"Leave the World Behind" by Rumaan Alam

Soon to be a Netflix series coming to you.  (Spoilers) I've read way (way, way, way) too many post-apocalyptic books.  This one was different.  It was the beginning of the apocalypse -- which isn't completely defined.  When the reality of the event becomes clear, the book is done.  In the meantime, we have explored racism, culture, privilege, family dynamics and ... a lot more.  It's a literary novel (finalist for the National Book Award) which is meandering, cerebral, maybe even a touch lazy in pacing.  It examines very normal people in extraordinary times.  There are few heroes here, but there aren't clear-cut villains, either..  Most of the reponses are ... well ... real.  The result, for me, was a tinge of sadness.  That when the worst comes, people don't rise above.  That's the lesson we always try to tell to children, that the good people run towards the fire.  This book makes it clear that such a take might be a fairytale.  The truth of calamity is complex and layered, and often not something which brings out our better natures.  Which left me feeling ... ?  I will be very interested in how a nuanced story like this translates onto the screen.

"Go Set a Watchman" by Harper Lee

(Spoilers) For lovers of "To Kill a Mockingbird" this is a hard pill to swallow.  Written before Mockingbird, which acts as a prequel to this tale, we see here an adult "Scout" returning to her hometown.  She has the experience so many of us have -- seeing our heroes with new eyes when nostalgia meets hard reality.  She (and the readers) see the flaws glossed over in Mockingbird.  It is a more nuanced tale.  Scout is trying to find her place in the world, and finding herself in the process.  She turns to her father, Atticus, only to find an aging man who is more racist than she ever imagined.  He believes in the law, but not in equality for Blacks.  The man she looked up to spouts replacement theory, talking about the "invasion" of mongrels. the book starts slowly but quickly becomes rich with the prose which made Harper Lee such a good writer.  Scout's internal dialog ebbs and flows with bits of conversation around her, weaving the story together like a tapestry.  There are lots of memorable and noteworthy quotes, many which are very applicable to today's America.  The book ends more with intellectualism than heart, however, and there are no clear answers.  "To Kill a Mockingbird" was a terrific lesson on our nation's dark history, but this book is a balancing note of where we went from there.

"Descendants"

This film was so innocuous I actually watched it twice, unaware of having seen it before when I watched it the second time.  While sweet and cute, it is also absolutely unmemorable.  It's a typical Disney film of late.  Decent, if not outstanding actors lost in a watercolor haze.  Songs are nice but not catchy.  Dialog is inoffensive, plotlines are gentle, the climax doesn't ... climax.  While the ingredients are there the end product is like a bread that doesn't rise.  It's okay.  Just not fabulous.  And not memorable.