This site is dedicated to bringing attention to nonfiction books, films, documentaries, and VR gaming. Why VR gaming? Virtual Reality is the only medium that puts you in the story. Fighting creatures on an alien planet may not be nonfiction, but it certainly counts toward total immersion, which is what the best true stories try to accomplish.
This year’s list is shorter than in years past. I was busy finishing and promoting my book; I Will Ruin You, released this past March. Additionally, I have been contemplating not renewing my site at year’s end. Writing reviews takes time, and I haven’t had the reader engagement I hoped for when I started this site. But when I see reviews I wrote years ago that continue to attract readers searching online, I’m encouraged to keep the site going.
One final note: The books, films, documentaries, and VR games mentioned in this list are not necessarily new titles. They were all new to me this year. They were also titles I felt compelled to write a review.
Books
Judicial Soup – The book Judicial Soup tells the story of a court case in which the author was an expert witness. The case involved Heath Patrick Thomas, a former ICE agent, and his conviction for assault with a deadly weapon.
The Other Side of Prospect – The central plot in this book involves a wrongful conviction. But that is just one among many threads in this expansive nonfiction work.
I WIll Ruin You – Did the jury get the verdict right in this complicated triple homicide? Full disclosure: I am the author of this book.
Solito – This is a story about an illegal immigrant—a story that every anti-immigration proponent should read. Javier Zamora is nine years old when he begins his journey from El Salvador to the U.S.
Adrift – This is a survival story that takes place in 1856.
Trevor Noah: Born a Crime – For most of the book, I listened to the audiobook, which Trevor Noah narrates. The few times I read from the Kindle, I heard Trevor’s voice. This is one book where the audiobook is the best way to enjoy this funny and heartfelt memoir. I don’t think anyone else could have pulled it off as well as he did. One advantage of having Trevor as the narrator is that you get to hear him imitate the many characters in the book. It’s like having Trevor sitting next to you in a bar and listening to him tell you his stories firsthand.
Film
Dumb Money – Dumb Money is the story of how one social media influencer, Keith Gill, also known as Roaring Kitty on Reddit, transformed Game Stop’s stock from perirenal loser to meme stock success.
I haven’t seen A Complete Unknown yet. I may add it if I catch it soon.
Documentary & Documentary Series
Girl 27 – The story told in Girl 27 concerns a young dancer named Patricia Douglas. She was only 16 when she went to what she thought was a role as a dancer in an MGM film. However, there was no film. Instead, she and dozens of other young women were put into skimpy Western costumes and tasked with mingling with conventiongoers at an MGM-sponsored event. It was at this event that Patty was raped by a film salesman. That is the initiating event. What follows is MGM’s successful attempt to vilify Pat and quash the story.
Oscar Pistorius – The background information on Oscar Pistorius paints a picture of a kind, caring individual who overcame obstacles to become a Paralympic medal winner. No one is perfect, and the filmmakers give equal time to those who paint a more negative picture of the man. I believe in the saying that you can’t judge a person based solely on their worst moment.
Into The Fire: The Lost Daughter – This is one of those stories where you don’t see what’s coming next. Just when you think you have a grasp of what might have happened to Cathy Terkanian’s daughter, who she had given up for adoption at the age of sixteen, you learn new disturbing information that sends the story spiraling in a whole new direction.
Little Miss Innocent – The premise of this three-part docuseries is whether Kaitlyn Conley is guilty of the crime for which she was convicted. Just as the filmmakers let viewers know from the beginning that a jury found her guilty, I will say from the beginning that I believe they convicted the wrong person.
Skywalkers: A Love Story – Skywalkers tells the story of two people, Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau, who share a passion for the arcane hobby known as rooftopping, which involves climbing tall buildings and structures and then taking images and videos of themselves, which they then post on social media. If it sounds crazy, it’s because it is.
Tsunami: Race Against Time – The earthquake that started it all was an 8.9 on the Richter scale. It was, at the time, the strongest earthquake in forty years. I’m not aware of any that strong since. The series expertly uses graphics showing the tsunami’s progress to intercut between various coastlines as it spreads across the Indian Ocean. There are stories of survival. Stories of death. And stories of rescue. Most importantly, there are hours of video showing the death and destruction left in the wake of the rising water.
Docudrama
Aaron Hernandez: Sports Story – This is a multi-layered story that begins with Aaron being sexually abused at a young age by an unidentified individual. The series follows Aaron from his high school football days through his time as a Florida Gator, playing with teammates Gronkosky and Tim Tebow, and eventually as a New England Patriot.
VR Games
Vertigo 2 VR – While some creatures you have to battle with seem overly simplistic in their design, you quickly get over that feeling when they start hurling objects at you. There are very few sequences where you get to explore an environment without first dispatching a number of attackers. While the game is heavily focused on gunplay and less on puzzle-solving, I did enjoy the times when I had to solve a puzzle to progress through the game.
I Expect You To Die 3 – If you like puzzle games, you’ll like any of the I Expect You to Die VR titles. This is the first one where I had to go online to get a clue on how to proceed. And I don’t think it was my problem.
Bonelab VR – The developers deserve accolades for creating an immersive experience. There are plenty of challenging puzzles and gunplay, and the graphics and sound provide ambience. You will get your money’s worth from this title. Just don’t expect to traverse a straight line from start to finish.
Myst VR – Unlike other VR games, where you must solve puzzles to move from one environment or room to another, Myst starts you on an island. From there, you must visit four different ages, with each age representing a new environment and new challenges. There are no weapons or enemies. This is a pure puzzle-solving game.
Metro Awakening – Review to come. I’m still playing this game, but it deserves to make the list.
MSFS 2024 – I decided to switch to MSFS 2024 due to space limitations on my hard drive. I have two one-terabyte hard drives. The drive that hosted MSFS had less than 200 gb of free space. Switching to MSFS 2024 freed up over 100 gb of hard drive space. It never made sense to me to download the entire world to my hard drive. It makes much more sense to download only the route or area I happen to be in and stream it to my computer.