media update: October

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. The Searcher* by Tana French:  After Cal retires from the Chicago PD, he moves to a tiny Irish village, but his dreams of peace and quiet vanish when a local boy begs for help finding his missing brother.  It's a real slow burn, but you won't mind the wait, especially when French pulls a really nifty trick about halfway through, and as usual, she sticks the landing.  I don't think anyone else writes endings as consistently well as she does.  

2. Luster* by Raven Leilani:  Edie is a young black woman in New York City, meandering through her boring job and having flings with her coworkers.  Things get interesting when she meets Eric, a white married man in an open relationship, and she finds herself entangled in his family in ways she wasn't expecting.  Sharp, smart, and so funny at times I wondered if it was written by Samantha Irby under a pen name.

3. The Girl in the Mirror by Rose Carlyle:  After her twin sister Summer disappears at sea, Iris decides to pose as Summer in order to claim a massive inheritance.  If you've read any psychological thrillers in the last ten years, you'll probably guess most of what happens, but the ending still carries a nasty little sting.

2020 total so far: 37


NONFICTION

1. Not One Shrine: Two Food Writers Devour Tokyo by Becky Selengut and Matthew Amster-Burton:  What it says on the tin!

2. Shit, Actually** by Lindy West:  The author wrote a famous post on Jezebel absolutely ripping on Love Actually (which, full disclosure, I really enjoyed that movie but it did have some major problems), and in this book, she rates other movies on a scale of zero to 10 DVDs of The Fugitive (which she considers a perfect movie in terms of enjoyment).  By far the funniest book I've read this year; I usually read on my Kindle in bed after G goes to sleep, but I couldn't read this one because I was laughing so hard I was shaking the bed.  Shit, Actually is gold, actually.

2020 total so far: 15

MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS 

1. Food Wars!* vol. 36 (final volume) by Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki

2. Avatar: The Last Airbender - Katara and the Pirate's Silver by Faith Erin Hicks and Peter Wartman

3. You're My Pet by Yayoi Ogawa

4. A Sign of Affection vols. 1-2 by Suu Morishita

5. Flamer* by Mike Curato

2020 total so far: 22 volumes of manga and 12 graphic novels

MOVIES

1. Bombshell*:  A fact-based drama about the sexual harassment scandal that rocked Fox News in 2016.  Excellent performances, especially from an almost unrecognizable Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly and Margot Robbie as Kayla, a composite character whose dream job quickly spirals into a nightmare.

2. Weathering with You*:  After running away from home, Hodaka meets Hina, a teenage girl who can manipulate the weather.  Gorgeously animated, and it gave my tear ducts quite a workout.

3. Borat Subsquent Moviefilm*:  After the release of the first film, Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) is ordered to make up for humiliating Kazakhstan by taking a gift to President Trump.  But Borat's daughter stows away on the trip, and together they have a series of outrageous adventures.  I expected it to be hilarious; I did NOT expect it to make me tear up twice.

4. My Octopus Teacher:  It sounds like the translation of a hentai title, but it's actually a touching documentary about a diver's unexpected friendship with an octopus.

2020 total so far: 63