Book #290 of 2020: Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam There’s a decent pandemic-appropriate hook to this 2020 suburban thriller — in which the family renting a rural vacation house are surprised by the late-night arrival of a couple identifying themselves as the owners, who have driven in from the city due to a …
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Book #289 of 2020: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn This 1962 novel is a short but striking depiction of a Soviet-era labor camp, drawn from author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s own Gulag experiences. It lives up to its title, presenting more of a snapshot than any particular plot, but the details …
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Book #288 of 2020: Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #9) Also published under the title Thirteen at Dinner, this is another solid mystery from author Agatha Christie, satisfying but not especially revelatory in its ultimate solution. The early chapters drag a bit until Poirot and Hastings reach the fairly obvious conclusion that …
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Book #287 of 2020: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia #5) This was always my favorite Narnia volume growing up, and it turns out I actually like it even better as an adult. The nautical adventure is episodic but fun, and the way the children travel from …
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Book #286 of 2020: I Want To Be Where the Normal People Are by Rachel Bloom A short but funny memoir / comedy essay collection from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend creator and star Rachel Bloom. It’s not as entertaining as that show, and contains fewer behind-the-scenes stories than I would have hoped, but the author is refreshingly …
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Book #285 of 2020: Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro Although the narrative loses a little focus and momentum in its back half, for the most part this is a strikingly original post-apocalyptic fantasy, rich in #ownvoices Latinx cultural details and queer representation and distinctive in structure as one long chapterless text addressed …
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Book #284 of 2020: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix This urban fantasy reads like a quirkier Neverwhere, and its worldbuilding isn’t really distinctive enough to merit all the heavy infodumps in the first half of the novel. I know from works like Sabriel that author Garth Nix can introduce a setting more …
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TV #52 of 2020: Fargo, season 4 The latest year of this midwestern crime drama is circling an interesting idea of rival families exchanging child hostages a la Game of Thrones, but there’s not much of a plot to latch onto here beyond random violence. The most intriguing element, a 1950s black mafia, isn’t really …
Book #283 of 2020: Soulswift by Megan Bannen Too many little things bug me about this standalone fantasy novel for me to rate it highly, but I think it will find a receptive audience among the YA star-crossed-lovers crowd. The arc of two sworn enemies gradually growing more tender towards one another is well-wrought, and …
Book #282 of 2020: Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive #3.5) This novella was released shortly before the fourth proper Stormlight volume, initially as a Kickstarter exclusive, and I have to admit that I didn’t have great hopes for it despite generally enjoying author Brandon Sanderson’s works. I know plenty of folks will skip …
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