Book #12 of 2023: Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (Earthsea #5) Although I’ve generally been enjoying the Earthsea setting / franchise, I confess that I expected this 2001 book of short stories to be somewhat extraneous and non-essential. Luckily, however, with the exception of the dry historical account “A Description of Earthsea” …
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Book #11 of 2023: The Burden by Mary Westmacott The sixth and final novel that author Agatha Christie published under her Mary Westmacott pseudonym is unfortunately also the weakest. It starts off alright, tracing the childhood of a girl whose mother and father both resent her for living when her older brother dies of polio, …
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Book #10 of 2023: After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid One-and-a-half stars, begrudgingly rounded up for my enjoyment of the heroine’s extended family. I nearly quit this book several times, and it’s by far my least favorite of the five Taylor Jenkins Reid titles I’ve now read. The characters are decently fleshed-out, and the …
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Book #9 of 2023: The Secret History by Donna Tartt I’ve seen so many book reviews and even official publishing descriptions that compare other titles to Donna Tartt’s The Secret History — it’s apparently a belated inspiration for the modern ‘dark academia’ genre — so I knew that I would eventually need to check out …
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TV #3 of 2023: Gilmore Girls, season 1 This will be at least my third full watch-through of Gilmore Girls, which I think speaks to the overall quality of the program, but also to the ways in which a multigenerational drama like this can resonate with various audiences at various ages. The first time I …
Book #8 of 2023: Book Lovers by Emily Henry Romance is not one of my typical genres, but every once in a while, a title picks up enough positive chatter to break through and catch my attention. It probably helps that this particular novel is about two very bookish characters — the heroine a literary …
Movie #1 of 2023: The Bob’s Burgers Movie (2022) This seemingly-unnecessary feature film installment for the long-running Fox cartoon turns out to be a delightful surprise, especially coming after several seasons of television that haven’t struck me as all too creatively fruitful. Perhaps the production team’s attention was on this project instead? Whatever the reason, …
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Book #7 of 2023: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle I know this 1968 novel is a beloved fantasy classic for many, but I’ll admit that reading it for the first time today, I’ve struggled to connect with the characters or their story. The imagery is certainly beautiful enough, and the equity in gender …
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Book #6 of 2023: The Singer’s Gun by Emily St. John Mandel This sophomore work from 2010 is definitely an Emily St. John Mandel title, displaying that author’s trademark tendency towards a narrative that unfolds nonlinearly, disclosing new elements of explanatory character backstory well after we’ve been following the cast’s foibles in the present day. …
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Book #5 of 2023: Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn (Legendborn #2) The plot in the middle of this YA fantasy sequel picks up a little, but the beginning spends too long reiterating the overall premise — a Black teenager from North Carolina finds herself the unlikely inheritor of King Arthur’s magical powers, which she must use …
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