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

media update: August

I'm posting this early because the next few days are going to be super busy.  I'm currently writing this from my stateroom on the Zuiderdam.  We're disembarking in Quebec soon, and my brother and I are going to wander around on our own (my dad and stepmother are doing an excursion).  Tonight we have several activities on tap, and then tomorrow and Sunday are travel days.  I've had a lot of fun on this trip (aside from one really boring excursion and some injuries/messes caused by my clumsiness) but I'm ready to go home.  I miss G and Momo!

I am by NO means a cruise expert, but this is my second cruise and I have some tips.  I can't guarantee any of these tips for cruise lines other than Holland America though!

- Cruises for some reason tend to skew a little dressy so you definitely want to make sure you have some nicer clothes with you; think business casual or at least decent jeans.  I mean, nobody's made me feel bad for walking around in Banana Fish and Hello Kitty shirts, but I do feel like I'm sticking out a bit.  I have dressed up a couple of times but I'm not fricking wearing a dress to play movie trivia.

- If you want to cut down on the clothes you're bringing, they have a couple of laundry specials.  One is "as much shit as you can cram into this laundry bag" for $25, and the other is "as much laundry as you want for your entire cruise for $75".  I didn't use either one (though I probably should have since I had to wash two shirts in the sink due to spilling soda/OJ on myself) but if you were on a longer cruise or with other people I could absolutely see the $75 package being worth it so you could pack much less. 

- Make sure you have toiletries for your entire trip and then double that amount.  I ran out of a few things and sure hope I run into a drugstore while walking around today! There's a store onboard that has a few things but a regular size Milky Way bar costs $8 so...yeah, you can imagine how much Q-tips cost.  (Who the hell is buying candy on a cruise ship?  There's dessert at every meal!) They do have shampoo, conditioner, soap, and lotion in the bathroom and it's decent quality BUT it's also got a very strong, somewhat masculine fragrance that personally ain't my bag.

- If your hair takes even the tiniest bit of moisture in the air as a signal to go full Roseanne Roseannadanna, bring a smoothing serum!

- There are some additional packages you can get and take a look because WOW did that improve my trip.  (Thank you, Dad!) We got the signature package upgrade which includes drinks (up to 15 a day, alcohol included; if the cost of the drink goes over what your package allows---$11 in our case---you just pay the difference) and internet (no streaming without an upgrade but I haven't been watching anything anyway).  You only get water, iced tea, juice, and coffee for "free" otherwise and I think the internet is $30/day without a package.  It's working pretty well, too!  It's honestly better than what I had in California.

- They have a fantastic library onboard!  Not only do they have a big selection, but it's recent titles too, and several copies of everything.  They also have a book exchange.

- On Holland America, the vast majority of employees are Indonesian.  I learned a few basic polite phrases from Google Translate and it's been a hit!  For all I know, they're thinking "This bitch watched Eat Pray Love once and thinks she's Julia Roberts" but they seem to appreciate it.  My steward even brought me a one night only theme dessert when I told him I was too late to the buffet.

Anyway, I really enjoy the cruise experience!  Yes, it's mostly older people but there's something for everyone to do and if all else fails, nothing wrong with sitting on the deck with a drink and a book.

Okay, on to it!  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. Hera by Jennifer Saint:  An entertaining retelling of the story of Hera, the Greek goddess who ruled Mount Olympus with her brother/husband (ew) Zeus.

2. Hum by Helen Phillips:  May undergoes an experimental procedure to make her face look unrecognizable to AI and uses the money to treat her family to three nights at the botanical garden, one of the few respites in a polluted world.  Things go south rather quickly.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  26

NONFICTION

1. Wanted: Toddler's Personal Assistant by Stephanie Kiser:  The author details her experiences working as a nanny for the 1%.  Interesting, although she's prone to making "no shit, Sherlock" statements like "I was beginning to see that money can't buy happiness" or "I began to think some people weren't meant to have kids".

