Category: Doreen

The Haunting Of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

I don’t know whether the authors invited to write companion essays to classic novels have any say in the placement of their pieces in relation to the main text, but God Almighty, is it irritating to read a spoiler-filled introduction by Laura Miller when at least Jonathan Lethem’s smug thoughts on We Have Always Lived …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/12/14/the-haunting-of-hill-house-by-shirley-jackson/

Fable (Fable #1) by Adrienne Young

Look at that gorgeous cover! It’s literally the best part of this nonsense book that had me wanting to dig up copies of Arthur Ransome’s Swallows And Amazons series so I could read a tale of young pirates that I would actually enjoy. Okay, Adrienne Young’s prose is pretty decent — there are some lovely …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/12/10/fable-fable-1-by-adrienne-young/

Lola’s Super Club: My Dad is a Super Secret Agent (Lola’s Super Club #1) by Christine Beigel & Pierre Foiullet

Plucky, imaginative young Lola is convinced that her father, stay-at-home dad Robert Darkhair, is actually the famed super spy James Blond in disguise. When his life is threatened by super-villain Max Imum, Lola must don her own disguise and, alongside her animal — stuffed or otherwise — sidekicks, form a super club to save her …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/12/08/lolas-super-club-my-dad-is-a-super-secret-agent-lolas-super-club-1-by-christine-beigel-pierre-foiullet/

Escape Pod: The Science Fiction Anthology edited by Mur Lafferty & S. B. Divya

I am not a pod(cast)person, but this anthology might change that for me! Or at least get me out of my very narrow lane of go-to things to listen to while wrapping Christmas presents or other visual-heavy artsy-crafty things. I tend to enjoy more radio-drama-type fare like Limetown or, even older than that, Sherlock Holmes …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/12/07/escape-pod-the-science-fiction-anthology-edited-by-mur-lafferty-s-b-divya/

Writers & Lovers by Lily King

At this point in my experience with Lily King, I know what to expect: a meticulously rendered milieu with quietly simmering emotions that are universal despite the very specific circumstances and locales of our narrators, and then BAM! a figurative punch to the face, and then the throat, and then the solar plexus, rendering this …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/12/04/writers-lovers-by-lily-king/

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Books 1, 3, 4, 5 & 6 by Jeff Kinney

My 9 year-old has been nagging me so hard to finish reading these books so we can discuss them together, which has been an experience at once delightful (he wants to discuss books with me!) and disconcerting (someone is nagging me to read?) So I’ve been slipping several of these into my schedule and am …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/12/03/diary-of-a-wimpy-kid-books-1-3-4-5-6-by-jeff-kinney/

Bluebeard’s First Wife by Ha Seong-nan

Happy December, everyone! Let’s start the month with a chilling read! I have a bad habit of not remembering why I picked up certain volumes, not helped by the often considerable lag time between me deciding I want to read a book and me actually getting the opportunity to read it. So I vaguely recall …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/12/02/bluebeards-first-wife-by-ha-seong-nan/

Ghost River: The Fall And Rise Of The Conestoga by Lee Francis IV, Weshoyot Alvitre & Will Fenton

With Native American Heritage Month coming to a close, I’m so glad I could finally get to this graphic novel! The history and, frankly, present-day reality of America’s indigenous peoples is too often overlooked, particularly in relation to the settlers and policies that continue to drive them to the margins of our nation, if not …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/11/30/ghost-river-the-fall-and-rise-of-the-conestoga-by-lee-francis-iv-weshoyot-alvitre-will-fenton/

Record Of A Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers #3) by Becky Chambers

Every book of Becky Chambers’ Wayfarer series has centered on a slightly different, but extremely relevant, facet of life that is common to the modern millennial and Gen Zer, perhaps even more so than to prior generations. Her knock-out debut, The Long Road To A Small Angry Planet, discussed the found families that have become …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/11/27/record-of-a-spaceborn-few-wayfarers-3-by-becky-chambers/

Raybearer (Raybearer #1) by Jordan Ifueko

This book is fucking flawless and possibly the first time in recent years that a YA debut has deserved all the praise it receives. FLAWLESS, my friends, and easily one of the best fantasy/YA novels ever written. Raybearer opens on a young, love-starved girl named Tarisai who is brought up by servants in a secluded …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/11/25/raybearer-raybearer-1-by-jordan-ifueko/