Aug 31 2023
The first volume of The Queen’s Favorite Witch turned out to be an unexpected surprise, combining historical fact with an empowering tale of believing in yourself, and ending with a shocking twist. I’m genuinely impressed with how Benjamin Dickson and Rachael Smith have continued this series with a book that, while not as big on …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/08/31/the-queens-favourite-witch-2-the-lost-king-by-benjamin-dickson-rachael-smith/
Aug 29 2023
Long-time readers here will know that I’m a huge mythology aficionado, so when I say that this book taught me so much that I didn’t already know about the history and myth of Britain, that is no mean feat! The book started out pretty roughly, for me, as I tried to settle into the somewhat …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/08/29/storyland-a-new-mythology-of-britain-by-amy-jeffs/
Aug 28 2023
a Choose Your Own Adventure in the Dragonlark series for younger readers, so no death endings (tho the one pterodactyl ending was pretty ominous, IMO!) I love the CYOA company’s kid’s line, which makes the classic game books that much more accessible, to both younger readers and the squeamish. I’m a big fan of interactive …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/08/28/dino-lab-by-anson-montgomery/
Aug 27 2023
If you worked for a while in an oil refinery in Louisiana in, say, the mid-1980s (as I did), part of your orientation was hurricane training. The briefing I attended noted that there are two places on earth where the combination of low elevation, coastline shape, concentrated population, limited escape routes, location relative to wind …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/08/27/katrina-a-history-1915-2015-by-andy-horowitz/
Aug 25 2023
Thirty years ago this spring I read half of Der Zauberberg (The Magic Mountain) during travels in southern Europe and stopped when I was no longer spending long stretches of time on busses or ferries, waiting for same, or otherwise doing the things that young people do when they have plenty of time and little …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/08/25/der-zauberberg-by-thomas-mann/
Aug 22 2023
The Story of the Girl Who Traveled the World in Search of Freedom. Translated from the original French by Dan Christensen, with localization by Mike Kennedy. This feminist fable follows the discovery a giant baby girl in a secluded mountain valley. The farmer who discovers her takes her in to be raised as the youngest …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/08/22/giantess-by-j-c-deveney-nuria-tanarit/
Aug 18 2023
I came home last night to discover that someone had stuffed my Little Free Library with ten assorted children’s books to go with the adult mysteries I usually carry. I wonder if I’m the only person who arranges strictly by size when it comes to their LFLs? I wasn’t a huge fan of how my …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/08/18/ballet-bunnies-1-the-new-class-by-swapna-reddy-binny-talib/
Aug 17 2023
with, in my opinion, extremely important art continuity provided by colorist Len O’Grady. A transition between artists can feel really jarring, but Mr O’Grady did a spectacular job of keeping things consistent, such that I wouldn’t even have noticed a different artist on my first reading if I hadn’t already known that going in. And …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/08/17/clawar-vol-1-by-rob-williams-trevor-hairsine-travel-foreman/
Aug 15 2023
subtitled 150 Cards for Sparking In-Game Conversation. This is an interesting world- and character-building tool that, as with any tool meant to spark conversation, relies heavily on the participants to make it a success. I can see this kind of deck going over well with play groups that are interested more in collaborative acts of …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/08/15/the-ultimate-rpg-campfire-card-deck-by-james-damato/
Aug 12 2023
Laura B. Eilers, the entirely lovely and often effervescent founder of The Frumious Consortium, died in mid-July — suddenly, absurdly, unexpectedly, and entirely too soon. She built community wherever she went. Frumious began as a project to bring together some of her friends from around the world with a slightly writerly bent, give them a …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/08/12/laura-eilers-1969-2023/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire