media update: September

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. Someone in the Attic by Andrea Mara:  Julia is horrified when her daughter shows her a viral TikTok of a masked man coming down from the attic of their new home.  She thinks it's a prank, but then other weird things begin to happen. Decently creepy.

2. Bad Tourists by Caro Carver:  Three friends go to the Maldives to celebrate one of their divorces, but a shared tragedy from their past turns their dream vacation into a nightmare.  I definitely didn't guess where this was going, which is always a plus!

3. Open Season by Jonathan Kellerman:  Dr. Alex Delaware and homicide detective Milo Sturgis investigate when the body of an aspiring actress is dumped outside of a hospital.  Their investigation gets complicated when more people start turning up dead and they fear a thrill killer may be on the loose.  You can always expect a fast and entertaining read from Kellerman, and this is no exception.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced reader's copy!  The book will be published on February 4th, 2025.

3. Something in the Walls* by Daisy Pearce:  Mina has just become a child psychologist, but she's been unable to get hands-on experience.  Then Sam, a man in her grief support group, tells her about a teenage girl named Alice who claims she's being haunted by a witch.  Sam is a journalist and wants Mina to come with him to Alice's small village to investigate; it doesn't quite go as planned.  

I rarely get scared by books, but this one legitimately freaked me out at times.  My only complaint is that I didn't save it for October!  It's really well done and has a surprising but satisfying conclusion.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!  The book will be published on February 25th, 2025.

4. The Night Guest by Hildur Knutsdottir:  Iounn keeps waking up exhausted with inexplicable injuries.  She starts wearing a smartwatch to bed, and in the morning it shows several thousand more steps than it did when she went to sleep.  What the hell is happening?  Well, I'd hate to spoil it!  

Side note: I generally don't like translated novels because the process seems to render the writing stiff, but aside from a few minor bits here and there, this book didn't suffer from that, so kudos to the translator!

5. Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker:  Clove's carefully curated life begins to fall apart when she receives a letter from her incarcerated mother.  I started out really liking this book, but Clove began to irritate me by the end.

6. Clever Little Thing* by Helena Echlin:  A woman starts to worry when her daughter begins acting like her dead babysitter.  I thought I knew where it was going, felt smug when certain plot developments seemed to prove me right...and then the author pulled a nifty trick that left me delighted by its, well, cleverness.  A real treat that begs for a movie adaptation.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC!  The book comes out on January 14th, 2025.

7. House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen:  A guardian ad litem must determine the best living situation for the selectively mute daughter of a rich family after their nanny falls out of a window to her death.  A little melodramatic for my tastes.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  33

NONFICTION

Nothing this month.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  12

MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. Cat + Gamer* vols. 2-3 by Wataru Nadatani

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  23 volumes of manga and 4 graphic novels

MOVIES

1. The American Society of Magical Negroes: In this satire of the common movie trope, black people with (literal) magical powers dedicate their lives to making things easier for white people.  It's decent but needed a little more bite to it.

2. The Boy and the Heron:  A young boy follows a mysterious talking heron in search of his lost mother.  It's pretty, but it fell short for me in the story and I definitely don't think it deserved to win the best animation Oscar over Across the Spider-Verse.  

3. Civil War*:  In a future version of America torn apart by secession, a group of war photographers tries to get to Washington D.C. before rebel forces take over.  Some weird musical choices, but overall really good and intense.

4. I.S.S.:  When war erupts on Earth, the American and Russian astronauts on the I.S.S. receive orders from their respective governments: seize control of the spaceship by any means necessary.  Much better than I thought it was going to be!

5. Challengers:  A love triangle between a former tennis phenomenon (Zendaya), her ex-boyfrend, and her husband gets complicated.

6. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare*:  A top secret unit fights Nazis during WWII using unconventional means.  It got paid box office and critical dust, so we weren't expecting much, but it's a lot of fun!  And whooo, if you're attracted to men, guaranteed you'll find someone to drool over.  (This movie emphatically does not pass the Bechdel Test, but at least the main female character is a badass.)

7. Spy x Family Code: White*:  A weekend trip for the Folger family goes off the rails when Anya accidentally swallows an important bit of intel.  Beautifully animated (with the exception of a CGI plane that looked oddly like claymation), some good action, and it's really funny too!  A must-see for SxF fans.

8. Den of Thieves*:  Nick O'Brien (Gerard Butler), a member of the Los Angeles sheriff's department, tangles with a clever group of thieves.  I thought this would be fun trash, and it was indeed fun, but it was actually pretty good!

9. Trolls: Band Together:  When one of Branch's brothers is kidnapped, he and Poppy embark on a rescue mission.

10. Inside Out 2*:  Riley's emotions get a new batch of coworkers when she enters puberty.  YES I CRIED.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  71