media update: June

This is a pretty sparse update as the vast majority of my free time was spent playing Like A Dragon: Ishin!, and as regular readers of this blog know, when I'm playing a new RGG game, there ain't much else I want to do.

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. Tell Me Who You Are** by Louisa Luna:  When Dr. Caroline Strange (she tells her patients to call her Dr. Caroline, not Dr. Strange, because of "that damn Marvel movie") sees a new patient, he tells her he is going to kill someone and, perhaps even more alarmingly, that he knows who Caroline really is.  When he disappears, Caroline has to put together the pieces to find him before his captive dies.

Whoooo, this BOOK.  It reminded me a lot of The Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll (writing style, not plot, so this is not a spoiler), and that's one of my favorite books, so that's no small compliment.  Block out a big chunk of time to read this, because it's so hard to put down it might as well be superglued to your hands.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  20

NONFICTION

Nothing this month.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  10

MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. My Favorite Thing Is Monsters** vol. 2 by Emil Ferris

2. Let's Eat Together, Aki & Haru by Makoto Taji

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  19 volumes of manga and 2 graphic novels

MOVIES

1. Godzilla Minus One:  In post-WWII Japan, a former kamikaze pilot is tapped to help take down Godzilla.  

2. American Fiction*:  A frustrated Black author (Jeffrey Wright) writes an offensively stereotypical novel that becomes an unexpected hit.  A deliciously sharp satire that stings.

3. Saw X:  When John Kramer (aka Jigsaw) gets conned, he takes typically elaborate revenge.

4. Monkey Man*:  A man (Dev Patel) takes very bloody revenge against the people who murdered his mother and burned down his village.  Fantastic action sequences.

5. Atlas:  Atlas Shepherd (Jennifer Lopez) has always mistrusted AI, but she has to team up with it to take down a terrorist android her mother created.  Hardly a masterpiece, but it gets better as it progresses.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  46