Book #112 of 2026: Marilyn and Her Books: The Literary Life of Marilyn Monroe by Gail Crowther In both contemporary pop culture during her lifetime and a sustained legacy across subsequent generations, the midcentury starlet Marilyn Monroe has been primarily known for her physical appearance. This new nonfiction title, timed to coincide with the actress’s …
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Book Review: The Bone Door by Frances White
Book #111 of 2026: The Bone Door by Frances White This is an ambitious and complicated fantasy story that’s difficult to discuss without spoilers, but I can say in general terms that it’s like a preadolescent combination of Piranesi and The Locked Tomb. Various children awaken with missing body parts but no memories inside a …
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Book Review: The Fisherman by John Langan
Book #110 of 2026: The Fisherman by John Langan I’m of two minds over this supernatural horror novel, which is only fitting, since it offers a very bifurcated plot. The first and last quarter of the text are delivered to us by the main protagonist, a middle-aged widow who starts fishing as a way to …
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Movie Review: Doctor Who (1996)
Movie #33 of 2026: Doctor Who (1996) Objectively, there’s a lot about this TV movie — a continuation of the Classic Doctor Who run of 1963-1989 and failed pilot for further onscreen adventures — that doesn’t really work. The technobabble plot is difficult to follow and crams in unexplained references to things like Daleks that …
Book Review: This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum
Book #109 of 2026: This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum Overall a fairly generic Gone Girl knockoff, in which a guy shows up at his best friend’s house to record the podcast that they host together, only to find that she and her husband are each missing amid signs of a struggle. …
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Book Review: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
Book #108 of 2026: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia #2) [Note: this is an updated version of my review from 2020.] This is the second volume of its series by internal chronology, but I maintain that these stories are best approached in publication order instead. …
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View Askewniverse movies, ranked
Dogma (1999) Clerks (1994) Clerks II (2006) Clerks III (2022) Chasing Amy (1997) Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019) Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) Mallrats (1995) Overall rating: ★★★☆☆ Previously on Film Franchise Fridays: ★★★☆☆ Bill & Ted ★★★★☆ Indiana Jones ★★★☆☆ Jason Bourne ★★★★☆ Rocky / Creed ★★★★☆ Terminator ★★★★☆ The Matrix
Movie Review: Clerks III (2022)
Movie #32 of 2026: Clerks III (2022) This latest View Askewniverse release has two distinct modes, neither of which is entirely effective. It’s partly another slice-of-life drama like its predecessors, though less about low-wage drudgery at this point and more just catching up with the two main characters, who by now are small business owners …
Book Review: The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum
Book #107 of 2026: The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum Seventeen-year-old Hollis is a troubled kid, getting into fights at school, suppressing a certain suicidal ideation, and resigning himself to the fact that he’s going to be stuck in his dying blue-collar small town forever. That makes him the perfect victim for the …
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Book Review: Songs of the Dead by Brandon Sanderson and Peter Orullian
Book #106 of 2026: Songs of the Dead by Brandon Sanderson and Peter Orullian (The Strata Wars #1) [Disclaimer: I am Facebook friends with the first author.] This collaborative foray into the urban fantasy genre leaves a lot to be desired, and reading between the lines of the co-writers’ public statements, it sounds like the …
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