I hate movie trailers. There’s always a point where I tell my wife, yes I’ll watch it. Just don’t show me anymore. Don’t spoil it! It doesn’t matter. Every time I get to that point, it’s already too late. Maybe… Read More ›
Book Reviews
FEED by M.T. Anderson and THE FEED Episodes 1-3
The show is hard to watch, at some points, for reasons you wouldn’t expect.
Investigating the Cult of Toxic Masculinity in Cassandra Khaw’s Hammers on Bone
When someone tells you their father is a monster, believe them. At least, that’s what the client, a young boy, says to private investigator John Persons in Cassandra Khaw’s fantastic novella Hammers on Bone. The boy hires Persons to kill… Read More ›
Finna by Nino Cipri
Nino Cipri’s multiverse encourages everyone to be their best selves. That doesn’t include being a capitalist wage slave. Ava and Jules, recently broken up, work for LitenVärld, an Ikea-like furniture store with a ridiculously complex layout of fake rooms that… Read More ›
Paul Jessup’s Best of 2020 Short Story Roundup
Winter. Cold snow blowing through, that dark hours of nature that mimic death. These are the days of isolation, and long hours of darkness. The sun barely exists in the winter. Add in the raging pandemic, and going outdoors becomes… Read More ›
Paul Jessup’s November Short Story Roundup!
I hope you all stayed safe through Thanksgiving. I know I stayed home, by myself with my kids and no one else. I did a zoom with my family in Ohio, and it was great seeing everyone. But somehow, there… Read More ›
A. C. Wise Presents Her Year’s Best Books!
Year-end, favorite reads lists always make me a bit itchy. I adore shouting about the books I love, but there’s always a voice in the back of my mind telling me I haven’t read everything, I’m still so behind, and… Read More ›
Review of Queen of None by Natania Barron
By Paul Jessup Before we go any further, I have a few things to get out of the way that might temper your response to this review. Yes, this website is affiliated with Vernacular Books, the very same who published… Read More ›
Paul Jessup Reviews PIRANESI by Susanna Clarke
Some people want to go to Neverland, or Hogwarts, or Middlearth, or Narnia. That was never for me, as much as I appreciated those books, I never felt the pull to their lands. For me it was always Earthsea, and… Read More ›
Paul Jessup’s September Short Story Roundup!
It is kissing close to the autumn months now. The leaves turn, the hours of the day quicken down to numb the light. Pretty soon we’ll turn off our AC and get under piles of blankets, the naked trees scratching… Read More ›