2. Men Have Called Her Crazy by Anna Marie Tendler:  A memoir about the author's stay in a mental health facility.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  12

MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. Cat + Gamer* by Wataru Nadatani

2. Houses of the Unholy by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

3. The Way of the Househusband vol. 12 by Kousuke Oono

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  20 volumes of manga and 4 graphic novels

MOVIES

1. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes:  Many years after Caesar's rule, a young ape goes on a journey to track down his kidnapped clan.

2. Anatomy of a Fall:  After her husband falls out of a window and dies, a woman is suspected of murdering him.  I had some issues with the ending, but they're too spoilery to discuss here.

3. Rebel Moon: Part One (director's cut):  Do you want to watch a wish.com space opera that features graphic violence and full frontal nudity?  Would you like it to be 3.5 butt-numbing hours?  Enjoy!

4. Rebel Moon: Part Two (director's cut):  Well, it was certainly better than the first one, although we didn't need ten minutes of rip roarin' grain harvesting action.

5. Furiosa:  The backstory of badass Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road, played here by Anya Taylor-Joy.  

6. Jackpot!:  In the future, people who win the California lottery can get billions, but there's a catch: if someone kills you before sundown, the prize is now legally theirs.  After Katie Kim (Awkwafina) wins, she goes on the run to escape the bloodthirsty mob with the help of a man (John Cena) who's devoted his life to helping lottery winners survive.  

7. The Fall Guy*:  A retired stuntman (Ryan Gosling) finds himself searching for the missing movie star he used to double for, leading to a whole lot of trouble.  Funny and enjoyable, with lots of great stunts.  

8. I Saw the TV Glow:  Two teenagers become obsessed with a weird late night TV show that warps their view of reality.  I liked the first half much better than the second, but it's a strangely haunting and visually interesting movie.  

Side note #1: I watched this on a flight with subtitles (I was at the back of the plane and it was loud!) and the guy next to me started watching my screen instead of his own.  I was like...dude, it's available to you too.  You don't HAVE to watch Trolls: Band Together.

Side note #2:  I guess they don't censor movies on planes anymore!  I was watching a Russell Crowe movie and had to quickly shut it off when a guy started banging a woman and she was yelling "Choke me!" (I refer you back to the subtitles comment above.) There was a little kid sitting behind me and, uh...no.

Side note #3:  If you'll permit me an "old man yells at cloud" moment: you young'uns with your damn personal airplane screens.  In my day we had like two tiny screens for the whole plane and if you didn't want to watch Grandpa Jim's Wacky Oopsie, tough shit!  Read the stained and wrinkled in-flight magazine or just sleep!  No entertainment for you, asshole!  

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  61

media update: July

For my birthday I got two gifts: The Man Who Erased His Name (an excellent Yakuza side story) and a raging case of covid!  Guess which gift I preferred.  Despite isolating the second I got a positive test, unfortunately (and unsurprisingly) G got it too.  On the plus side, we are doing much better.  I am grateful for the vaccine, which no doubt made our experience no worse than an especially bad cold.  (My brother has had covid twice, once pre-vaccination and once after---ironically at the same time as me, although I haven't seen him in person since 2022 so he didn't give it to me or vice versa---and he said the first time was MUCH worse.)  Stay safe out there, folks.

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. This Is Why We Lied* by Karin Slaughter:  Special agent Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton's honeymoon at a remote mountain resort is interrupted by a gruesome murder on the premises.  It's not quite in the author's usual style (and is far less grisly than most of her books, though it's still very violent), but it's still a riveting read.  It also contains my favorite line in recent memory: "I'm like a Happy Meal, I always come with a toy."

2. Bear* by Julia Phillips:  Sam and Elena are sisters who live off the coast of Washington with their terminally ill mother, just barely making ends meet with shitty service jobs.  When a bear turns up by their house, everyone chalks it up to a random incident and says it will move on to Canada soon.  But it keeps coming around, and while Sam is terrified, Elena develops a dangerous fascination with it.

3. A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson:  A woman begins to suspect that her husband may be a serial killer.

4. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore:  When a teenage girl vanishes from summer camp, investigators have to figure out whether it's connected to her little brother's disappearance several years before.  I was really hoping this would be so much better than it was, but it's kind of dry and boring.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  24

NONFICTION

Nothing this month.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  10

MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. Well, This Is Me by Asher Perlman

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  19 volumes of manga and 3 graphic novels

MOVIES

1. Set It Up*:  Two overworked assistants (Glen Powell and Zoey Deutch) scheme to set up their bosses in hopes of finally getting a break.  Very funny.

2. Under Paris:  A giant shark shows up in the Seine just in time for a triathlon.

3. Hit Man*:  A mild-mannered college professor (Glen Powell) has an unusual side gig: he poses as a hit man in police stings.  Things get complicated when he falls in love with a beautiful woman who wants her abusive husband killed.

4. No One Will Save You:  A young woman (Kaitlynn Dever) living in isolation after a tragedy must summon all her courage to survive an alien attack.  I was really ticked off by the baffling ending but came around to it after reading some online theories.

5. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire:  Very little Godzilla and Kong for a movie called, y'know...Godzilla x Kong.

6. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F:  Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) returns to Beverly Hills when his estranged daughter's life is threatened.

7. Maxxxine:  Porn star Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) is in danger from a serial killer who knows about her past.  Didn't stick the landing, but it has some gnarly kills and really captures the grimy feel of '80s Hollywood.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  53

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

media update: May

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. I Want You More by Swan Huntley: When Zara moves in with cooking star Jane Bailey to ghostwrite her memoir, she finds herself being drawn into Jane's charismatic web.

2. Honey by Isabel Banta:  In the late 90s, Amber Young discovers that pop stardom comes with a hefty cost.  It didn't go as deep into certain topics as I would have liked, there is some weird phrasing (WTF is a "crystalline bodyguard"?), and I hate the cover, but it's a quick and enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC!  The book will be released on June 25th.  

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  19

NONFICTION

1. Hell If We Don't Change Our Ways* by Brittany Means:  A memoir about the author's very fucked up (to put it mildly) childhood and how she learned to break the cycle of abuse and addiction.  Not an easy read---in fact, at times it's excruciating---but beautifully written.  Look up content warnings if you have any triggers, though, because pretty much all of them are in here.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  10

MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. When I Arrived at the Castle by Emily Carroll

2. We're New at This vol. 16 by Ren Kawahara

3. My Lovey-Dovey Wife Is a Stone Cold Killer vol. 6 by Donten Kosaka

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  18 volumes of manga and 1 graphic novel

MOVIES

1. The Beekeeper:  When scammers rob his friend of her life savings, Adam Clay (Jason Statham) sets out for revenge.  Is it goofy?  Absolutely!  But sometimes you just want to see a hot bald dude utterly destroying bad guys, and as usual, Jason Statham delivers the goods. 

2. Love Lies Bleeding:  Lou (Kristen Stewart) is working at a gym when Frankie (Katy O'Brian), a female bodybuilder, arrives in town.  They quickly fall in love, but steroid use leads to an explosion of rage that leads to some very unfortunate events.  A sexy, ultraviolent queer noir.

3. Lisa Frankenstein:  Lisa (Kathryn Newton) is a lonely teenage girl in 1989 who's mourning the murder of her mother.  She's obsessed with a nearby graveyard, especially a headstone with the bust of a handsome young man (Cole Sprouse), and when he is reanimated by a bolt of lightning, she might just find true love after all.

4. Drive-Away Dolls: Best friends Marian and Jamie accidentally get a car meant for someone else that has a severed head and an incriminating briefcase in the trunk.  I hoped this would be a fun caper, but it sucked.  It's only 82 minutes long, but you will feel every one of them.

5. Madame Web:  JFC, this awful superhero movie makes Morbius look like Avengers: Endgame.  My expectations were Mariana Trench low and it was still even worse than I expected.  I think it may be one of the worst movies I've ever watched in its entirety.

