Book #296 of 2021: On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder This slim volume was published as a very pointed commentary on the newly-inaugurated President Trump, based on his despotic-leaning words and deeds throughout the 2016 campaign. It still works outside of that context, sort of, especially in its warnings of …
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Book Review: The Hork-Bajir Chronicles by K. A. Applegate
Book #295 of 2021: The Hork-Bajir Chronicles by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs Chronicles #2) This prequel is the richest and most complex entry in the Animorphs franchise yet, even more so than The Andalite Chronicles, which I believe was the last time in this series reread that I ventured that claim. It’s also the earliest …
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TV Review: Star Wars Resistance, season 1
TV #78 of 2021: Star Wars Resistance, season 1 The debut run of this Star Wars cartoon about the lead-up to The Force Awakens gets marginally better in its last few episodes, but for the most part, it’s a real exercise in frustration. Despite the title and the hero’s nominal role as a spy, the …
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Book Review: Echo Park by Michael Connelly
Book #294 of 2021: Echo Park by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch #12) Bosch’s latest encounter with a serial killer is a bit rote, and a twist midway through — that the criminal is innocent of one particular murder, which a corrupt attorney got him to confess to as part of a secret deal — is …
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Movie Review: Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Movie #7 of 2021: Star Trek: First Contact (1996) This is among the better Star Trek films I’ve seen so far, and a definite improvement on Generations, the previous outing with the cast of TNG. Neither the plot nor everyone’s characterization makes complete sense, but the effects are great, and the story generally zips along …
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Book Review: N or M? by Agatha Christie
Book #293 of 2021: N or M? by Agatha Christie (Tommy and Tuppence #3) In this 1941 spy thriller, author Agatha Christie reprises her characters of Tommy and Tuppence, last seen in 1929’s short story collection Partners in Crime. The ‘young adventurers’ are now middle-aged and chafing at not being allowed to assist on the …
TV Review: Star Trek: Voyager, season 2
TV #77 of 2021: Star Trek: Voyager, season 2 Overall I would say that this season is a step down from the first, especially when you factor in a few real clunkers like “Tattoo,” “Threshold,” and “Elogium.” Luckily it also has bright spots along the lines of “Deadlock” and “Tuvix,” although the script of the …
Book Review: From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement by Paula Yoo
Book #292 of 2021: From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement by Paula Yoo An informative account of the titular 1982 assault and how it led to more widespread recognition of racial discrimination against Asian Americans, as well as a greater …
Book Review: The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer
Book #291 of 2021: The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer I do like this YA sci-fi novel about a pair of queer teens from rival nations alone on a spaceship, but the big twists in the piece are all pretty predictable right from the start, when they wake up to missing memories and an …
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Book Review: Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage by William Loren Katz
Book #290 of 2021: Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage by William Loren Katz An interesting but fairly short and disjointed history text, even in this expanded 25th-anniversary edition of the original 1986 release. The subject, tracing the interactions between various black and Native American populations and documenting the lives of people with joint heritage among …
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