Book #217 of 2021: The Reaction by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #12) Another goofy one-off premise, this time involving Rachel’s allergic reaction to the DNA of a crocodile she acquires. (At least the Sario Rip of the previous novel’s time-travel eventually comes up again; the idea of a morphing allergy and the ensuing ‘hereth illint’ …
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Book #216 of 2021: Jews Versus Zombies edited by Lavie Tidhar and Rebecca Levene I like this short story collection marginally better than its sister volume on extraterrestrials — my individual ratings average to 3.25 out of five stars this time, an improvement on my previous 2.5 — but it’s still a decidedly mixed bag …
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Book #215 of 2021: While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams A hokey but entertaining legal-political thriller, sort of halfway between John Grisham and Dan Brown. You have to really not think too hard about some of the developments here, beginning with the initial premise of a Supreme Court justice putting himself into a medical coma …
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Book #214 of 2021: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (Aristotle and Dante #1) With its sequel due this fall, I figured I should finally check out this acclaimed 2012 Young Adult title about two Mexican-American best friends. I’d seen it described as a queer coming-of-age story, which …
Book #213 of 2021: The Atlas of the Land by Karen Wynn Fonstad This reference book is a true labor of love for the first six volumes in Stephen R. Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant fantasy series. (It was published in 1985, well before the final quartet arrived. And it’s been out of print ever …
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TV #60 of 2021: Justified, season 6 There are elements in Justified that have kept me from ever wholly embracing the show, but it goes out on perhaps its finest run yet, an operatic movement that delivers poetic justice to most of our major players. True to its roots in the fiction of Elmore Leonard, …
Book #212 of 2021: Lux: A Texas Reckoners Novel by Brandon Sanderson and Steven Michael Bohls Although not a complete misfire, this YA spinoff prequel — currently only available on audio, with print and ebook editions eventually to follow — comes up decidedly short when weighed against the original Reckoners trilogy and author Brandon Sanderson’s …
Book #211 of 2021: The Forgotten by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #11) In the first half of this story, the Animorphs are investigating a spaceship crash site, eventually embarking on a plan to steal the vessel and fly it to the White House. It’s one of those tossed-off elements that the series never really thinks …
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Book #210 of 2021: Lost Light by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch #9) This Harry Bosch title is told in first-person narration, which is a slight but noticeable deviation from the third-person-limited perspective of the last eight novels. It’s not immediately clear why the new POV has been adopted, although it may have to do with …
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Book #209 of 2021: Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm by Robin DiAngelo This new release from racial sensitivity trainer Robin DiAngelo is an excellent follow-up to her earlier book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. (And they do appear to form a single curriculum; …
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