Book #100 of 2026: The Golem of Brooklyn by Adam Mansbach A golem is a creature out of Jewish mythology, said to be carved from clay and brought to life with the proper incantations to defend its maker’s community during times of strife. This 2023 volume places one in a modern madcap satire, although I’d …
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Book #99 of 2026: The Midnight Train by Matt Haig (The Midnight World #2) I don’t like the beginning of this story nearly as much as author Matt Haig’s previous novel The Midnight Library — to which it is eventually revealed to be a spinoff sequel — but it grows into itself once it develops …
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Book #98 of 2026: Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S. C. Gwynne An interesting topic that I’d previously known little about, how the warriors of the nomadic Comanche tribe resisted (and terrorized) white settlers across the …
TV #29 of 2026: Mad Men, season 1 There’s a lot to enjoy in the first season of this stylish period drama, which is already living up to its reputation as one of the better shows of the so-called Peak TV era. It’s an antihero character study supported by a healthy ensemble — nearer to …
Movie #30 of 2026: Clerks II (2006) Probably nobody’s favorite Kevin Smith picture, but a perfectly cromulent film nonetheless. It’s a worthy follow-up to the writer-director’s 1994 debut, bringing back the characters of Dante and Randal for a repeat round of dead-end drudgery while they indulge in existential crises and vulgarity respectively in front of …
Book #97 of 2026: Meet the Newmans by Jennifer Niven I was expecting this story about a family with their own sixties sitcom to read like Taylor Jenkins Reid, but I don’t think author Jennifer Niven does nearly as good a job at channeling the historical era. I also don’t care for how she populates …
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Book #96 of 2026: The Chosen by Chaim Potok First published in 1967 and set in the waning days and aftermath of World War II, this bestseller presents readers with a nuanced impression of American Judaism and some of its internal divisions. Author Chaim Potok at times veers too far in that direction and reduces …
Book #95 of 2026: Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson If S. A. Cosby ever turned his hand to writing Stephen King-style supernatural horror, the result might be something like this: a 70s revenge noir in which a Vietnam veteran bartender and his teenage niece embark on a cross-country journey to track down the vampire who …
Movie #29 of 2026: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) It should be no surprise that a movie built around the stoner comic relief from Kevin Smith’s View Askewniverse turns out to be so slapsticky and crude, and if you can manage to get on that level, there are genuine laughs to be found …
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Book #94 of 2026: As Many Souls as Stars by Natasha Siegel This title offers an exquisite toxic lesbian horror-fantasy romance that is easily my top new read of 2026 so far. It’s everything that I wanted and didn’t quite get from last year’s Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, whose angsty vampires never …
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