Book #45 of 2023: Lirael by Garth Nix (The Old Kingdom #2) Another fine fantasy adventure, although I have never loved it quite as much as its predecessor. Jumping forward a couple decades and following an entirely new cast is a risky maneuver, and while I feel it pays off fairly well, I do miss …
Author Archives: Joe Kessler
TV Review: Six Feet Under, season 2
TV #11 of 2023: Six Feet Under, season 2 Credit where credit’s due: the second year of this funeral home drama is a noticeable step up from the first, and it continues to improve over the course of its run, building to a finale that’s a clear series high point thus far. The show appears …
Book Review: Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie
Book #44 of 2023: Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #36) I like the espionage hijinks of this novel, although the plot never reaches the thrills of author Agatha Christie’s stories that are more focused in that domain, such as those in her Tommy and Tuppence series. And the setting of a …
Continue reading “Book Review: Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie”
Book Review: What Happened To You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD and Oprah Winfrey
Book #43 of 2023: What Happened To You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD and Oprah Winfrey A difficult but insightful read, with lots of detailed discussion about early childhood traumas, including the specific situations of kids who witnessed or experienced sexual abuse and graphic violence. As a parent …
TV Review: The Shield, season 5
TV #10 of 2023: The Shield, season 5 Easily the best run of this series since the first. Forest Whitaker is an outstanding new addition to the cast, and while it’s simple to peg him as the latest Hollywood heavy hitter to come to TV for a one-season arc — like Glenn Close the year …
Book Review: Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
Book #42 of 2023: Belladonna by Adalyn Grace (Belladonna #1) I realize that some of my issues with this title stem from my personal tastes, and that other readers may find themselves more able to get on its particular wavelength. (It might be popular among the Twilight crowd, for instance?) Certainly, if I had realized …
Book Review: Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White
Book #41 of 2023: Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White Living in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by mutant abominations is tough. Especially if you’re Benji, a trans kid being held prisoner by the fundamentalist cult who originally unleashed the plague and have now injected him with an experimental strain to create their greatest …
Continue reading “Book Review: Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White”
Book Review: Dark One: Forgotten by Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells
Book #40 of 2023: Dark One: Forgotten by Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells [Disclaimer: I am Facebook friends with the first author.] I’m torn between three and four stars for this title. I have enough critiques and reservations that I think I’ll go with the lower rating, but I have enjoyed it, for the most …
Continue reading “Book Review: Dark One: Forgotten by Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells”
TV Review: Star Trek: Enterprise, season 2
TV #9 of 2023: Star Trek: Enterprise, season 2 I will grudgingly allow that this sophomore season represents a degree of improvement over its shaky predecessor. While the early 2000s Trek prequel series remains the weakest iteration of the franchise that I’ve seen to date, the typical episode in this second year generally approaches the …
Continue reading “TV Review: Star Trek: Enterprise, season 2”
Book Review: Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson
Book #39 of 2023: Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson A fun novella-length follow-up to Margaret Rogerson’s earlier fantasy novel Sorcery of Thorns. With minimal plot and a fairly narrow scope, it’s not a full-on sequel — she describes it on Goodreads as “author written fanfiction” — but simply a chance to spend a …
Continue reading “Book Review: Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson”
The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 