October 2022 archive

Uncanny Times (Huntsmen #1) by Laura Anne Gilman

What a fun way to get into the mood for spooky season, as we follow a pair of sibling monster hunters on the trail of an unusual killer in early 20th century New York! To most eyes, Rosemary and Aaron Harker are an orphaned brother and sister living quietly as adults in New Haven, Connecticut, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/10/31/uncanny-times-huntsmen-1-by-laura-anne-gilman/

Premature Evaluation: The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson

The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson

In the first hundred pages of the book of her translation of The Odyssey, Emily Wilson introduces readers to this three thousand year old epic poem that is one of the foundations of Western literature. She opens doorways to the poem for readers not already well versed in Homer, but she also makes clear that …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/10/29/premature-evaluation-the-odyssey-translated-by-emily-wilson/

Smurf Tales #5: The Golden Tree And Other Tales by Peyo

There are four different stories collected in this volume and I was kinda surprised by which ones my favorites were! It seems almost churlish to say that the two that were fine but not otherwise astounding were the tales that bookend the volume, both classic Smurfs tales created, if not completely birthed, by comics legend …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/10/28/smurf-tales-5-the-golden-tree-and-other-tales-by-peyo/

Love From Mecca To Medina (Love From A To Z #2) by S.K. Ali

First, I want to say that I really did eventually enjoy this book but OMG, the parts I hated were so aggravating! I think about 75% of my irritation with the first half of the book would have been eliminated if this had been marketed as a contemporary romance instead of a Young Adult. Because …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/10/27/love-from-mecca-to-medina-love-from-a-to-z-2-by-s-k-ali/

Native Realm by Czeslaw Milosz

Native Realm by Czeslaw Milosz

Czeslaw Milosz has a captivating mind. In Native Realm he invites readers to join him on what his subtitle calls “A Search for Self-Definition,” and is a journey from the wooded interior of what is today Lithuania, where he was born into a family of Polish-speaking gentry, through his young adulthood in interwar Warsaw, past …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/10/26/native-realm-by-czeslaw-milosz/

Sea Serpent’s Heir, Book 1: Pirate’s Daughter by Mairghread Scott & Pablo Túnica

Siiiiigh. I’m sure lots of people will love this book but it is not, unfortunately, for me. Premise: young Aella hates living on her remote fishing island, and longs to run away and have real adventures. Her mother Ryanna is constantly away at sea herself, leaving Aella to be raised by a coterie of friends …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/10/25/sea-serpents-heir-book-1-pirates-daughter-by-mairghread-scott-pablo-tunica/

Freestyle by Gale Galligan

This was my first Gale Galligan but y’all, I’m in love! From the sweet middle school shenanigans to the absolutely adorable art, I was all in for this story of young Corey Tan navigating eighth grade with old friends and interests and new. Corey is not the greatest student, to the disappointment of his Filipino …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/10/24/freestyle-by-gale-galligan/

Inhuman Land by Jozef Czapski

Inhuman Land by Jozef Czapski

Seldom does a book’s title fit so perfectly, so terribly as Inhuman Land by Jozef Czapski (pron. “Chop-ski”). He was born into an aristocratic Polish family in Prague, at a time when that city was ruled from Vienna as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Czapski grew up near Minsk, in present-day Belarus; he finished his …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/10/23/inhuman-land-by-jozef-czapski/

Before the West by Ayşe Zarakol

Before the West by Ayşe Zarakol

“How would the history of international relations in ‘the East’ be written,” asks Ayşe Zarakol, “if we did not always read the ending — the rise of the West and the decline of the East — into the past?” (frontispiece) Before the West: The Rise and Fall of Eastern World Orders is her effort to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/10/22/before-the-west-by-ayse-zarakol/

The Casagrandes #4: Friends And Family by The Loud House Creative Team

While the subtitle of this latest installment of The Casagrandes series is “Friends And Family”, the book mostly focuses on Abuelo Hector, our main character Ronnie Anne and her naughtiest brother Carl. There are, as always, plenty of cameos from each member of the Casagrande family as well as their friends and neighbors, but these …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/10/21/the-casagrandes-4-friends-and-family-by-the-loud-house-creative-team/