Book #56 of 2015: Graceling by Kristin Cashore (Graceling Realm #1) This is a book that really grew on me as it went along, especially as its feminist themes became clear. Cashore has a lot to say about the major and minor oppressions that women can face in a male-dominated society, as well as the …
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TV #28 of 2015: Louie, season 5 This latest run of Louie is far from Louis C.K.’s best work, but it’s also not bad enough yet for me to stop watching if the series ends up coming back for another round. If nothing else, I’m pretty invested in Jane and Lily’s development at this point, …
Movie #17 of 2015: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) [review originally posted 5/25/15] This is such a good movie on every level, from character to worldbuilding to plot to sheer pulse-pounding spectacle. I still have the film score roaring through my head, and I might need to go back and see it again in 3D. …
Movie #13 of 2015: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) This is such a good movie on every level, from character to worldbuilding to plot to sheer pulse-pounding spectacle. I still have the film score roaring through my head, and I might need to go back and see it again in 3D. This is easily my …
Book #54 of 2015: Every Day by David Levithan (Every Day #1) I really liked this story of an agender teenager who wakes up each morning in a different person’s body. I did think there were some ethical issues behind the premise that didn’t get explored (although there were a lot that did), and the …
TV #22 of 2015: Arrow, season 3 Although this season of Arrow does some much-needed rehabilitation of Thea and Laurel and gives us the joyous piece of human sunshine Ray Palmer for a hot second before he jumps ship to the new Arrowverse spinoff, overall it’s a bit of a letdown of illogical storytelling and …
Book #52 of 2015: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker I wasn’t sold at first, but I ended up really liking this story about two mythical beings in nineteenth-century New York. It definitely got better as it went along – the beginning is brimming with characters that don’t have a clear relation to …
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Book #45 of 2015: Perfect State by Brandon Sanderson This sci-fi novella is unfortunately the most disappointing thing I’ve ever read from Brandon Sanderson. (I guess something had to be…) It has some neat ideas, but for the most part they’re woefully unexplored, and the resolution just doesn’t hit the logical or emotional beats that …
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Book #42 of 2015: The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket (A Series of Unfortunate Events #4) I’ve yet to be really blown away by this series, and it’s getting harder to ignore their awful gender politics. Count Olaf’s (nonbinary?) lackey who looks like neither a man nor a woman is regularly treated as a grotesque …
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Book #41 of 2015: Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson by Randall Sullivan I don’t know how I feel about this one. I did learn a lot, and Michael Jackson had a very interesting life, but this narrative is a really disjointed telling of it. It keeps hopping around in time …
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