Oct 12 2021
I was exceedingly tickled when my older twin, 7 year-old Joseph, came rushing home from school to show me the two library books he’d picked out. One (which I’ll hopefully get to review later) is about a trumpet player like his older brother. The other was this terrific picture book about one of our favorite …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/12/magic-ramen-the-story-of-momofuku-ando-by-andrea-wang-kana-urbanowicz/
Oct 07 2021
Technically, this is a children’s book, but honestly, I wish everyone would read this! In the fifth volume of this deeply intelligent, highly accessible history series, our intrepid guides, Annie and Nico, go on a tour of historical pandemics, focusing primarily on the plague. They cover the historical and geographical spread of the disease — …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/07/magical-history-tour-5-the-plague-history-of-a-pandemic-by-fabrice-erre-sylvain-savoia/
Oct 06 2021
Wow, this book is a gut punch, in several very excellent ways. First, ofc, there’s the art, all by Heidi Wong, which is primarily dark to macabre. My review copy was a black and white Kindle version, so there’s only so much I can say about something I can’t observe in its full glory, but …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/06/turning-to-wallpaper-poems-and-art-by-heidi-wong/
Oct 05 2021
Oof, this graphic novel hit me in my comic book-loving heart. I’m not saying I was Azi growing up — I mean, her dad is nuts even by Asian parent standards — but certain of her trials hit me as hard as a hammer blow to my psyche. The story goes like this: Noah Ramirez …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/05/needle-and-thread-by-david-pinckney-ennun-ana-iurov-michah-myers/
Oct 04 2021
Odd that the book is subtitled The Importance Of Admitting Mistakes when those words are nowhere to be found in the copy I was sent. Not that there are many words at all in this book, which is a gorgeously illustrated, deceptively simple parable acknowledging how hard it is to say sorry but how worthwhile …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/04/a-difficult-thing-by-silvia-vecchini-sualzo/
Sep 30 2021
I love dance books, and often find them a source of luminous prose and inspiration. Couple this with the true story of a stateless ballet dancer who grew up and performed in war-torn Syria, and who is active in dancing and advocating for peace and for the rights of refugees worldwide, and I absolutely had …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/30/dance-or-die-from-stateless-refugee-to-international-ballet-star-by-ahmad-joudeh/
Sep 29 2021
Ever since her father left and her mom moved her and her younger brother Matt away from the larger Hmong American community to live in small town Wisconsin, Pahua Moua has felt like the weirdo outsider. It isn’t just that she’s the only Asian person in her class. Her single mom has to work long …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/29/pahua-and-the-soul-stealer-by-lori-m-lee/
Sep 28 2021
While I originally picked this up as a children’s book, it is definitely a volume for readers of all ages, featuring sweet, simple lessons with some truly lovely watercolor and ink illustrations that invite you to stare at them for hours in delighted/delightful meditation. Our two title characters are Big Panda and Tiny Dragon, a …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/28/big-panda-and-tiny-dragon-by-james-norbury/
Sep 27 2021
Yooooo. I love any book with an unapologetically, righteously angry female lead and this one did not disappoint! Also, Zetian is a disabled heroine who kicks ass! I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with such positive disability rep, which is partly on me but, let’s face it, mostly on publishing. Add to that …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/27/iron-widow-iron-widow-1-by-xiran-jay-zhao/
Sep 23 2021
I want to sit J S Kelley down, look into their eyes and assure them that the world desperately needs a Gutter Mage series. Okay, so maybe by “the world” I mean “I” but this book was just so much fantastic fun! Crossing an original fantasy concept with a hardboiled mystery with distinct Western elements, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/23/gutter-mage-by-j-s-kelley/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire