Jeremy Lukens

I used to watch Fox News every day. I knew it had a right-wing bias, but I was a right-winger, so I didn't mind. But during the 2016 election cycle, I noticed that the network didn't just have a bias: it was doing outright propaganda for Trump. Partway into his first term, I stopped watching Fox (and all televised news).

With that background, Brian Stelter's book is a fascinating look at how Fox News changed over the years and how it teams with Trump to push both their agendas.

It turns out, it wasn't just me. Fox did change from news with a conservative bias to outright propaganda during that time. Murdoch and company only cared about ratings and keeping their viewers happy, and once they figured out that viewers got angry whenever they were critical of Trump, they stopped criticizing him. They focused on news that would make the audience happy and ignored what would anger them. Then they slowly transitioned from having a News section and an Opinion section to being total propaganda.

There are some fascinating stories here. The biggest takeaway is the Fox and Trump feedback loop. Fox would start pushing a certain story or angle, usually on “Fox & Friends” in the morning. Trump would see that and make their talking points his own. Then Fox would report on him repeating them. He would comment on that, and the loop would keep going.

I thought Trump influenced Fox about what to report, and he did, but this book shows that Fox influenced him even more. Since Trump doesn't pay attention to the briefings from his staff and gets most of his information from Fox, the network shaped his policies through what they put on the air.

Some good examples of that: Fox saw the migrant caravan as a good way to stoke fear, since fear keeps people watching. They pushed the caravan as a threat to America, which Trump picked up on and made it a major part of his campaign. And did you notice that in the last few years, many right-wingers started referring to illegal immigrants as “invaders?” Turns out, Fox started that as well. Maybe we wouldn't have these issues with ICE if not for Fox's caravan propaganda.

Laura Ingraham brought on a doctor who suggested that hydroxychloroquine could be a Covid cure. Trump saw it and made it one of his talking points. When Mario Baritomo started alleging that Dominion and Smartmatic voting machines cheated to favor Biden, Trump used it as proof that the election was stolen. And, of course, there's basically everything Sean Hannity said. The man spoke to Trump on the phone daily and was known as his “Shadow Chief of Staff.”

And then there was Covid. The network decided to downplay the pandemic, because they desired that the best thing for ratings during a crisis was a feel-good narrative about America re-opening and getting back on track. So their opinion people treated it as no worse than the flu, all while the network put in precautions to protect people from a virus they knew was deadly. Trump saw that and never took Covid seriously.

Other than those realizations, the most interesting part of the book was the News versus Opinion war within Fox. People like Shepard Smith and Bret Baier wanted the network to be a respectable news network and despised the propagandists like Hannity, Ingraham, and Tucker Carlson. The feelings were mutual. Smith went so far as to regularly rebut misinformation spread by people on his own network on air, which caused considerable tension. Many journalists quit, and basically everyone else wanted to, but they knew they were unlikely to get a job at any other network because they “had been tainted by Fox.”

And then, of course, there's Trump's Big Lie about the 2020 election being stolen. In the beginning, Fox stayed away from the conspiracy theory, but that angered their viewers, who were already mad about the Decision Desk calling Arizona for Biden. When viewers started going to OAN and Newsmax, Murdoch decided to let his talent start spreading the Big Lie. It's all about pleasing the audience in an effort to make as much money as possible.

I lost all respect for Fox News when I stopped watching during Trump's first term, but this book revealed that they were worse than I thought. They let the Opinion people say anything, even if a claim hasn't been vetted, as long as it's what the audience wants to hear.

It's a good concept. For people who love discussing and reading about film, it's cool to see what some of our favorite auteurs think about their favorite films. But the execution could be better.

First of all, a lot of the 30 directors are people whose work I don't really follow. When a director I don't care about is discussing a film I've never watched, it's rather dull. The other problem is the Q&A format. Elder basically asked the same questions of all 30 directors, with the exception of some follow-ups, so after a few chapters, the book gets really repetitive. Sure, it's different directors talking about different films, but they're all being asked the same questions, so they're all talking about the same kinds of things.

The sweet spot is when a director I like talks about a film I like, such as Edgar Wright discussing AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and Danny Boyle discussing APOCALYPSE NOW. It's worth reading any of those chapters. But the rest is largely uninteresting even for a cinephile.

