Book #143 of 2020: The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein A rather dry account of an interesting and important topic. Author Richard Rothstein walks readers through various related factors that have led to black families being congregated within lower-resourced ‘inner cities’ across America, from overtly …
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TV Review: Shameless, season 5
TV #23 of 2020: Shameless, season 5 After a season of unusual focus and compelling character drama, it is disappointing but I suppose not surprising to see Shameless crashing back into its usual brand of messiness. I don’t mind these characters being self-destructive, but I do mind the lazy writing that too often lets them …
Book Review: Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
Book #142 of 2020: Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice I really like the #ownvoices details that author Waubgeshig Rice brings to this novel about a Canadian Anishinaabe reservation going through the apparent collapse of all wider society in the heart of winter. That First Nations perspective builds an interesting dynamic into the …
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Book Review: The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien
Book #141 of 2020: The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings #2) This second volume of the epic fantasy classic continues the charm and adventure of the debut, with further settings, concepts, and character moments that have proved indelible upon both the literary genre that followed and myself as …
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Book Review: The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa
Book #140 of 2020: The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa First published a quarter-century ago and re-released last year in a new English translation, this Japanese novel offers a quiet and sorrowful dystopia. The tale is set on an island where people are gradually forgetting the function of everyday things like ribbons and candies, and …
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Book Review: Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
Book #139 of 2020: Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi Published in early 2016, this is a meticulously thorough presentation of American anti-black racism and notions of race more generally, from pre-revolutionary slavery through the extrajudicial killings that sparked the modern #BlackLivesMatter movement. The material …
Book Review: Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold by Stephen Fry
Book #138 of 2020: Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold by Stephen Fry (Great Mythology #1) I’m giving this book the same three-star rating that I gave to Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology, since they strike me as very similar achievements: modern updates to ancient legends, synthesized and presented with a master storyteller’s flare. Like that project, …
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Book Review: Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
Book #137 of 2020: Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand This YA paranormal thriller has too many issues for me as a reader, from the three viewpoint protagonists being too similar in character voice to the one-dimensional villains who bluntly state their chauvinism to some bizarre facets of the underlying mythology that eventually come to light. …
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Book Review: We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix
Book #136 of 2020: We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix Another great horror vehicle from author Grady Hendrix, who is quickly becoming one of my favorites in that genre. He excels at finding the dark supernatural underbelly of the mundane, this time in a musical group trading in their artistic integrity for the payout …
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Book Review: Star Wars: Queen’s Peril by E. K. Johnston
Book #135 of 2020: Star Wars: Queen’s Peril by E. K. Johnston This Star Wars novel has a few neat moments — like handmaiden Sabé’s brief female love interest — but is overall far too disjointed to be effective. It’s a prelude to the first prequel movie followed by a retelling of that film’s events …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 