Movie #41 of 2026: The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) Sequels pose an interesting creative dilemma: how do you recapture the magic that audiences loved in your original piece without repeating yourself to weaker effect (and ideally push some sort of larger story forward in the process)? Overall, this oddly-titled JP film manages to thread …
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Book #134 of 2026: Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend (Nevermoor #1) There’s a heavy Roald Dahl flavor to this middle-grade fantasy debut — in terms of both the unhappy homes of Matilda or James and the Giant Peach and the eccentric wealthy benefactor of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory — but …
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Book #132 of 2026: Star Wars: Legacy by Madeleine Roux Three-and-a-half stars, rounded up, for this Star Wars tie-in novel that takes place between the movies The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. It’s a messier narrative than I would ideally prefer, with too many extraneous characters and a plot heavily revolving around Force …
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Book #131 of 2026: The River That Ran Away to Paradise by Victoria Goddard I tend to prefer author Victoria Goddard’s novel-length fiction over these shorter releases, but this latest novella is well-pitched for the amount of story that it has to tell. It also represents my favorite sort of expanded universe item, wherein the …
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TV #36 of 2026: Mad Men, season 2 A little more scattered than the debut run, but still an enjoyable character study and look at the changing culture as the sixties carry on. We’ve skipped over fifteen months since the end of season 1, bringing the action to February 1962 when we check back in …
Book #128 of 2026: The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious by Scott Lynch A charming — pun intended — little fantasy novella, in which a group of sorcerers gather for a regular beachside conclave of their order that takes a surprising turn into a Columbo-like murder mystery investigation when one of them is struck dead. …
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Book #126 of 2026: Doctor Who: Shadowmind by Christopher Bulis (Virgin New Adventures #16) I’m surprised this 1993 novel has such a poor reputation — including a 2.85 average rating on Goodreads — since I’ve found it to be a generally enjoyable time myself. A lot of the reviews complain that it reads more like …
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Book #120 of 2026: Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia #4) [Note: this is an updated version of my review from 2020.] Although perhaps not as enchanting as the original Narnia story, this first sequel (in writing / publication order) does much more to flesh out the worldbuilding, providing a sense …
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Book #118 of 2026: The Future Saints by Ashley Winstead A neat Taylor Jenkins Reid-alike about a self-destructive band whose new manager helps pull them together to channel their talent and raw emotion into making extraordinary music. The frontwoman is a 2020s female Kurt Cobain type, all grungy and falling apart but still tapping into …
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Book #117 of 2026: Castle of Wizardry by David Eddings (The Belgariad #4) I’ve been somewhat neutral on this 1980s fantasy series so far, since its farmboy-with-a-destiny plot reminded me of too many other titles in the genre. But the previous installment ended with the heroes finally securing the magical artifact they’ve been questing after …
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