media update: January

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. Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly:  While competing on a cooking show, Dahlia falls in love with a fellow contestant who happens to be nonbinary.

2. The Maid by Nita Prose:  Molly works as a maid at a ritzy hotel.  When a wealthy guest is found dead in his room, Molly's unusual personality puts her squarely in the investigators' sights, and she must try to prove her innocence.  This got a ton of buzz, so I was excited to read it, but it did absolutely nothing for me.  It's one of only three of my Book of the Month selections, out of dozens, that I marked as "disliked".

3. Fiona and Jane* by Jean Chen Ho:  The titular best friends, two Taiwanese American women, try to navigate adolescence and adulthood in this compelling short story collection.

4. Real Easy** by Marie Rutkoski:  In 1999, Samantha agrees to drive a fellow stripper home from work, but the trip turns deadly.  An excellent and haunting thriller that I tore through in two days.  

5. Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester:  Thirteen-year-old Lila and her sculptor mother both have strange visions that may be related to a vicious serial killer known as the Cur.  Not remotely what I was expecting, but still good.

6. Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka:  As the execution of convicted murderer Ansel Packer draws near, his story is told by three women:  Lavender, the mother forced to abandon him; Hazel, his sister-in-law; and Saffron, a detective who used to know him.

NONFICTION

1. Greedy:  Notes from a Bisexual Who Wants Too Much by Jen Winston:  Funny and affirming essays on bisexuality.

MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. Catboy by Benji Nate

2. Life with Kevin by Dan Parent and J. Bone

3. Eat the Rich by Sarah Gailey and Pius Bak

4. Oddball by Sarah Andersen

5. Adulthood Is a Myth by Sarah Andersen

6. Big Mushy Happy Lump by Sarah Andersen

7. Himawari House* by Harmony Becker

8. My Dress-Up Darling by Shinichi Fukuda vols. 1-3

9. Herding Cats by Sarah Andersen

MOVIES

1. The Power of the Dog:  A rancher (Benedict Cumberbatch) doesn't take it well when his brother brings home a new wife and her son.  A decent movie with an excellent ending and cast.

2. Eternals:  An immortal group of superheroes teams up to fight an alien race that wants to destroy Earth.  The weakest Marvel movie in my opinion.

3. Pig*:  A loner (Nicolas Cage) goes in search of his truffle pig after she's kidnapped.  Not the revenge thriller I was expecting; it's more of a melancholy character study.

4. Escape Room:  Tournament of Champions:  Another group of people is thrown into a deadly series of escape rooms.  Enjoyable for what it is.