“When you are too close to the center of a mystery there is no way to pull back and see the shape of it entire.” When Annihilation opens, a lot has already happened. Approximately thirty years prior, in an undisclosed location, a mysterious event occurred that separated a portion of the coastline from the rest … More Book Review: Annihilation, by Jeff Vandermeer
I am instantly suspicious when dust jackets or book blurbs declare someone “the next …” The comparison rarely ever works, and usually only does the new author a disservice–establishing a comparison they just can’t hope to live up to. So you can imagine how my senses started twitching when I saw blurbs describing this book … More Book Review: The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing, by Mira Jacob
Not Your Typical Immigration Saga This is not your typical immigration saga. Stories of families relocating to another country, dealing with cultural displacement, and (hopefully) making a go of it have become increasingly commonplace. Yelena Akhtiorskaya would like to turn those conventions on their head. To be fair, she succeeds at that goal quite well–and … More Book Review: Panic in a Suitcase, by Yelena Akhtiorskaya
007 enters the 1980s in a rather curious way: with some tips of the hat to the early days of the series. Part of this was a desire to return to the style of earlier Bond films after the camp extravaganza that was Moonraker. But the form this hat-tip takes is more of a direct … More The Bond Movie Series: For Your Eyes Only
And lo! there was Moonraker. Regarded by many to be the lowpoint of the series, this installment of 007’s adventures is, perhaps not coincidentally, the apex of camp in the franchise. Curiously, at the end of The Spy Who Loved Me, it was promised that James Bond would return to the screen in For Your … More The Bond Movie Series: Moonraker
Given that I’ve reviewed every book in the Rizzoli & Isles series by Tess Gerritsen, you should probably be aware that I’m a fan. It’s my go-to guilty pleasure (to use a phrase I don’t really like very much). But I’m not a fan of the Mephisto Club, a secret and ancient organization that all … More Book Review: Last to Die, by Tess Gerritsen
#WhiteBoyProblems As I said in my most recent review (of Fourth of July Creek), I’ve developed a serious impatience for novels that essentially come down to white boys who can’t get their act together. As such, Arts & Entertainments was another big struggle for me. You see, it centers on “Handsome” Eddie Hartley, a high … More Book Review: Arts & Entertainments, by Christopher Beha
“The world is a blade and dread is hope cut open and spread inside out.” I was really excited to read this book for a couple of reasons. First, it has a fantastic jacket description. Second, I’ve lived in Missoula, Montana for a year now, so I loved the idea of reading a novel set … More Book Review: Fourth of July Creek, by Smith Henderson
With legal wrangling surrounding the departure of producer Harry Saltzman in the wake of The Man With the Golden Gun, production on The Spy Who Loved Me was delayed. With all that sorted out, Roger Moore returned for a third adventure as 007 that called back to the early days of the series. Without Saltzman, … More The Bond Movie Series: The Spy Who Loved Me
Behind the scenes turmoil on The Man With the Golden Gun led to the dissolution of the relationship between longtime Bond co-producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman once filming was complete. Legal wrangling between the two would delay the next 007 movie (The Spy Who Loved Me). And as if that wasn’t enough, The … More The Bond Movie Series: The Man With the Golden Gun
