media update: March

Asterisks denote something I particularly enjoyed or found especially worthy of my time; double asterisks are reserved for the creme de la creme.  As always, your mileage may vary.

FICTION

1. Wrecked by Joe Ide:  Isaiah "IQ" Quintabe, the urban answer to Sherlock Holmes, agrees to help a young woman track down her missing mother.  It started off great, but my interest started to flag near the end.

2. A Map of the Dark by Karen Ellis:  FBI agent Elsa Myers looks for a missing teenage girl, but the search starts to open up some of Elsa's psychological wounds.

3. The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton:  This is the sequel to The Belles, so I can't review it properly lest I spoil its predecessor.  It seemed awfully rushed to me, but the acknowledgements at the end mentioned that the author was going through a health crisis while writing it, so that may be why.

4. The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald:  After falling off a bridge, teenage Olivia Knight is declared brain dead, but she's kept on life support because she's pregnant...news which comes as a huge shock.  Her mother Abi is determined to find out if Olivia's fall was an accident, a suicide attempt, or murder.

5. The Lost Night by Andrea Bartz:  Ten years after her best friend Edie died by suicide after a drunken night of partying, Lindsay starts to wonder if Edie was actually murdered.  But Lindsay was blackout drunk that night, so she turns to case files, videos, and her old friends to see what she can piece together.

6. Save Me From Dangerous Men by S.A. Lelchuk:  Nikki Griffin owns a bookstore, but she has a sideline as a private investigator, and one of her favorite things to do is hurt men who hurt women.  When a woman she's tailing is murdered, she discovers that the woman had damaging information on a big company, and now Nikki is in danger too.

7. The Spite Game by Anna Snoekstra:  Ava was bullied in high school, and when she graduates, she thinks she can finally find some peace.  But she can't put the past behind her, and she decides to get revenge on the people who wronged her.

2019 total so far:  18


NONFICTION

1. Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls** by T Kira Madden:  Growing up in Florida, the author seemed to have it all as the daughter of the man who, along with his brother Steve, cofounded a massively popular shoe empire.  But she was also constantly ridiculed for being biracial, she struggled with her sexuality, and her parents were both addicts.  It sounds like yet another "poor little rich girl" memoir, but I assure you it's not; it's funny and incredibly moving.  I know it's only March, but I have a hard time imagining anything will top this as my favorite nonfiction book this year.

2019 total so far: 2


MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. Oh Joy Sex Toy* vol. 4 by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan

2. Bloom into You by Nakatani Nio

3. That Blue Sky Feeling vols. 1-2 by Okura and Coma Hashii

4. Kid Gloves by Lucy Knisley

5. Sweetness & Lightning vol. 11 by Gido Amagakure

6. Rx by Rachel Lindsay

7. Avatar: The Last Airbender - Imbalance by Faith Erin Hicks

8. The Walking Dead* vol. 31 by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard

9. Everyone's Getting Married vol. 9 (final volume) by Izumi Miyazono:  I HAAAAAAAAAAATED the way this series ended.  Hated, hated, HATED it.  The series itself was fine overall, but the ending made me so goddamn mad.

10. Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau

11. My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

12. Rin-Ne vol. 29 by Rumiko Takahashi

2019 total so far:  14 volumes of manga and 10 graphic novels+


MOVIES

1. The Girl in the Spider's Web:  Genius hacker Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy) tries to retrieve a computer program capable of accessing nuclear codes.  Better than expected, with a couple of great action scenes.

2. The Favourite*:  In 18th century England, a physically and psychologically unwell Queen Anne (Olivia Colman, who won the Best Actress Oscar) lets her close friend Sarah (Rachel Weisz) run the country.  When Sarah's cousin Abigail (Emma Stone) arrives at court, she's determined to become the queen's favorite, no matter the cost.  Occasionally funny but with a seriously nasty sting, it's the only Yorgos Lanthimos movie I've ever been able to finish.  I wavered between giving it a star or not, but I decided to based on the performances and the fact that the ending haunted me for days afterwards.

3. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse*:  After becoming the new Spider-Man, Miles Morales meets his counterparts from other dimensions, and they try to stop a threat that could destroy all of them.  Funny, touching, and visually dazzling; I'm really sorry we didn't get a chance to see this in 3D.

4. Captain Marvel*:  After crashing a plane, Air Force pilot Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) winds up on another planet, where she's trained as a supersoldier.  Six years later, she winds up on Earth, and her long-dormant memories come rushing back as she gets caught in a war between two alien races.  Lots of fun, and I enjoyed the predominantly 90s soundtrack and the lovely orange cat named Goose.

5. Aquaman:  Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) is the rightful heir to the throne of Atlantis, but only if he can defeat his half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) first.  A bit goofy, and Amber Heard's Party City wig was incredibly distracting, but it was visually dazzling and had some fun moments.

2019 total so far: 22