Category: Doreen

Thao by Thao Lam

This is a beautiful children’s picture book that tackles a topic very near to my heart, seeing as I’m only now embracing my own Asian-inspired name in favor of the Anglo one I’ve used professionally since I started getting paid to review books. In my case, however, the Asian-inspired name is a weird mess my …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/04/15/thao-by-thao-lam/

Love In Color: Mythical Tales From Around The World, Retold by Bolu Babalola

I finished this book of romantic short stories and thought to myself “why on earth did I think this was going to be more about myths than romance?” And then I copied the full title for this review and realized that it was because Love In Color has been marketed as such. Which is a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/04/13/love-in-color-mythical-tales-from-around-the-world-retold-by-bolu-babalola/

Dinosaur Explorers Vol. 8: Lord of the Skies by Redcode, Albbie & Air Team

As with the other Explorers titles produced by Malaysian company GempakStarz and distributed in America by Papercutz, Dinosaur Explorers is filled with the trademark coupling of gorgeous art with truly informative and educational text breaks. And while certain things don’t necessarily lend themselves well to cultural translations, others fall flat in any situation — or …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/04/12/dinosaur-explorers-vol-8-lord-of-the-skies-by-redcode-albbie-air-team/

Advanced Triggernometry (Triggernometry #2) by Stark Holborn

With this sequel to the gangbusters math- and gun-slinging debut of the Triggernometry series, Stark Holborn goes from tackling the heist trope to taking on the theme of Seven Samurai. Professor “Mad” Malago Brown has gone into hiding again, pretending to be a simple schoolmarm, when she’s approached by three desperate women from the nearby …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/04/08/advanced-triggernometry-triggernometry-2-by-stark-holborn/

Triggernometry by Stark Holborn

Mathemagics is totally my jam, so I honestly have no idea why I’d never heard of this series till the author messaged me about it! In this first novella of the series, “Mad” Malago Browne is one of the mathematicians outlawed by the Capitol, eking out a living doing illicit math jobs in the Western …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/04/07/triggernometry-by-stark-holborn/

Murder At Wedgefield Manor (A Jane Wunderly Mystery #2) by Erica Ruth Neubauer

After the events at Mena House, Egypt, in the first novel of this 1920s-set historical mystery series, our heroine, the widowed American Jane Wunderly, and her (obnoxious) Aunt Millie decide to take up residence at Wedgefield Manor, an estate in the English countryside owned by Lord Hughes, a former and possibly future paramour of Aunt …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/04/02/murder-at-wedgefield-manor-a-jane-wunderly-mystery-2-by-erica-ruth-neubauer/

Down World by Rebecca Phelps

And here I thought I’d broken my streak of being grumpy with the science in speculative fiction novels! Granted, my last read, Oliver K Langmead’s terrific Birds Of Paradise, never pretended at being scientific, to its credit. But here I am reviewing another novel with half-baked scientific ideas that could have just been hand-waved entirely …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/03/31/down-world-by-rebecca-phelps/

Birds Of Paradise by Oliver K. Langmead

A gorgeous, almost dream-like meditation on dissociation, love, belonging and grief, punctuated by flashes of violence and pain, Birds Of Paradise follows the first man, Adam, as he’s making his way through modern life. When a Hollywood security gig goes awry, he’s hustled out of the country by Rook, who along with several other of …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/03/30/birds-of-paradise-by-oliver-k-langmead/

Greek Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, And Heroes Handbook by Liv Albert with illustrations by Sara Richard

Gosh, this is just such a beautiful book. The cover is both gorgeous to look at and lovely to touch, and the interior illustrations exceptionally good-looking. Kudos to Sara Richard for her terrific illustrative work here, depicting the old stories in flowing lines that blend the best of Arts Deco and Nouveau for a fresh, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/03/29/greek-mythology-the-gods-goddesses-and-heroes-handbook-by-liv-albert-with-illustrations-by-sara-richard/

The Unbroken (Magic of the Lost #1) by C.L. Clark

The Unbroken starts out extremely promisingly, telling the tale of Touraine, the young Qazali who was taken from her home as a kid and raised in the Balladairean empire as a member of the colonial forces, meant to be the first troops sent back to quell any uprisings in their land of birth. And here …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/03/27/the-unbroken-magic-of-the-lost-1-by-c-l-clark/