media update: February

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.

When applicable, this page will be published as a work in progress and continually updated so I can provide timely feedback for advance reader copies.  Receiving an ARC does not affect my reviews in any way.

FICTION

1. Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli:  Rune Winters comes across as a ditzy socialite who turned her witch grandmother in to authorities for execution, but at night she's the Crimson Moth, a vigilante who rescues witches and sends them away to freedom.

2. Piglet by Lottie Hazell:  Piglet, as pretty much everyone calls her, finds her carefully curated world falling apart when her fiance confesses a secret (never shared with the reader, though one can certainly guess) to her.

3. The Burning by Linda Castillo:  Police chief Kate Burkholder investigates the murder of a recently excommunicated Amish man, only to discover secrets that could threaten her own life. I've been reading this series from the beginning and enjoyed them all; this was no exception.  It's a quick and engrossing read, and Kate is a terrific protagonist.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC!  The book will be published on July 9th.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  12

NONFICTION

1. Keanu Reeves Is Not in Love with You* by Becky Holmes:  A look inside the world of online romance scammers, who frequently pretend to be celebrities...hence the title.  (You wouldn't think people would fall for it, but a quick peek at the scams subreddit proves otherwise.)  It's often hysterically funny, because the author loves to mess with the scammers and provides screenshots of her conversations with them, but it's also deeply empathetic towards the victims.

2. The Widow's Guide to Dead Bastards by Jessica Waite:  After her husband Sean's unexpected death, the author discovered several unpleasant truths about him that hindered her ability to grieve and heal.  Bracing and candid.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!  The book comes out on July 30th.

3. Splinters* by Leslie Jamison:  A searing memoir about the end of the author's marriage and raising her baby daughter mostly alone.  I don't ordinarily do this, but I highlighted numerous passages in my Kindle edition because they hit so hard.  (Not that I've ever been divorced or had a baby, but some of her expressions of loss just rang so true.)

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  5

MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. Sorry I Ruined Your Childhood by Ben Zaehringer

2. All You Want, Whenever You Want by Omayu

3. The Way of the Househusband* vol. 11 by Kousuke Oono

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  4

MOVIES

1. Expend4bles:  The stylized title tells you all you need to know.  It's stupid and loud, and the dialogue is incomprehensible half the time, but it has Jason Statham and some fun action.  Pound some cans of White Claw Surge, as we did, and give in to the dumb.

2. Five Nights at Freddy's:  An overnight security guard (Josh Hutcherson) at a decrepit pizza place discovers that the animatronic mascots aren't as friendly as they seem.

3. Orion and the Dark:  Orion is scared of many things, but especially the dark, until the embodiment of darkness takes him on a night journey.  I really wanted to love this because it was written by Charlie Kaufman (yes, the same guy who wrote Adaptation), but it was like a subpar Pixar movie.

4. A Haunting in Venice:  Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) is now living in Venice nd refusing to take new cases, but he winds up involved in a murder at a seance.

5. The Marvels:  Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and Maria Rambeau work together to save the universe.  Far better than I was expecting.

6. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes:  In this prequel to the Hunger Games series, Coriolanus Snow is assigned a contestant to mentor...and promptly falls in love with her.  A bit overlong, but I enjoyed it.

7. The Iron Claw:  A biopic about the Von Erich brothers, who rose to fame in professional wrestling but endured heartbreak worthy of a Greek tragedy.  Great performances, especially by Zac Efron as oldest brother Kevin and Holt McCallany as the domineering patriarch.

8. Thanksgiving*:  One year after a stampede kills several people at a Thanksgiving sale, a masked killer sets out to punish the people they deem responsible.  I think it should have been a period piece to really lean into the 80s slasher feel of the fake Grindhouse trailer, but it was still gory fun.  Bonus points for allowing a cat to live (an unfortunate rarity in horror movies)!

9. Infinity Pool:  A dream vacation turns into a surreal nightmare in this movie that G aptly called "a Black Mirror episode directed by Ari Aster".

10. Suzume*:  An absolutely gorgeous animated movie about a teenage girl who tries to prevent a series of disasters with the help of a mysterious man.  Tissues mandatory.

11. Sixty Minutes:   A martial artist makes some powerful enemies when he ditches a fight to get to his daughter's birthday party.  Fun action and a cute kitten...how can you go wrong?

12. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom:  Aquaman (Jason Momoa) teams up with his half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) to stop Black Manta from going through with a deadly plot. There's some fun banter between Aquaman and Orm, but mostly this movie plays out like it was written by ChatGPT.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  17