6. All of Us Strangers*:  Adam lost both his parents in a car accident when he was young.  He finds himself drawn back to his childhood home, where he has visions of and conversations with his parents. An absolute gut punch of a movie with excellent performances by Andrew Scott as Adam and Paul Mescal as a man he falls in love with.

7. Immaculate:  A nun (Sydney Sweeney) moves to Italy to join a convent, but when she becomes pregnant despite being a virgin, she learns that the convent has some bad intentions.  Standard fare that's slightly redeemed by one great line and a shocking ending.

8. Late Night with the Devil:  A talk show's Halloween broadcast goes horribly wrong in this clever horror movie.

9. Poor Things:  After jumping off a bridge, Bella (Emma Stone) is resurrected by a mad scientist (Willem Dafoe) who replaces her brain with that of her unborn child.  This means that Bella has the body of a grown woman and the mental capacity of an infant, but that doesn't stop her from wanting lots and lots of sex...and lots of men from wanting to oblige her.  Why yes, it's as disturbing as it sounds!  Completely baffled by the critical acclaim and awards this received.  It has its moments, and it does redeem itself somewhat by the end, but it just made me feel gross.

10. Dune Part 2*:  This is a direct sequel, so I can't review it properly lest I spoil its predecessor.  I liked it way more than the first one, though.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  41

media update: April

A meager media update this month as I went through a bit of a reading slump and also spent a lot of time doing gig work to earn some extra cheddar. 

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. Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis:  Temple's father was an infamous serial killer whose former hunting grounds have been turned into an overnight camp for queer horror-obsessed teen girls. Temple gets a job as a counselor so she can secretly look for the bodies of his undiscovered victims, but an apparent copycat killer throws a wrench into the works.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  17

NONFICTION

1. The Wives by Simone Gorrindo:  A memoir about the author's marriage to a soldier and the close bond she formed with other army wives.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  9

MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. Confessions of a Shy Baker vol. 4 by Masaomi Ito

2. The Man Who Shattered My World by Osamu Moriya

3. My Happy Marriage vols. 2-4 by Akumi Agitoga and Rito Kohsaka

4. My Dress-Up Darling vol. 11 by Shinichi Fukuda 

5. Blood on the Tracks vol. 16 by Shuzo Oshimi

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  16

MOVIES

1. Wish:  Asha (Ariana DeBose) butts heads with a king (Chris Pine) who steals wishes.  It's nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be, but the songs are forgettable and overall it just felt...inert.

2. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On*:  A documentarian befriends a tiny talking shell (voiced by Jenny Slate) who's searching for his family.  This had been on our watchlist for ages, mainly because we didn't think it would be any good, but hoo boy were we wrong!  It's funny and poignant.

3. The Man from Nowhere:  A pawnshop owner with a mysterious past springs into action when his neighbor's little girl is kidnapped by organ harvesters.  

4. Anyone But You:  After a hookup leads to a misunderstanding, Bea and Ben (Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell) hate each other, but they wind up unexpectedly reunited at a wedding.  Cute, but it doesn't exactly reinvent the romcom wheel.

5. The Zone of Interest:  In 1943, the Hoss family has built a beautiful home for themselves...right next to Auschwitz, where the patriarch is a high-ranking official.  This movie started off so strange that G and I almost turned it off, but it eventually grabbed us.  I'm sure I'm not the only person to mention the famous quote about the banality of evil in reference to this movie, but that's precisely what it's about; you see the children playing in their yard while clouds of smoke billow from the crematorium behind the wall, and the matriarch casually chats with her friends about the fur coats and jewels her husband brings home from the people he helps murder.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  31

media update: March

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. Annie Bot by Sierra Greer:  Annie is a sentient robot whose sole purpose is to provide companionship and sexual services to her owner Doug.  She's initially content with the situation, but as she starts learning more about the world, she begins craving something more.

2. Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering:  Billie and Cassie have been friends for a long time, but a dark secret they share has fractured their friendship.  One day, when she gets the opportunity, Billie impulsively steals Cassie's baby.

