november

Books

Queen of Coin and Whispers

Another solid queer read. It’s great to see court intrigue and lesbian romance so well-married. I wish the third act was a little less rushed but it at least resolved the book—there’s a world in which it took a sequel to tie-up.

Scapegracers

I’m a sucker for a fun queer witch YA.

Death in Her Hands

A truly strange mystery novel with an unreliable narrator. It took a minute to get into, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down.

The Last Graduate

This series is getting better and better. I missed that it’s a trilogy so the cliffhanger surprised me, but the pacing and character growth was chill.

Piranesi

What a fun book! I’m drawn to stories of labyrinths, which are a joy to wander. House of Leaves was a far more intense journey that always leaves me feeling a bit out of sorts, but Piranesi is a perfect little jaunt into another world.

Once and Future Witches

When I first picked this up I didn’t know it would be set in an alt-history turn of the century, but despite my disinterest in that time period it was a great tale. I appreciated the system of magic and the inclusivity of the cast.

Movies

Night Raiders

A great anti-imperialist sci-fi with a solid cast. It was great to see Cree ritual and language throughout the film.

Ronin

A classic. Absolutely riveting action with great gritty characters.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

A pretty solid comic movie, even if none of it was super new or wild.

Mullholland Drive

Oops I did it again…

Shang Chi and the Ten Rings

Significantly more fun than most Marvel films. This movie largely stands on its own as a fun martial arts film.

Gretel & Hansel

Visually stunning but poorly paced.

Mitchells vs. the Machines

A delightful tale of a fucked-up family.

Water Lilies

November is turning out to be a lot of rewatches. This held up, and it was cool to revisit the beginning of Adèle Haenel‘s career. I wish more directors were tackling the challenges of girlhood and sexuality with the same energy as Sciamma.

Attack the Block

I guess this is a Doctor Who now.

My first rewatch in a while and it really holds up.

Kate Plays Christine

Eerily compelling. This could have been simply an exploitative look at a woman’s death but transcends the material to be a look at how we approach mental health and the voyeurism of suicide.

Alien: Resurrection

Definitely the weakest of the four, even if it has some solid actors. I hate the weird new alien the most.