This is for people super into the alternative music scene of the 90s. I'm one of those people. It was fun getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse at one of the most important music festivals and reading some cool stories directly from those involved. The downside is that the oral-history narrative style of presenting everything as a series of quotes isn't all that engaging.

For better or worse, the book reads like you're sitting in a room listening to a bunch of artists reminisce about their time on the tour. There are great insights and fun stories, but not a whole lot of meat on the bone.

It did give me a greater appreciation for Perry Farrell, and it was great diving into the beginning of that alternative movement that quickly went mainstream against its well. That was the most important aspect. Lollapalooza was for a bunch of alternative misfits and weirdos, but when Nirvana got huge shortly after the tour started, suddenly record labels and mainstream culture embraced the alternative scene. Then what do you do? If you book those bands that got big, you're a sellout. If you stray from the scene too much and go too indie, no one will come. That's how the organizers swung back and forth, from the “Indiepalooza” to the “Dudeapalooza,” to canceling the tour because no one wanted to see jam bands, to reemerging as a Chicago festival.

Thomas Tryon's folk horror novel is a slow burn that does a great job of showing Ned's confusion and isolation when joining a close-knit community with a lot of odd traditions. Until the final third of the book, though, there's no feeling of danger. It's more of a mystery: What is with these weird people and why are they so secretive about it?

There's a mystery about a woman who died decades before, but it ends up being not super relevant. There are some creepy moments, especially the climax, but it's never scary and ends up being pretty tame overall. I enjoyed following Ned the outsider trying to make sense of the bizarre town and their rituals, but the lack of tension hurts the story.

I'm late to the party, because I just discovered Stephen Graham Jones, reading THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS last year. This one is better in some ways, but not as good in others.

Jones creates a great protagonist with a unique narrative voice. I enjoyed spending time with Jade, the loner horror girl who endlessly quotes slasher films and thinks of life as being part of a film. She's fun and quirky while also having some dark issues that are handled well in the narrative.

Jones also weaves an interesting narrative that jumps between the main storyline – trying to figure out why people are dying in a small Idaho town – and a series of essays on slashers that Jade wrote her history teacher for extra credit. The framing device works well and gets incorporated into the story when Jade decides that Letha needs to read all of her essays.

As for the negative, it's not scary. It lacks the suspense of THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS and, outside of maybe two scenes, doesn't build tension well. There's also a plot twist that makes things go a little bonkers, which isn't necessarily bad, but it requires a tonal shift and the story to essentially shift horror dramas. Sure, Jade comments on this, but it's still jarring.

Having said that, the positives by far outweigh the negatives. In both books, Jones has unique writing that blends horror plots with literary style. I'll definitely read more of his work.

This is an excellent resource on the history of modern-day authoritarianism. Carefully researched, Ben-Ghiat goes through the history of strongman rulers who turned democracies into authoritarian states, from Mussolini and Hitler in the early 20th century to those who took over via military coups, like Pinochet and Gaddafi, to today's version that allows some semblance of democracy while consolidating power, like Orbán and Trump. There are a number of things each of those rulers have in common, including their tactics for gaining power.

It's important to understand the history of the shift from democracy to authoritarianism, not just to accurately see the dangers, but also to know how to oppose it.

I would've liked more material on the opposition to these rulers. It was just the last chapter. But even so, this is a helpful book that is scary at times but comforting at others. Yes, we're in a bad place now, but the world has seen worse situations, and by organizing and opposing the strongmen at each turn, we can take the power back.

This is a well-crafted story of desperation and complacency. Doll is kidnapped until his good-for-nothing brother repays the money he owes drug dealers. Until then, he's held at the isolated house of a large man who learned to be invisible and wants nothing but to be left alone. And Doll's girlfriend, the only person in the story who has a chance to make something of herself, has to get entangled in the muck to set him free.

The characters and dialog are great in this short novel that gives small slices of the overall picture, enough to glimpse the dire situation and the overall helplessness of life in the small Irish town.

This is a pocket-sized guidebook that gives 20 quick suggestions for how to respond to tyranny. It doesn't go into detail, has little historical information, and is short on details. Basically, it's a long Wikipedia entry or Cliff's Notes on the topic. It's a great starting point, and in certain situations, you're likely to recall relevant parts of the book. And that's what it's for. I it to be somewhat useful but was hoping for something with more depth.

What does it mean to be human? How important is companionship? Kazuo Ishiguro's latest novel explores those themes in a story told from the perspective of an Artificial Friend (AI) who is tasked with being the companion of a dying girl.

One of the things I love about Ishiguro is how he drops you into a story and tells things as if it's the world you live in. No exposition dumps. Instead, you have to figure things out slowly, as the world building is done through plot and dialogue. Throughout the story, you learn hints about the authoritarian society and how the privileged few are given a chance to succeed at the expense of the rest. The story touches on many themes, but the biggest and most important is the nature of humanity, and whether something artificial can ever truly replace something human.

It's not my favorite Ishiguro novel (I prefer NEVER LET ME GO and AN ARTIST OF THE FLOATING WORLD), but it's still better than most novels by most authors. Ishiguro's breezy but finely tuned prose, his engaging characters, and expert storytelling make him one of the world's best living authors. I'm going to catch up on more of his older stuff next.

This is an informative and scary overview of recent political shifts from democracy into authoritarianism. Applebaum uses Poland, Hungary, Spain, the UK, and the United States of examples of how public opinion shifts from the cacophony of democracy to the unity of authoritarianism.

Through those examples, she shows that democracy is strongest when there's a common enemy to unite against, such as the Cold War alliances against the Soviets and Communists and the War on Terror's alliances against terrorist organizations. Without those common enemies, alliances fall apart, political interests diverge, things get messy, and one way to make things less messy is to get authoritarian. Those shifts are led by the thought leaders and opinion shapers she calls clercs.

This is a great starting point and overview of political shifts around the world, connecting some dots between ideologies and movements. But it's a little light on details beyond the mindsets of those clercs. She makes a strong case for why authoritarianism is seductive to those in power or those who want to grasp the power, but why has it been seductive to the common working man? How have the clercs shaped those ideologies? She touches on that, but I was hoping for more. Still, a good read for anyone who wants a basic primer on the subject.

Carrie Brownstein is a talented guitarist, singer, and songwriter and a great comedic actor, so I wasn't surprised to learn that she's a gifted writer, too. This is a clever, insightful, and funny look into Brownstein's life, with most of it focused on her career with Sleater-Kinney. It's deeply personal memoir that doesn't shy away from her strained relationship with her parents, her own issues with anxiety and depression, and feuds within the band.

It doesn't give many details about the composition of individual songs. It only mentions PORTLANDIA once, doesn't mention any of her other musical projects (such as Wild Flag). Since this was written in 2015, it briefly touches on Sleater-Kinney's reunion and first album since getting back together, but doesn't have a lot of details there because that was still happening. And, of course, it doesn't mention Janet's departure because it hadn't happened yet.

Brownstein's writing is great at telling stories that can get pretty heavy while maintaining some levity. Overall, this is a great read for any fans of the band or anyone into punk or alternative music.

Gina Chung's debut novel is a gripping story of a 30-something Korean woman stuck in a dead-end job and coping poorly with the disappearance of her father, her recent breakup, and her tendency to push everyone away from her. Those coping mechanisms involved way too much alcohol and a strange but endearing fixation on a giant octopus at the aquarium where she works.

It's a story about dysfunctional families, cultural assimilation, and coping with loss told through a character that would be obnoxious if she weren't so well-written. The prose is elegant but is still a fast and easy read. An impressive debut from a new author.

This is a good summary of the history of the most popular music genres. It goes into the popular and critical perception of these musical movements and their big artists, with some good behind-the-scenes quotes and stories. Music afficionados should like it, even though a lot of the material won't be new. I was hoping for it to dig into the genres a bit more, below the surface, but maybe it would've been an incredibly long book if it did. As it is, it's more of an encyclopedic study of music than a study of the art form.

Mariah Stovall's impressive debut novel is often compared to Nick Hornby's HIGH FIDELITY, due to the way it uses an obsession with music to talk about relationships. In this case, one of Khaki's only joys in life is punk rock. Her other source of joy, unfortunately, is her codependent relationship with Fiona, who she hasn't seen in years.

Khaki's first-person narration brings you into her world of punk, malaise, slacking, disappointment, social ineptitude, and her debilitating eating disorder, a problem she and Fiona share. The parts of Khaki's life I can identify with, such as her music obsession and social anxiety, have never been portrayed better. The things I can't, such as struggling with anorexia, seem disturbingly realistic.

A book with these themes could easily get melodramatic, but Khaki's emotional distance keeps things even, subtle, and engaging. I would never want to hang out with someone like Khaki, with all of her toxic relationships, in real life, but I loved spending time with her as a fictional character.

