January 2016 archive

An Interview with James Roberts, author of Pardon Me: A Victorian Farce

  Q: Every book has its own story about how it came to be conceived and written as it did. How did Pardon Me evolve? Pardon Me began life as an idea for a short story. I wanted to invent a rubbish British diplomat whose ineptitude would be the cause of many of history’s real …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/01/28/an-interview-with-james-roberts-author-of-pardon-me-a-victorian-farce/

Pardon Me: A Victorian Farce by James Roberts

There are several kinds of reader who will absolutely delight in this book. One is the kind who loves a sex romp a la Benny Hill, all innuendoes and awkward hilarity. Another is the kind who loves British/European/South African history of the Victorian era, particularly as the basis for a bit of speculative historical fiction …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/01/24/pardon-me-a-victorian-farce-by-james-roberts/

What If…? by Anthony Browne

My four year-old freaking loves this book and I honestly have no idea why. Well, I get it, intellectually, I just find it odd that our tastes should differ so abruptly here when we’re usually quite in sync with our likes and dislikes. Anyway, What If…? tells the relatable tale of experiencing mild social anxiety …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/01/16/what-if-by-anthony-browne/

Template by Matthew Hughes

All the best sci-fi novels are, at their cores, novels of ideas. Template is no different, exploring philosophies of the defining traits of societies and what it means to belong. Here’s the thing with this book, tho: while written in the third person, it takes the narrative view of the hero of the piece, Conn …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/01/16/template-by-matthew-hughes/

The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton

  I purchased The Art of Travel on the way out of town during a spring break beach trip. The options at the Baylor Bookstore (the prep school, not the university), were limited to the sorts of things high schoolers either should read (such as Night by Elie Wiesel) or must read (insert Shakespeare title …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/01/12/the-art-of-travel-by-alain-de-botton/

Shadows Of Self by Brandon Sanderson

This guy. Seriously, Brandon Sanderson is the kind of author all professional writers should aspire to be. You’d think that the quality of his output would suffer given the discipline he adheres to in producing it, but no: all his books are intelligent, creative, wildly entertaining and filled with his distinctive sense of humanity and …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/01/08/shadows-of-self-by-brandon-sanderson/

Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein

I completely abused the Highlight function on my Kindle when reading this book. A vital, sensitive exploration of her childhood and youth, heading into maturity and fame, Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl is written by Carrie Brownstein (and ONLY Carrie Brownstein) with a wit and honesty unusual for the vast majority of celebrity memoirs. …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/01/05/hunger-makes-me-a-modern-girl-by-carrie-brownstein/

Taking Stock of 2015

In 2015, I decided to read in three major science fiction and fantasy series that I had somehow missed over the previous twenty years or more. While I had been happily reading other things, they had grown into monuments of the field, and I only knew second-hand what they were all about. So I decided …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/01/05/taking-stock-of-2015/