3. The Hunter* by Tana French:  Former Chicago cop Cal Hooper, now accustomed to his new home in Ireland, gets caught up in a moneymaking scheme involving a shady Englishman and the father of Trey, the teenager he's close to.  Excellent, like all of French's novels, but heads up: do NOT read this if you haven't read The Searcher!  Don't even read the blurb.  The author pulled off a nifty trick in The Searcher that gets spoiled here.

4. None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell:  Alix, a podcaster, meets her "birthday twin" Josie at a restaurant and becomes fascinated by Josie's unusual life story.  Unfortunately, Josie is much more sinister than she seems.

4. Worry** by Alexandra Tanner:  Jules is living alone and working from home in Brooklyn when her younger sister Poppy comes to town for a visit and soon moves in with her. Poppy and Jules bring out the absolute worst in each other, but they keep trying to forge something better.  This is kind of a hard book to categorize, but I absolutely loved it.  It's sharp and blackly funny (at one point, they adopt a dog named Amy Klobuchar, which is funny enough on its own but made even funnier by the fact that the real Amy K. is a friend of my stepmother's) and I just really dug it.  My favorite book of the year so far.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  16

NONFICTION

1. Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley:  The author's apartment was broken into and several thousand dollars' worth of jewelry was stolen; exactly one month later, her best friend died by suicide.  Although she by no means equates the two in terms of magnitude, both incidents made her feel like precious things could be ripped away at a moment's notice.

2. If You Can't Take the Heat* by Geraldine DeRuiter:  A collection of incisive and occasionally hilarious essays about food and feminism.

3. Rabbit Heart* by Kristine S. Ervin:  When the author was eight years old, her mother Kathy was abducted in a mall parking lot, raped and murdered, and dumped in an oil field.  In this achingly sad and tender memoir, the author grapples with her immense grief and skillfully writes her mother back to life.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  8

MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. Dead Company by Yoshiki Tonogai

2. The Apothecary Diaries vol. 11 by Natsu Hyuuga and Nekokurage

3. My Happy Marriage by Akumi Agitoga and Rito Kohsaka

4. I Think Our Son Is Gay vol. 5 by Okura

5. Is Love the Answer? by Uta Isaki

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  9

MOVIES

1. Code 8:  Connor, a man with superpowers, teams up with criminals in hopes of raising money for his terminally ill mother.

2. Code 8: Part II:  In this sequel, Connor must protect a superpowered teenage girl who witnessed a crime.

3. I Care A Lot*:  Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike) has made a fortune by becoming the legal guardian for numerous elderly people and then helping herself to their money and possessions.  Unfortunately for her, she eventually picks the wrong person to fleece. Riveting from the start, this pitch black comedy has a terrific cast which also includes Peter Dinklage and Dianne Wiest.  (I spent the whole movie thinking Dianne was Ellen Burstyn, which is a compliment of the highest order.)

4. Damsel:  When Elodie (Millie Bobby Brown, looking eerily like Lana Del Rey at times) is married off to a prince, it isn't quite the fairy tale she was expecting. Better than I thought it would be.

5. Ricky Stanicky:  Three lifelong friends have always blamed their misdeeds on a made up friend named Ricky Stanicky. When their significant others demand to meet Ricky, they hire an Atlantic City performer (John Cena) to play Ricky.  Mostly dumb, but it has a few funny moments.

6. Predestination:  A time traveling agent (Ethan Hawke) tries to prevent a tragedy. It can be very confusing, but overall it's pretty good.

7. Weird:  An amusing biopic of musician Weird Al Yankovic (played by Daniel Radcliffe) which takes, shall we say, some major liberties with his backstory.

8. Dream Scenario*:  A professor (Nicolas Cage) finds his life turned upside down when he inexplicably begins appearing in people's dreams.  Original and sharp.

9. Road House:  A former MMA fighter (Jake Gyllenhaal) gets a job as a bouncer. Some bizarre (IMO) directing choices in a couple of scenes, but some great fights and a few good lines.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  26