Book #226 of 2021: The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo Overall I find this retelling of The Great Gatsby to be an improvement on the original, to which it has added some light touches of sorcery and demons. The biggest change is its queer reading of most of the cast, with Daisy, Jay, …
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Book #225 of 2021: The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix Author Grady Hendrix’s latest novel diverges from his usual supernatural fare, while still delivering a killer [sorry] premise: that a collection of the young women who have survived till the end of slasher-movie style attacks are now in group therapy together, only for …
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TV #62 of 2021: Leverage: Redemption, season 1 I enjoyed the original 2008-2012 run of Leverage, but I’m not sure there was any pressing need for this modern reboot of the Robin Hood-minded heist show, especially without former star Timothy Hutton (and with costar Aldis Hodge limited to two appearances). While it’s as fun as …
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Book #224 of 2021: The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story by Stephen R. Donaldson (The Gap Cycle #1) This is a difficult book to read, putting us into the mind of one of the vilest science-fiction protagonists ever created. Angus Thermopyle is not an interstellar pirate in the charming rogue sense; he’s an amoral …
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Book #223 of 2021: The Change by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #13) True to its title, this is one of the most consequential early Animorphs novels, coming just late enough in the franchise (around a quarter through) that the disruption to the prior status quo is completely unexpected and thrillingly carried off. That element is …
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Book #222 of 2021: Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #19) This 1938 novel doesn’t quite have that subtle spark of ingenuity that distinguishes the stronger Agatha Christie titles from her typical output, but it is overall a fine caper with the erstwhile detective Hercule Poirot. Still on vacation abroad, he stumbles upon …
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Book #221 of 2021: Doctor Who: Adventures in Lockdown edited by Steve Cole This 2020 publication is a lovely collection of short fiction, all either written during the COVID-19 pandemic or at least unreleased until then. Only three of the sixteen entries are brand-new for this title; most were posted free online over the course …
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Book #220 of 2021: Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #40) Author Terry Pratchett is pretty reliably funny, and if you approach his individual books as scaffolding devices for his specific brand of clever humor, outrageous puns, and insightful commentary on our own society by means of its satirical fantasy version, this one is another …
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Book #219 of 2021: Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O’Neal Given the title of this YA novel, I hope it’s not too much of a spoiler to mention that there’s a literal werewolf in it, even though that fact isn’t confirmed until almost a third of the way through. But both before and …
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TV #61 of 2021: The Americans, season 6 A time-skip is an inherently risky creative maneuver, introducing discontinuities that can suspend audience investment in the ongoing narrative and generate boring mysteries of the what-do-these-characters-know-that-we-don’t variety. (Both examples are apparent in the final season of Parks and Recreation, to note just one prominent example.) There are …
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