This is an impressive debut novel that tells the story of a young black man from the slums of Philadelphia trying to make sense of his life while watching the people around him destroy themselves. The narrator doesn't really fit in anywhere. He's more educated than his family and most of his friends, he makes enough money at the hospital to support those he cares about but still lives paycheck to paycheck, he's struggling to be a father, and he deals with prejudice from sides who think he's not one of them.

At some points, it comes close to “trauma porn,” but the narrator's stream of consciousness writing style keeps things grounded and helps the story avoid melodrama. Told as a series of interconnected memories while picking up extra shifts at the hospital, Thomas's writing is beautiful at times, funny at others, and vulgar on occasion. He describes horrific things like they're normal, which is part of what makes the novel so powerful.

I also learned a new racial slur for white people: snow honky. Do people actually say that?

Cormac McCarthy's magnum opus is a violent, unflinching anti-western where there are no good guys, only depraved people slaughtering anyone who gets in their way. McCarthy's pristine prose is Faulkner-esque, with long sentences of vivid imagery, poetic rhythms, and minimal punctuation. I would say the writing is beautiful if it isn't so often grotesque.

This is a slow read; it took me about twice as long as other books of the same length, because the prose is so dense. And there are no characters to root for because everyone is awful; that's common to McCarthy's work. But it's powerful storytelling that turns Western tropes on their heads and bludgeons you with the idea that life in that time was brutal and unforgiving.

If you're into survival horror, slow tension set against a mystery, and botany, this is your jam!

Some tourists venture into the Mexican jungle and end up stranded on a hill they can't leave while something malevolent wants to kill them. That's all I want to say about the plot, because figuring out what's going on is part of the fun.

Scott Smith packs a lot of horror into this story. There's the survival horror of the group trying to stay alive while cut off from the outside world, slowly starving and dying of thirst. There's the fear of the unknown as they learn something is killing people who end up on the hill. There's body horror that is frightening without resorting to cheap shock tactics.

There's an overwhelming dread as bad things keep happening, and it becomes clear that survival is unlikely. The heat is oppressive, but the group is defenseless as soon as the sun goes down. So the sun and darkness both become feared.

This book has unrelenting tension, and several scenes hit like a gut punch. It's not just scares and dread; there's an emotional torment that the characters, and the readers, have to suffer. I'll put this novel up with Dathan Auerbach's PENPAL as one of the best-written and most effective horror novels I've ever read.

This is a short, easy read for fans of gothic literature and ghost stories. It's heavily inspired by Henry James's THE TURN OF THE SCREW and Shirley Jackson's THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE. Like those novels, it's subtle and is more about a creepy, dreadful atmosphere than moments of terror. In fact, I was disappointed in not finding it scary at all, despite often being mentioned as one of the scariest books of all time.

Having said that, it's a page-turner with poetic prose that makes you feel like you're in the creepy house on the desolate marsh. The atmosphere of dread is as thick as the quicksand on the property. Even if you don't find it scary, it's a well-told ghost story and a good read for the Halloween season.

If you're into mysteries, creepy imagery, and viral videos, this is your jam!

It's extremely rare that the film adaptation is better than the book, but such is the case here. If you know the Japanese film RING or the American adaptation THE RING, the premise is the same: If you watch a VHS tape, you die in seven days. A journalist watches it and tries to uncover the mystery before it's too late.

But while the films are true horror, with plenty of scares and a tense atmosphere throughout, the novel is more of a mystery that includes creepy elements. None of it is scary and Suzuki tries to explain too much. This story works better the less it's explained, something the film adaptations figured out. It's an interesting page-turner as the journalist tries to figure out what's going on before he drops dead of a heart attack, but even with the dread of that ticking clock, it's missing something.

And then there's the ending. The climax and the plot twist leading to it is the best part of the films, what makes them horror classics. The twist in the book, though the same, is done in a less dramatic way, and the climax mostly happens off page. And then the book ends with its most interesting idea: an impossible choice the protagonist must make. That choice deserved an entire chapter at least, but it got only one page.

I read this because it kept showing up on lists of the scariest books of all time. Those lists are wrong. It's interesting but not scary, and I would rather rewatch the movie.

If you're into true crime, historical fiction, and knitting, this is your jam!

Margaret Atwood is so great that she could write a book about a guy interviewing someone about her life story while she sits there and knits quilts and it would be amazing. She did, and it is.

