I had high expectations for Mexican-Canadian author Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s acclaimed novel, but was pretty let down. Given the book’s title, yes, there was everything classically gothic, but very little Mexican, aside from the geographic setting (and the occasional Spanish word). This tale of a rich city girl going out to a country mansion to rescue…
Category: Books
The Electric State (by Simon Stålenhag) – Book & Movie Review
After I stumbled upon the unique and provocative sci-fi series Tales From the Loop on Prime Video, I wanted to keep an eye on the artist whose haunting art and ideas inspired the show. But when I heard of the new Netflix film adaptation of The Electric State, another sci-fi art book by Simon Stålenhag, I was…
The Summer Tree (The Fionavar Tapestry, Book 1) By Guy Gavriel Kay – Book Review
With our national pride in full bloom, I was eager to revisit a classic written by Canada’s premier fantasy author, Guy Gavriel Kay. I think I read The Summer Tree back in the 80s (for a class project on a Canadian writer), but sadly I have forgotten almost the entire story. Inspired in many ways…
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, Book 1) by Martha Wells – Book Review
The Murderbot Diaries seems tailor-made for adaptation. Now as an Apple TV+ show is coming, I am getting excited and rereading the first novella in the series, All Systems Red. I’ve actually read three books in the series, and it feels very episodic as we follow the adventures of a security robot (maybe you could…
The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien de Castell – Book Review
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book, but with a title like “The Malevolent Seven”, I knew it was going to be fun. Though it’s got mages and spells and a quest to stop evil other-dimensional beings from taking over the world, it’s not your typical epic fantasy nor is it a…
Empire of Silence (The Sun Eater, Book 1) by Christopher Ruocchio – Book Review
We start with a story that the main character (and sole point of view), Hadrian Marlowe, is recounting: his life story after he has achieved the notoriety of being named “Sun Eater”, due to his having destroyed a sun, killing millions of enemy aliens. But that story is not part of this book (presumably we…
BookTube: For the love of reading (& YouTube)
If you had told me a few years ago that soon I would be spending more time watching videos on YouTube than streaming Netflix, I would have called you crazy. While I observed YouTube’s incredible popularity, I always thought it was more for kids with short attention spans watching pranks, unboxings, or their friends playing…
Ready Player One – Movie Review
The paradox about watching the Ready Player One movie is that I would probably have enjoyed it a lot more if I hadn’t read the book, by Ernest Cline, a few years ago (and then again last month to get psyched for the movie). I had been very much anticipating this movie because the book…
More Shows to Watch (May 2017)
The network television season has all but ended, and next week we’re going to be talking about the new shows coming in fall 2017, but before we reach that point, there are still a few interesting shows on right now (including a couple from Netflix, so they’re always “on”) that could tide you over until…
