The New Kings of Nonfiction

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This collection of nonfiction journalism has a little something for everybody. I call it journalism because the collection's curator, This American Life podcast host Ira Glass, gives it that name. And it is, but that barely contains all that it is. It is reporting, but it's also essays, sort of. Or maybe you'd call it true short stories? Well, it's all of that, and more. 

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Matt Haig is a writer who has dealt with depression and finding ways to work through and past it, and the reader gets a sense of that internal struggle in his books. The Midnight Library is basically a tale of reasons why you should keep going, step back from the abyss, move away from the bottle of pills and its promise of eternal night.

It's a simple, lovely tale of exploring roads not taken, what really makes a successful life, why you shouldn't give up on living. At times, it feels a bit too basic and simple. But it works.

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Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jennifer Weiner's writing is warm and welcoming. It pulls you in with an easy embrace and urges you to stay awhile. In the few books I've read by her, I've liked her writing style and her characters. I've liked her, too, from how personable I find her in interviews, to the person I imagine her to be when reading her fiction, to how she seems based on her memoir, Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love, and Writing.

However, in every instance, something falls short for me in her books. It's not her ability to put words down in a way that invites me to continue, because she has that — in the early segment of her stories, at least. It's the way that, always, before the story concludes, aspects of the plot start to feel off balance, not quite making sense or simply not engaging. The tales in the end are ultimately unsatisfying for me. 

What to Watch August 2021

August is shining like a new dime when it comes to good options on streaming and TV! Some big things are dropping, like The Suicide Squad, Cruella (finally included at no additional fee for Disney Plus subscribers), Nine Perfect Strangers (based on the excellent book by Liane Moriarty), and The Chair (starring Sandra Oh, so that's an automatic watch). 

But I'm really revved up for some shows that aren't as well known, like season 2 of the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks on Paramount Plus, season 2 of Five Bedrooms (if you haven't heard of this Peacock show plucked from Australia, give it a go!), and season 2 of the hilarious New Zealand import Wellington Paranormal (S2 is coming to the CW, while S1 can be found on HBO Max). 

Shit, Actually by Lindy West

Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema by Lindy West

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Movie reviews, actually. The most famous being the one about the inexplicably popular Love, Actually. Though as I think of it, I guess the popularity is understandable to a degree, because the film has a lot of famous faces, switches between storylines giving it a fast pace, and shimmers with the semblance of having heart (that it doesn't really have at all if you pay attention). When you peel away the flimsy top layer, the movie really *is* shit, actually! 

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Guest List is a real page-turner, pulling the reader along through chapter after chapter laden with foreboding and foreshadowing of something fearful to come.

The chapters swap between characters and time (moving from shortly before the wedding to the wedding night itself), slowly introducing you to the main players and their internal thoughts and motivations. It was a lot of fun, even with several improbable factors. Not the least of which being that someone invested in creating a wedding venue at a site with the inhospitable location and weather of that sinister small island, strewn with bogs that can swallow a person up faster than quicksand in an old Western movie. Besides the risk of weather woes and the possibility of rough waters, you also only have lodging for a few guests on the island itself, which requires the shuttle by boat of drunk guests — in the dark — back to the mainland after a long evening of wild dancing and open bars (not a great proposition even if you don't factor in stormy conditions, but so much worse when the weather rages). It made me think of Castaway 2000, a British reality show set on a remote Scottish island where the frequently rough seas meant you couldn't just hop a boat and leave anytime you wanted, you had to defer to the untamable force of the sea.