bookshelves: classics, favorites, life-altering-books, want-to-own, african-american, sociology, library, we-need-diverse-books, academic, civil-rights-movement, equality, racism, black-lives-matter Rating: 5/5 starsRecommended for: this should be required reading, now more than ever.Heading into Alex Haley and Malcolm X’s book, I knew practically nothing about the subject, except that he was assassinated eight months prior to the publication of his life story, and that he converted to the Islamic religion. He was also a staunch advocate of the civil […]

  Almost on a whim, I decided to check out the pilot episode of the hard-hitting police procedural drama, Southland. That was two or three years ago. Not that the award-winning series was bad or anything of that nature, although I’d understand why some might make that assumption. After all, it was a relatively short […]

bookshelves: fantasy, grimdark, buddy-read, favorites, not-for-the-faint-hearted, life-altering-books Recommended to Dustin by: Petrik Recommended for: All fans of fantasy and/or grimdark. Rating: 5/5 stars   As we all know, the world was formed at the crux of Harmony and Pandemonium, two unstoppable forces that ever have, and ever will, wander the Cosmos, drawn to each other like iron and a lodestone. Early images showed […]

bookshelves: psychological, horror, paranormal, buddy-read, coming-of-age, favorites Rating: 4/5 stars There have been a number of comparisons to The Exorcist. Those comparisons are certainly valid. But unlike the classic 1971 novel, Glenn Rolfe adamantly defied the norm. At the same time, he challenged–both himself and the audience– what it meant to tell a possession story. In other words, how do you define the sub-genre? Clearly […]

  https://www.amc.com/shows/the-walking-dead/video-extras/season-10/episode-12/spoilers-inside-the-walking-dead-season-10-michonnes-journey Watching Michonne’s/Danai Gurira’s departing episode last night, I thought it was good, and had a few really memorable scenes, but ultimately I was left wanting more. It was underwhelming. With considerable thought afterward and today, in addition to watching the shared behind-the-scenes video courtesy of AMC, I feel a little differently about it. […]

  bookshelves: sci-fi, kindle, urban-fantasy, buddy-read The cover and premise of Before The Last Star Falls appealed to me for a long time. I wanted to enjoy it, to be entertained fully. I wanted to love it, to rave of its greatness from the proverbial rooftops. And given that very intense, mind-boggling start (which, to the author’s benefit, was present practically […]

In the interests of staying unpredictable and different, Sunday’s episode began in the confines of SPRQ Point, as their boss was concluding an important work meeting. Her facial expression communicated apprehension and an unease, one that belied the businesswoman’s typical demeanor. Tobin and Simon (Kapil Talwalkar and John Clarence Stewart, respectively) as well as numerous […]

Picking up where the mid-season finale left off, the episode primarily focused on the cave, and the diabolical snare that Alpha (Samantha Morton) set for Carol, Daryl, Aaron (Ross Marquand,) and a handful of other survivors, as they fought to escape not just the cavern itself, but the hundreds, possibly thousands, of surrounding walkers…and, in […]

Rating: 5/5 stars Perhaps expectedly, the sophomoric episode, aptly entitled Zoey’s Extraordinary Best Friend, opened with a feel good, high-energy music number, which instantaneously managed to make me feel at home; as though the five week interim between the pilot and the latest foray had ceased to exit. In wholly unexpected–some might even say shocking– […]

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”   For at least a year, possibly two, I would read the aforementioned Scripture, conveniently located on a wooden placard in the lavatory of  Le Anne and Karl Johnson’s former home. Whenever I read the words, […]