From Page and Screen, part 1

2020 was a weird year in many ways, including media consumption. The library was closed for a large portion of the year, then was opened for contactless pickup, which meant that you had to request specific titles. I usually choose my books by browsing the shelves, so I ended up reading a couple of library books before the initial shutdown, some books from the library bookstore that I bought but hadn’t gotten around to, and one book that I requested in the summer, plus reread books on my bookshelf. Similarly, I borrowed some movies early in the year, then mostly watched TV shows on Netflix. Because of this year’s circumstances, I read/watched a much lower number of items than previous years, so I’ll try and summarize everything in one two post(s).

Books:
Lock In, John Scalzi – The standalone prequel to Head On. In this sci-fi mystery, FBI agents Chris Shane and Leslie Vann investigate a murder that gets complicated. Relatively quick, enjoyable read.

China Rich Girlfriend, Kevin Kwan – Sequel to Crazy Rich Asians. The adventures continue, and range from China to California as family drama, scandals, and accusations abound. Not quite as good as Crazy Rich Asians, but still highly entertaining.

Star Driver, Lee Correy – Mass market 80s sci-fi novel about inventing a space thruster that defies Newton’s third law. The author is a scientist, so the technobabble (e.g. “we recalibrated the quantum phase shifters to eliminate nanoscale elemental degradation in the lateral reactors”) isn’t awful, but the main female character largely plays the role of the love interest. Overall not terrible, but not great.

Mountain Madness, Robert Birkby – A biography of Scott Fisher, describing his adventures in the mountain climbing business leading up to the 1996 Mount Everest disaster. Well-written (the author has hiking/guiding experience), with good pacing.

Dragonsbane, Barbara Hambly – Mass market 80s fantasy novel about a witch and her husband on a quest to slay a dragon. It was actually (thankfully) much less ridiculous/vapid than I was prepared for based on the bookstore shelf it was on. There was a good bit of depth and nuance, and the characters grow on you as the story goes on. I was pleasantly surprised.

Seven Summits, Dick Bass, Frank Wells, Rick Ridgeway – Two middle-aged/kind of old well-off businessmen seek to be the first to climb the highest summit on each continent. Interesting read, especially the chapters about the Vinson Massif in Antarctica.

Wayward Son, Rainbow Rowell – Sequel to Carry On, which was based in a Harry Potter-esque magical England; Wayward Son answers the question “what happens after you defeat the enemy and win the war?” Apparently, go on a vacation and road trip through the American west. I like the concept, and the individual events/disasters that occur, but my biggest issue is how phenomenally unprepared and astonishingly unaware the main characters are. They’re supposed to be smart. They have phones. It’s the 21st century and the internet exists. One of them has been to America before. And yet everything they stumble across is like Newton discovering gravity to them. It’s America, not a galaxy far, far away.

TV shows:
The Office – With the number of pranks, field trips, and shenanigans that go on, it’s a wonder Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch ever sells any paper. I find the show funny, and yes, ridiculous at times, but it’s not as far-fetched as some critics claim.

The Great British Bake Off – I think the best seasons are a few years into the show, when they had kind of figured things out and still had the original judges and hosts. But it’s a show all about baking, with minimal drama, so I’ll keep watching and enjoying it.

Community – A study group at Greendale Community College becomes more than a study group. Although later seasons suffer from cast turnover, firings, and cancelations, the show has some of the best parody/spoof episodes.

Avatar: The Last Airbender (A:TLA) – Rewatch when it came to Netflix. Still great.

Parks and Recreation – Similar to The Office, but takes place in the parks and rec department of Pawnee, Indiana. Also funny, and the characters and plot are arguably more well developed than in The Office.

The Legend of Korra – Not as bad as some people make it out to be in comparison to A:TLA, but not as good as A:TLA. I found the characters less likeable, and the plots can be a bit all over the place, though the villains are generally more complex and the series raised some interesting points.

Star Trek: The Next Generation – The show is riddled with bizarre plots, bad CGI, and Deus ex machina moments, and why does the flagship of the Federation lose shields/suffer engine failure/come seconds from losing life support so often? Anyway, once you get past all that most of the plots are well-written and the characters are interesting.

Schitt’s Creek – It took really until the end of season 2 for me to get into it. After finishing the show, I don’t know that it was entirely satisfying, but it had its moments, and “A Little Bit Alexis” was one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a while.

Grey’s Anatomy – Basically a soap opera set in a hospital. I’m a fan, but the number of marriages, divorces, pregnancies, deaths, and other major traumatic events that happen at/to this hospital is seriously concerning. Also, the musical episode is horrible, so naturally I loved it.