This is a fictionalized account of a real murder case, but it's not really about a murder at all. It's about a poor immigrant girl who came to Canada for a better life but worked as a servant and was at the mercy of an oppressive class system. It's about an accused murderer who wouldn't be believed because she's a woman, and an immigrant to make things worse. And it's about a transitional time when some were interested in scientific reforms of primitive psychological care, but the science was often intertwined with pseudo-scientific spiritualism.

I don't know if Grace is telling the truth and I don't know if she knows. But regardless, Atwood weaves a hypnotic narrative that combines Grace's version of her story, third-party accounts through newspapers and interviews, and the account of a frustrated doctor trying to figure her out. Even though the resolution, such as there is, is a bit disappointing, this novel is phenomenal.

This is the second Ishiguro novel I've read; while I don't like it as much as “Never Let Me Go,” it's an expertly crafted novel with great storytelling and historical insight.

The novel is told nonlinearly as a series of interconnected memories. The protagonist is a retired painter who rose to prominence by making propaganda art for Imperial Japan but then was seen as a traitor who “led the nation astray” after WWII was lost. While trying to make sure his daughter's arranged marriage goes smoothly, he reflects on his past and struggles with the changing culture of Japan after the war.

It's a fascinating story told by a narrator who admits he might not remember things clearly. His memories give vivid pictures of the clash of cultures as Japan reshaped its identity after the war.

There is little in terms of plot and all of the confrontations are obscured by respectful language, but it's a beautiful novel for anyone who likes good prose and subtle drama, or wants a picture of a unique moment in Japan's history.

I have family members wrapped up in the cult-like conspiracy theories of QAnon. This book does a good job of tracing the movement's history, including the scams that preceded it, and giving a bit of a glimpse into the lives of those who are part of it.

However, it feels like something is missing. The book doesn't dive below the surface too often. It describes things that happened but not how or why, which is what I'm more interested in. But it's such a new thing that a lot of the questions I want answers to just aren't known yet. Still a good read, but I was hoping for more.

If you're into coming-of-age stories, creepy carnivals, and atmospheric horror, this is your jam!

This good but flawed horror/fantasy novel uses a creepy carnival to explore good versus evil and the allure of carnal pleasures. Jim and Will are 13-year-old best friends who live next door and were born one minute apart. Both have little parental supervision, which is partly because of the era and partly because of circumstances. Jim's father is gone (dead?), and his single mother is overworked. Will's father feels inadequate to the task of parenting because he feels too old (54) to keep up. Jim wishes he was older and more mature, while Will's father laments wasting his youth.

Enter a mysterious carnival that promises the earthly pleasures that your heart desires, including the chance to speed up or turn back time. But, of course, it comes at a cost.

I love a lot of this novel. Bradbury does a great job setting up the fantastical and malevolent atmosphere. The first third of the book is fantastic. And there are several scenes with great suspense, usually involving the boys hiding from Mister Dark.

On the other hand, the climax, though it makes sense in terms of theme, is rather dull. And there are several scenes that are supposed to be scary but fall flat. Part of the problem is Bradbury didn't seem to know whether he was writing this for young adults or grown-ups. He hints at darkness that is never delivered, he puts kids at the center of the story, but the themes will be more impactful for an older audience.

So it's a bit of a mess, but there is a lot of great writing in between the mistakes. I think I saw the old movie when I was a kid, but I don't remember it.

If you're into meditative stories, poetic prose, and awkward conversations, this is your jam!

Lorrie Moore is one of my favorite short story authors. Her novels are good, but her style works better in short form. Having said that, this is a great story about death and grieving that deals with heavy issues without getting sentimental. Moore's tongue-in-cheek emotional detachment serves the story well in that regard.

It also may or may not be a creepy ghost story, depending on your interpretation.

My only complaints are that the structure is a bit off – you get invested in one storyline only to abandon it for a different one, and that the resolution could've been better. But if you like literary fiction with great prose, it's a great read.

While it's not actually new, Deconstruction is a harmful trend sweeping through Christianity, especially in online spaces. This book helps explain what Deconstruction is (and what it's not), helps us understand those who are going through the process, and how we should respond. One of the most important things we can do with someone who is deconstructing is love them well, but you can't love someone you don't understand. That's where this book is most helpful, as an empathy tool.

A great read for anyone interested in the topic.