TV #29 of 2021: Killing Eve, season 2 Although the effect isn’t felt right away, this season ends up representing a major step down from the show’s electrifying debut. As often happens in such cases, a change in showrunners is likely to blame — and I wonder if the outgoing Phoebe Waller-Bridge had already begun …
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Book Review: The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston
Book #82 of 2021: The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston An interesting account of a 21st-century expedition to a pre-Columbian ruin, although the whole venture is pretty thoroughly drenched in colonialism and an outdated Indiana Jones style of archaeology, in which westerners brave the ‘unexplored’ ‘wilderness’ in search of ‘forgotten’ civilizations …
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Book Review: Faye, Faraway by Helen Fisher
Book #81 of 2021: Faye, Faraway by Helen Fisher For the most part, this novel (published in certain countries under the alternate title Space Hopper) is simply a lovely story about a woman time-traveling back to visit with the mother who passed away when she was a young girl. I appreciate how the narrative doesn’t …
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TV Review: Community, season 5
TV #28 of 2021: Community, season 5 This is a year for the sitcom that’s clearly in transition, with the return of showrunner/creator Dan Harmon after a season off, the departure of two original cast members, and a few necessary tweaks to the general premise. The solution to the question of how one still tells …
Book Review: The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
Book #80 of 2021: The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander A fine but largely unremarkable collection of prequel tales to author Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain (which I just realized I finished reading two years ago today). It’s an early look at a few familiar characters like Fflewddur or Dallben, coupled …
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Book Review: Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry by Harry Kemelman
Book #79 of 2021: Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry by Harry Kemelman (The Rabbi Small Mysteries #2) A disappointing follow-up to Friday the Rabbi Slept Late. It’s still neat to see a Jewish author incorporating authentic lived details into mainstream fiction — a rarity today, let alone back in 1966 — but whereas the first …
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TV Review: Justified, season 3
TV #27 of 2021: Justified, season 3 Structurally, I can admire the way that this season brings its various story threads crashing together at the end, but I’m increasingly thinking that the larger series is just not a great fit for me. Even setting aside the copaganda aspects and the fact that the program continues …
Book Review: These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
Book #78 of 2021: These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong (These Violent Delights #1) This is a very loose retelling of Romeo and Juliet, pitching the star-crossed lovers as the respective heirs to two rival gang families in 1926 Shanghai. They’re also exes with complicated lingering feelings for one another rather than current sweethearts, with …
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Book Review: The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
Book #77 of 2021: The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna (Deathless #1) This fantasy novel has some interestingly eerie worldbuilding flourishes early on, but I’ve found the ensuing plot to be slow and overly predictable, which makes it hard to fully invest in the heroine’s journey, much as I always love to celebrate another dark-skinned …
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Book Review: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
Book #76 of 2021: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn #2) Another phenomenal piece of epic fantasy, juggling pulse-pounding cinematic action, endearing characters, court intrigue, worldbuilding revelations, and even a hidden traitor subplot with apparent ease. Although I miss the feeling of daringly clever heist shenanigans from the first novel, this sequel is …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 