is terrifically written, but only really recommended …
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Book #149 of 2016: The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie (Superintendent Battle #1) More a comedy of errors than a true murder mystery, Agatha Christie’s The Secret of Chimneys relied a bit too heavily on coincidence for my liking. (It was also the first Christie book that I was able solve before the end, …
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Movie #24 of 2016: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) My favorite sort of prequel, that slots neatly into the existing continuity without the need for retconning AND enhances the viewer’s appreciation of certain elements in the original material. Rogue One is a little clunky, especially towards the beginning, but it’s still a phenomenal …
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Movie #23 of 2016: Die Hard (1988) Another old favorite that my wife hadn’t seen (and another “Christmas movie” in that it’s set around the holidays, although that’s honestly not such a huge part of the film). This is a classic for a reason, with great performances from young Alan Rickman and Bruce Willis and …
Movie #22 of 2016: Bad Santa (2003) A family favorite that my wife had never seen before (and that I hadn’t watched in probably ten years). I don’t really have any interest in seeing the new sequel – which looked pretty awful from the trailers – but the original is a non-stop laugh riot. Very …
Book #148 of 2016: Seize the Day by Saul Bellow “You can spend the entire second half of your life recovering from the mistakes of the first half.” So laments Tommy Wilhelm in this tightly-focused character study of a New York City Jew longing for a fresh start but unable to find his way there. …
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Book #147 of 2016: Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou A short but powerful essay collection, pivoting back and forth between Angelou’s personal memoirs and her observations / advice for how to live a decent life to the fullest. Although framed as though addressed to her child, it is of course a great read …
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Book #146 of 2016: Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling More heartwarming and less offensive than her previous book. I couldn’t always relate to the situations Mindy describes from her life – like how hard it is to balance dating a White House staffer with being a world-famous television star – but this was a …
Book #145 of 2016: Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry (The Giver #2) Not nearly as good as The Giver, and also entirely unconnected despite being marketed as a companion novel / sequel. (I’ve been told they tie together in a later book in the series, but on their own this one and The Giver are …
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