Book #68 of 2018: The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant This bildungsroman of a young woman growing up in the early 20th century pleasingly recalls both The Color Purple and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but it carves out a distinct space for itself with its vibrant characters and pitch-perfect depiction of Jewish-American life. Presented …
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Book #67 of 2018: The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King (The Dark Tower #4.5) This book was written after the conclusion of the author’s main Dark Tower series, but it takes place squarely in the middle, just after the fourth novel Wizard and Glass. (As with the prequel novella The Little Sisters of …
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Book #66 of 2018: Star Wars: So You Want to Be a Jedi? by Adam Gidwitz This junior novelization of the second Star Wars film is a significant step down from The Princess, The Scoundrel, and the Farmboy, which was author Alexandra Bracken’s similar take on A New Hope. Whereas Bracken splits her story into …
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Book #65 of 2018: A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan (The Memoirs of Lady Trent #1) This is a very well-crafted story that, while not quite my cup of tea, seems likely to be the perfect book / series for plenty of other readers. Set in a Victorian-style era of a world much …
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Book #64 of 2018: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken (The Darkest Minds #1) This dystopian YA novel struck me as a very capable early draft that was unfortunately rushed to print before its full potential could be unlocked. From the narrator not really seeming like a teenager who’s spent the past six years of …
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Book #63 of 2018: Frogkisser! by Garth Nix This princess-on-a-quest story for middle readers recalls earlier gems of the genre like Dealing with Dragons or The Two Princesses of Bamarre, although it feels a tad long and aimless in comparison. Author Garth Nix delivers a capable heroine (with nary a love interest in sight) and …
Movie #6 of 2018: Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (2018) It’s hard for me to be objective about this musical, a personal favorite that I’ve now seen in at least five different productions. So I love that NBC aired it as their latest live stage performance, even if some of the directing choices struck …
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Movie #5 of 2018: The House (2017) This comedy about yuppie parents running an illegal casino to pay for their daughter’s college tuition is more memorable for some gross blood spurt effects than for any particular cleverness in its writing. The cast is great, but they aren’t given much to work with; Jason Mantzoukas ends …
Book #62 of 2018: The Dry by Jane Harper (Aaron Falk #1) At this point, the damaged narrator who returns home in the wake of tragedy only to face small town politics and dark family secrets is pretty much a staple of the crime thriller genre. These stories can sometimes feel rote, but debut author …
Movie #4 of 2018: Hidden Figures (2016) Great cast and soundtrack, in service of the little-known true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA during the 1960s space race. There are some plot elements that strike me as a bit oversimplified, especially having read the book that the script was based on, and some …
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