April 2024 archive

Taka by Ryan Jampole

Oh my goodness, I am so obsessed with this manga-style graphic novel, I literally finished it with cathartic tears streaming down my face! Our heroine Taka is a self-styled Notorious Delinquent. Having grown up on the mean city streets alone, she has no friends, no interest in developing any, and only really cares about one …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/16/taka-by-ryan-jampole/

Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher

Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher

“What kind of a life do you lead where you find yourself building a dog of bones?” (p. 2) Marra asks herself, though of course she knows. It’s the readers who want to know how she has come to this distinctly creepy, slightly mad pass. And she’s come to it wearing a cloak of owlcloth …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/14/nettle-and-bone-by-t-kingfisher/

Mothers and Other Monsters by Maureen F. McHugh

Mothers and Other Monsters by Maureen F. McHugh

How can it be that there are only two collections of stories by Maureen F. McHugh? And now I have read them both. She has published two more novels that I haven’t read yet, but after that I have to hope for a new book, which as far as I can tell has not happened …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/13/mothers-and-other-monsters-by-maureen-f-mchugh/

Nazi Hunting: A Love Story by Jess McHugh

What a timely short read for these ages! I’m so glad I had to chance to pick this up, to be reminded that fighting fascism isn’t just about wars and polls, but is an ongoing, everyday, and very necessary struggle. Serge Klarsfeld and Beate Kunzel met in Paris in 1960. The young adults — he …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/12/nazi-hunting-a-love-story-by-jess-mchugh/

Kai’s Ocean Of Curiosities by Joséphine Topolanski

Well, for the most part it’s by Joséphine Topolanski. I feel like a number of liberties have been taken in the English translation by Johanna McCalmont, but as I don’t have the full text of the original French to compare it with, I’ll mostly have to make educated guesses as to what survived translation. The …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/11/kais-ocean-of-curiosities-by-josephine-topolanski/

Bitch Planet, Vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine by Kelly Sue DeConnick & Valentine De Landro

One of the best things about my favorite local bookstore is the way they host so many cool events and book clubs, and offer the book club selections at 15% off for the month. I’d previously been to an excellent non-fiction gathering to discuss Britney Spears’ The Woman In Me last January, but hadn’t really …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/10/bitch-planet-vol-1-extraordinary-machine-by-kelly-sue-deconnick-valentine-de-landro/

The Ultimate RPG Game Master’s Guide by James D’Amato

subtitled Advice And Tools To Help You Run Your Best Game Ever! There is so much useful information packed into this relatively slender volume, not only for anyone aspiring to run role-playing games but also for more experienced Game Masters looking to hone their skills. All the advice here is system agnostic by design, which …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/09/the-ultimate-rpg-game-masters-guide-by-james-damato/

After the Apocalypse by Maureen F. McHugh

After the Apocalypse by Maureen F. McHugh

The cover of After the Apocalypse looks crinkled and dog-eared, as if the calamities within its pages have begun to seep out into the world beyond. The clock on the book’s cover is set to a few minutes after midnight, a reminder that after the worst has happened, things go on for at least some …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/07/after-the-apocalypse-by-maureen-f-mchugh/

What Could Possibly Go Wrong by Jodi Taylor

What Could Possibly Go Wrong by Jodi Taylor

Tables are turning, and characters are leveling up. In the sixth book of the Chronicles of St Mary’s — a mostly lighthearted and adventurous series about time-traveling historians — Dr Madeleine Maxwell has been promoted to Chief Training Officer. True to form, she’s shaking things up. In this case, she’s speeding up the training of new historians …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/06/what-could-possibly-go-wrong-by-jodi-taylor/

Swan Songs by W Maxwell Prince

and seven different artists, one for each story except for the last, which has two. And, shoot, I didn’t even realize that W Maxwell Prince had written every story in this comics anthology till I started writing this review, which should attest to the quality of his work and his capacity for diversity! I thought …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/04/swan-songs-by-w-maxwell-prince/