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Book Review: The Astral Library by Kate Quinn
Book #77 of 2026: The Astral Library by Kate Quinn I struggled a lot with this heroine early on, finding her woe-is-me, not-like-other-girls attitude incredibly childish and off-putting. She’s also the sort of character who bemoans her supposedly plain looks while ignoring how the romantic interest is practically throwing himself at her feet in worship. …
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TV Review: Barry, season 1
TV #24 of 2026: Barry, season 1 SNL alumnus Bill Hader isn’t as funny in the title role of this series as I would have expected, but he’s certainly not the first established comedian to pivot to a more dramatic footing (Bryan Cranston and Bob Odenkirk both coming immediately to mind). And there is a …
Book Review: All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
Book #76 of 2026: All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker This novel carries a strong feeling of True Detective seasons 1 and 3 for me, and not only for the core plot involving a string of unsolved child abductions. It also spends a long time on people processing trauma and obsessing about …
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Book Review: Radiant Star by Ann Leckie
Book #75 of 2026: Radiant Star by Ann Leckie This latest entry is probably the weakest of the six novels in author Ann Leckie’s extended Imperial Radch saga so far, but it’s still an enjoyable enough time that I’m comfortable giving it three-and-a-half stars (radiant or otherwise), rounded up. It takes place during / after …
Movie Review: Clerks (1994)
Movie #24 of 2026: Clerks (1994) Even on a rewatch decades on, Clerks feels like a marvel. Filmed in black-and-white on a shoestring budget in the adjoining convenience and video rental stores where writer-director Kevin Smith worked at the time, it captures the aimless Gen X burnout spirit of works like Office Space (1999), but …
Book Review: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Book #74 of 2026: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke A neat premise, a compellingly unlikeable narrator reminiscent of June in Yellowface, and a scathing critique of the tradwife / manosphere / social media influencer ecosystem. What’s not to love? Natalie is one of those women peddling a faux traditional lifestyle to her millions of followers …
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Book Review: Fully Loaded by Blake Crouch
Book #73 of 2026: Fully Loaded by Blake Crouch [Note: I’ve seen some listings of this book under the title Fully Loaded Thrillers, but that seems to be a misreading of the cover. The inside material at the front of the ebook gives the two-word name for it.] This story collection reads like vintage Stephen …
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Movie Review: The Punisher: One Last Kill (2026)
Movie #23 of 2026: The Punisher: One Last Kill (2026) Somehow actor Jon Bernthal convinced Disney to greenlight two different passion projects for him to cowrite and star in this month, taking established characters he’d played for years in an ensemble and delivering an hour-length special about each of them in turn. Neither the Gary …
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Book Review: Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout
Book #72 of 2026: Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe #5) [Obligatory.] I have mixed opinions about this fifth Nero Wolfe story. On the one hand, I feel like the series is at least incrementally improving, and author Rex Stout has really settled into the sardonic tone of his narrator Archie Goodwin, who …
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