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    Blog Launch

    July 11, 2019 by

    Hello! My name is Joe Kessler, and I’ve been blogging in one form or another since 2004. This is the launch of my new home for that, where I’ll be posting book reviews and other short pieces of writing. I’m also debuting a Patreon site for anyone who would like to support my efforts through… Read more

  • Book Review: The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard

    May 7, 2024 by

    Book #72 of 2024: The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard (Lays of the Hearth-Fire #1) This is currently my very favorite book, which I’ve now read twice in as many years. What follows is an updated version of my original review: The Hands of the Emperor is a wonderful warm hug of a… Read more

  • Book Review: Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson

    May 4, 2024 by

    Book #71 of 2024: Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson (The Space Between Worlds #2) Not quite on the jaw-dropping level of its predecessor, which juggled an action-packed plot across multiple parallel worlds with ease, but still an excellent bit of science-fiction in its own right. We’ve shifted protagonists for this sequel, following a… Read more

  • TV Review: Star Wars: The Bad Batch, season 3

    May 2, 2024 by

    TV #18 of 2024: Star Wars: The Bad Batch, season 3 A satisfactory enough conclusion to this corner of the Star Wars franchise, but not one that really pushes the titular characters anywhere exciting. Mostly, the season seems built to lay plausible retroactive groundwork for the infamous “Somehow Palpatine survived” line from the movie The… Read more

  • Book Review: Book of Time by John Peel

    May 2, 2024 by

    Book #70 of 2024: Book of Time by John Peel (Diadem #11) The middle-grade / YA Diadem line was released in waves under a succession of publishers: first Scholastic for the original six novels from 1997 to 1998, then Llewellyn (who gave the saga a temporary new subtitle of “Worlds of Magic”) for the next… Read more

  • TV Review: Star Trek: Lower Decks, season 3

    May 1, 2024 by

    TV #17 of 2024: Star Trek: Lower Decks, season 3 This season starts out a little slowly, but it certainly hits its stride again by the end, with the episode set on Deep Space Nine and the one with the unexpected return of wayward ensign Peanut Hamper as particular formula-breaking standouts. At its best —… Read more

  • Book Review: The Bronzed Beasts by Roshani Chokshi

    May 1, 2024 by

    Book #69 of 2024: The Bronzed Beasts by Roshani Chokshi (The Gilded Wolves #3) This is the seventh book I’ve read from YA author Roshani Chokshi, and while I’m glad I finally got around to finishing this particular trilogy, I think this is where I part ways with the writer for good, as her style… Read more

  • TV Review: American Gods, season 2

    April 30, 2024 by

    TV #16 of 2024: American Gods, season 2 I’m finally circling back around to this show almost six years after I saw season one, so my memory of it isn’t necessarily the clearest. (Luckily, I reread the original Neil Gaiman novel so many times as a theology-obsessed teenager that it’s burned pretty strongly into my… Read more

  • TV Review: Seinfeld, season 6

    April 29, 2024 by

    TV #15 of 2024: Seinfeld, season 6 I don’t know if this qualifies as a hot take nearly three decades after the fact, but I personally think that Seinfeld is a stronger, funnier, and more distinctive sitcom when it leans away from its instincts for wacky zaniness and into the pedantically mundane (the opposing Kramer… Read more

  • Book Review: When I Was Your Age: Life Lessons, Funny Stories & Questionable Parenting Advice from a Professional Clown by Kenan Thompson

    April 25, 2024 by

    Book #67 of 2024: When I Was Your Age: Life Lessons, Funny Stories & Questionable Parenting Advice from a Professional Clown by Kenan Thompson An entertaining if disjointed memoir from the lifelong sketch comic, currently enjoying an unprecedented third decade at Saturday Night Live. I’ll repeat that: at 21 seasons on the show and counting,… Read more

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