Book #180 of 2018: Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch (Gentleman Bastard #2) Plotwise, this sequel is an unfortunate step down from author Scott Lynch’s brilliant debut, The Lies of Locke Lamora. Whereas that earlier fantasy crime novel effortlessly weaves its various strands into one compelling whole, this follow-up spends a third of …
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Book #179 of 2018: Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward There are no real bombshell revelations in this inside account of the early Donald Trump presidency, which reads like a less tawdry Fire and Fury but is overall in line with other coverage of the administration. Still, original Watergate reporter Bob Woodward …
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Book #178 of 2018: The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton with Lara Love Hardin A powerful memoir from a wrongfully-convicted black man who spent 30 years on Alabama’s death row before finally being exonerated in 2015 by the efforts of appeals lawyer Bryan Stevenson. …
Book #177 of 2018: Alex & Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz (Alex & Eliza #1) This historical fiction novel presents in the form of a Young Adult love story the real-life romance of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler during the American Revolution. In the process author Melissa de la Cruz has taken a few …
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TV #40 of 2018: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, season 1 This musical comedy starts off strong and only gets better from there. The original numbers – generally two per episode, spanning a wide range of different musical styles – are all hilarious, but it’s the focus on character work that really makes this program soar as it …
TV #42 of 2018: Breaking Bad, season 1 This is my first time rewatching this show since it ended, but it remains an electrifying experience. The character arcs are not quite on the level of what these writers are achieving nowadays on Better Call Saul – and I cannot understand those viewers who don’t get …
TV #41 of 2018: Orphan Black, season 5 I’ve always felt an odd dichotomy with Orphan Black, in that the main appeal for me as a viewer is Tatiana Maslany’s amazing acting range at embodying all these different characters, but the main focus of the writers often seems to be on their labyrinthine plots of …
Book #176 of 2018: The Big Book of Swashbuckling Adventure: Classic Tales of Dashing Heroes, Dastardly Villains, and Daring Escapes edited by Lawrence Ellsworth This book collects some older adventure stories about pirates, musketeers, and so on, many of which had been out of print for decades before the collection was published in 2014. The …
Book #175 of 2018: The Faceless Ones by Derek Landy (Skulduggery Pleasant #3) I’ve been waiting for this Irish children’s urban fantasy series to really grab my attention, but at this point I think I’m ready to call it quits. (It doesn’t help that this third novel is the last one that my library has …
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Book #174 of 2018: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter #2) The first Harry Potter book was a tremendous debut, but this sequel surpasses it on just about every level. The plot, the characters, and the setting are all delivered far more confidently this time around, and author …
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