Book #98 of 2026: Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S. C. Gwynne An interesting topic that I’d previously known little about, how the warriors of the nomadic Comanche tribe resisted (and terrorized) white settlers across the …
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TV Review: Mad Men, season 1
TV #29 of 2026: Mad Men, season 1 There’s a lot to enjoy in the first season of this stylish period drama, which is already living up to its reputation as one of the better shows of the so-called Peak TV era. It’s an antihero character study supported by a healthy ensemble — nearer to …
Movie Review: Clerks II (2006)
Movie #30 of 2026: Clerks II (2006) Probably nobody’s favorite Kevin Smith picture, but a perfectly cromulent film nonetheless. It’s a worthy follow-up to the writer-director’s 1994 debut, bringing back the characters of Dante and Randal for a repeat round of dead-end drudgery while they indulge in existential crises and vulgarity respectively in front of …
Book Review: Meet the Newmans by Jennifer Niven
Book #97 of 2026: Meet the Newmans by Jennifer Niven I was expecting this story about a family with their own sixties sitcom to read like Taylor Jenkins Reid, but I don’t think author Jennifer Niven does nearly as good a job at channeling the historical era. I also don’t care for how she populates …
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Book Review: The Chosen by Chaim Potok
Book #96 of 2026: The Chosen by Chaim Potok First published in 1967 and set in the waning days and aftermath of World War II, this bestseller presents readers with a nuanced impression of American Judaism and some of its internal divisions. Author Chaim Potok at times veers too far in that direction and reduces …
Book Review: Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson
Book #95 of 2026: Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson If S. A. Cosby ever turned his hand to writing Stephen King-style supernatural horror, the result might be something like this: a 70s revenge noir in which a Vietnam veteran bartender and his teenage niece embark on a cross-country journey to track down the vampire who …
Movie Review: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
Movie #29 of 2026: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) It should be no surprise that a movie built around the stoner comic relief from Kevin Smith’s View Askewniverse turns out to be so slapsticky and crude, and if you can manage to get on that level, there are genuine laughs to be found …
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Book Review: As Many Souls as Stars by Natasha Siegel
Book #94 of 2026: As Many Souls as Stars by Natasha Siegel This title offers an exquisite toxic lesbian horror-fantasy romance that is easily my top new read of 2026 so far. It’s everything that I wanted and didn’t quite get from last year’s Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, whose angsty vampires never …
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Book Review: Jupiter by Ben Bova
Book #93 of 2026: Jupiter by Ben Bova I’m not convinced that this story about an established research station orbiting Jupiter really is the next chronologically in Ben Bova’s Grand Tour sequence after The Precipice, in which humanity was first starting to mine the asteroid belt for resources, but that’s what the late author’s website …
Book Review: Doctor Who: Shirley Jackson and the Chaos Box by Kalynn Bayron
Book #92 of 2026: Doctor Who: Shirley Jackson and the Chaos Box by Kalynn Bayron (Icons #3) Pretty good as a Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby story, neatly slipping into the dynamic they shared together over their one season on TV. I can’t help feeling like the title figure falls through the cracks a bit, though, …
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