News

Chills went down my spine within the first four minutes of this film. It was a clip from a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert, with the titular rock star played by Jeremy Allen White, performing “Born to Run.” White looked, gestured, and strummed the guitar, sounding so much like Springsteen that it was scary. Let me say here that I am a big fan of what biographies and biopics are doing these days: they chronicle only specific portions of the subject’s life. Thin

A space opera that mixes elements of The Hunger Games and Red Rising. Sounds fun. As usual, I’ll share my thoughts when I’m through.

Good short story. A bit of a space opera involving two characters on a moon that acts as the galaxy’s dump, and the characters sift their way through said junk. Their mission begins as one thing and then changes into another. What I appreciated most about this story was its use of “space time.” Space week, space day, space year, space calendar…you get the idea. If you recall, I blogged about this concept earlier, calling it “White Time Syndrome.” In just a few words, Andrew B

I sometimes wonder why films are so hated by critics and moviegoers alike. It’s almost like I can’t understand their point of view, where they’re coming from. Take CBGB, for example. I’ve read the criticism—7% from critics and 43% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes—and I wondered if said audience was against the film from the get-go. There are big issues about the film, especially the use of recorded songs from the artists portrayed instead of recorded live music (from CBGB) or

It’s a Christmas movie! It’s an Action/Adventure movie! It’s a Dark Comedy…According to IMDB, it’s many films at once. But one thing’s for certain: it’s a trendsetter, a template for action films that have followed it. We’ve all seen this film; it’s become a part of our cultural lexicon. Like A Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, and A Christmas Story, many of us watch this film during the appropriate time of year. I watched it because of a meme. I thoroughly enjoyed it,

This short story looks fun. And it’s a part of a series with the same name. Will I read the series after I finish reading this story? Remains to be seen.

Yes, yes, yes. This book is just as enjoyable as I thought it would be. Not only is the premise fantastic (although a bit far-fetched), the plot unfolds with twist after twist until the cliffhanging end. As a divorcee, single mom, and an author, Finlay Donovan can’t make ends meet and finds herself in mountains of debt. Until, after a conversation with her agent in a local Panera, a woman passes her a note, offering the flustered Finn $50,000 to kill her husband. The task is

This sounded like such a fun premise to me (moral ambiguity aside) that I just had to read it. I’ll give my thoughts afterwards.

Near the end of reading this book, I Googled if there were different subgenres of utopian novels. I had a sense that there were, but I needed to confirm. According to Google, and, most likely, other AI search engines, The Merge is a Technological/Corporate Dystopia tale, somewhere along the lines of Brave New World and Technomancer . The “Merge” itself is promoted as a technological/medical marvel that can work to end the globe’s issues; issues that directly result from

The Merge, by Grace Walker, tackles the themes of old age and memories with a tale of mystifying science and, what I hope will be, social commentary. The story revolves around Laurie, an Alzheimer’s sufferer, and how her consciousness will be merged with that of her daughter Amelia, allowing her to live with—and within—her daughter’s body. Their consciousnesses will be shared. A close friend of mine recommended this book, especially because it mirrors the events in the novel

Jake Needham has created quite the complex character in Singapore Police Inspector Samuel Tay. For he is not your typical hardboiled detective, nor is he your typical, weathered, grunting veteran cop. One of his most noteworthy flaws is that he gets sick when he sees a corpse, never mind when he sees blood. How can a veteran police inspector in a metropolitan setting like Singapore not be able to see a corpse without attacks of nausea, you might ask? He does. But he still get

Sometimes, I hate watching a film after I know something about it. Like a twist that occurs in the first quarter of the movie that you totally know about because it's the film's premise. The film's about a bracingly human, robot companion, Iris—played by Sophie Thatcher—who commits a crime of passion, all for the love of her life—read: owner/master—Josh, played by Jack Quaid. As plots go, it’s standard, with predictable events and seen-way-from-afar conclusion. The performanc

I liked it when I saw it years ago, and I liked it the second time I watched it. But to call it a romantic comedy is...well...I've got nothing. What else could you call it, anyway? Lee Holloway, a young woman who has just been released from mental health care, decides to enter the workforce and become a secretary. She then applies and ultimately works for E. Edward Gray, esq. Needless to say, their relationship goes far beyond boss and employee. The themes of obsession, obses

After reading the first installment in this series and appreciating the style and tone of Jake Needham’s narrative style, I look forward to sinking my teeth into the second novel in the Samuel Tay Series, The Umbrella Man. When I’m done, I’ll let you know what I think.

A horror short story, a single event, an introduction to a character in a series. For what it was, I enjoyed reading it. Although it took an immediate turn from horror to dark fantasy, it set a pace, a world, and hooks for readers to gulp. If you like horror and dark fantasy, give this a read. It won’t take you long to get through it.

I am currently reading Sluagh: Monster Hunter for Hire by Barry K. Gregory. It’s about a nurse who returns to work after a week of grief, only to encounter dark creatures who have taken the place of her coworkers. It looks fun, and I don’t usually read horror. I’ll let you know what I think.

I enjoyed this book immensely. I enjoyed the characters, the plot twists, and the promise of more stories to come. I especially enjoyed the main character, Geddy Starheart, a human who has another conscious being living inside him. Geddy and this construct, Eli, plan to get Eli home, but the trip there is fraught with danger and peril. Geddy and Eli meet a cast of characters on a junk trawling spaceship and go on spectacular errands, which are part of the plot’s adventures. T

My Weekly Movie Club is watching the film, Secretary . I recall seeing it years ago when it came out. I recall that I liked it, but mostly, I marveled at how it humanized S&M. The performances were standout, with Maggie Gyllenhaal being a relative newcomer at the time. I'm sure I'll enjoy it the second time. I'll post my thoughts later in the week after I watch it.

This book, Rocket Repo: A Humorous Sci-Fi Space Opera That Will Leave You Laughing Through the Stars (Reassembly Book 1) , looks to be another romping Space Opera. We'll see how it compares to Boltguns and Duct Tape (Spaceship Mechanic Book 1) . I hope it's just as fun!

I can always tell when I enjoy a book; I usually read through it quickly. Nashville Trade is one of those books. As predicted, it has all the earmarks of a hardboiled detective novel, but with much, much more humanity. Told in first-person by a Vietnam War veteran, it's easy to tell that Jackson Trade seeks redemption. He's also in a downward spiral at the beginning of the book. A recently fired Assistant Dean of Students at Vanderbilt University, Jackson is not even living p