Book #112 of 2016: A Whole New World by Liz Braswell (Twisted Tales #1) This novel offers a “what-if” spin on Disney’s animated Aladdin movie: what if the evil Jafar made wishes with the genie’s lamp before the hero got the chance? The result has some interesting moments, especially with Aladdin and Princess Jasmine leading …
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Book #111 of 2016: The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen (The Ascendance Trilogy #2) This book is the Catching Fire to its predecessor’s Hunger Games – a sequel that faces the tricky task of recapturing what readers loved about the very particular scenario of the first book. The plot mechanics that get the orphan-turned-king …
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Movie #21 of 2016: Hamilton’s America (2016) This documentary is a fun look at the Broadway musical sensation as well the real-life history of US Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. It’s informative enough on that last count that I could see schoolteachers getting away with playing it to their classes, and it’s charmingly bipartisan in having …
Book #110 of 2016: Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie (Imperial Radch #3) A tremendous end to the Imperial Radch trilogy, following several threads from the first two books to their natural conclusions in a way that still manages to surprise. Author Ann Leckie clearly has a lot of thoughts on the notions of consciousness, sentience, …
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Book #109 of 2016: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver The concept of a teenager reliving the same day over and over again (like in the movie Groundhog Day) is intriguing, and high school is a great setting to explore as a sprawling interconnected community that Samantha would ordinarily never get to see in its …
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Book #108 of 2016: The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie (Colonel Race #1) A fun, droll adventure elevated by the wit of its plucky heroine. Agatha Christie’s thrillers aren’t as beloved as her mysteries, but the author’s intricate plots with their well-disguised twists are just as enjoyable in this format. (This particular …
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Book #107 of 2016: A Fighting Chance by Elizabeth Warren Not what I was expecting, honestly. I’m a big fan of Senator Warren, and I imagined this book – her first since being elected – would be all about her economic views and the resulting political philosophy which together have made her so popular on …
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Book #106 of 2016: Goliath by Scott Westerfeld (Leviathan #3) A fun conclusion to Scott Westerfeld’s steampunk retelling of World War I. (Now with Nikola Tesla! At this point, I’m half-convinced that Westerfeld kept adding characters of new nationalities to the story just to hear audiobook reader Alan Cumming do more accents.) The action is …
Movie #20 of 2016: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) This movie is a little clunky at times, and definitely not in the same league as The Wrath of Khan or even The Voyage Home. But it mostly all works, and it’s still way better than Star Trek I, III, or V. It’s not …
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Book #105 of 2016: My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family’s Nazi Past by Jennifer Teege and Nikola Sellmair A powerful memoir, but one that I had to put down several times for something lighter. You might think the title would make the subject matter clear, but it actually doesn’t …
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