TV #5 of 2017: The Good Place, season 1 I love this show so much! Kristen Bell plays a dead woman who gets welcomed to the show’s version of heaven for living such a good life – except there must have been some kind of mix-up, because she was actually kind of a terrible person …
Author Archives: Joe Kessler
TV Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 1
TV #4 of 2017: Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 1 Ah, the next stage in my quest to watch all of Star Trek from the beginning. So far, I would say that TNG is about on par with the original series – which is both a good and a bad thing, of course. It’s …
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Book Review: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Book #8 of 2017: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (Inkworld #1) Inkheart is that rare book that feels like coming home to an old favorite the very first time you read it. This story of a father and daughter who can bring to life characters from the books they read shares more than a little DNA …
TV Review: Orphan Black, season 4
TV #3 of 2017: Orphan Black, season 4 As usual with Orphan Black, this season was a mixed bag. On the plus side: more Krystal and actual honest-to-goodness extended flashback scenes with Beth. On the minus… well, the storylines on this show have long since stopped making any sort of sense, to be honest. I …
Book Review: You May Also Like: Taste in an Age of Endless Choice by Tom Vanderbilt
Book #7 of 2017: You May Also Like: Taste in an Age of Endless Choice by Tom Vanderbilt A sprawling but deeply engrossing read on how personal tastes function: why we like the things we like, how tastes intersect with our social identities, and how context-dependent, variable, and ultimately arbitrary those preferences can be. I …
Book Review: The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
Book #6 of 2017: The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (The Chocolate War #1) This early YA novel about a Catholic schoolboy resisting peer pressure to participate in a corrupt fundraising scheme didn’t really do it for me. The story was well-written, but the villains were all way too over the top to be taken …
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TV Review: 11.22.63
TV #2 of 2017: 11.22.63 I ended up really liking this adaptation of the Stephen King story where the guy goes back in time to try and save JFK, even though they changed a lot of what I loved about the book. But the core of the story is still there, and even James Franco …
Book Review: White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg
Book #5 of 2017: White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg An eye-opening account of class distinctions in America that have often been downplayed or ignored in popular history. Nancy Isenberg traces the white lower class from the early days of Bacon’s Rebellion through the populism of Andrew Jackson …
Book Review: The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller
Book #4 of 2017: The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller (Kingmaker, Kingbreaker #1) This was a pretty adequate fantasy novel. It wasn’t awful, but it was definitely bogged down by the slow reveal of its relevant worldbuilding and a perpetually surly protagonist whose only friends spend the whole novel lying to him. Things pick up …
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Book Review: A Saint on Death Row: The Story of Dominique Green by Thomas Cahill
Book #3 of 2017: A Saint on Death Row: The Story of Dominique Green by Thomas Cahill Green’s story is heartbreaking, but Thomas Cahill’s account of it really only scratches the surface. There’s pathos here for any reader already opposed to the death penalty, but not really any new information or insight that could sway …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 