May 2024 archive

Tantalizing Tales — May 2024 — Part Two

It’s the end of May, and while I’ve been able to read twenty-two books so far this month (covered either here or over at CriminalElement.com) there have still been so many gorgeous books that crossed my desk that I haven’t quite been able to fit in yet. The first of these, and the first I’m …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/31/tantalizing-tales-may-2024-part-two/

Crying In H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Y’all, I was so excited when my friend Emily asked if I wanted to read Crying In H Mart with her, especially since it would help cap Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month for me here at The Frumious Consortium. We’d both heard so many great things about the book, and it looked short and …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/30/crying-in-h-mart-by-michelle-zauner/

The Deck Of Many Drinks by Jef Aldrich & Jon Taylor

subtitled The RPG Cocktail Recipe Deck with Powerful Effects! A part of the Dungeonmeister line of books and gaming aids. This has got to be one of the most fun and useful items I’ve ever whipped out while running a game of Dungeons & Dragons. Sure, there may have been more fun items, not that …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/29/the-deck-of-many-drinks-by-jef-aldrich-jon-taylor/

Strange Gods by Annamaria Alfieri (EXCERPT)

Hi readers! We’re in for a treat today, as we begin a series of semiweekly excerpts from Annamaria Alfieri’s recently reissued historical mystery series set in 1911 British East Africa, Vera And Tolliver. The Vera of the series is Vera McIntosh, the rebellious daughter of Scottish missionaries. Having grown up in Africa with Kikuyu playmates, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/28/strange-gods-by-annamaria-alfieri-excerpt/

Tantalizing Titles — May 2024 — Part One

Hello, dear readers! I had a bit of a meltdown earlier this week when the weight of all the wonderful books I’ve received but haven’t been able to read, much less review, finally took its toll on me. Doug, ofc, helped me through this by brainstorming a recap post featuring all these luscious books I …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/24/tantalizing-titles-may-2024-part-one/

Mapping The Night by J David Bethel (EXCERPT)

Hello, readers! This week we have the privilege of giving you a sneak peek at J David Bethel’s latest suspense-filled thriller, Mapping The Night. The upcoming novel follows the hunt for a serial killer terrorizing New York City’s Upper East Side in attacks carried out only under cover of dark, bringing the reader into a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/23/mapping-the-night-by-j-david-bethel-excerpt/

Magic The Gathering Oracle Deck by Adam Lee & Fred Gissubel

It was one of the nicest surprises of my reviewer life to receive this package, unsolicited, in the mail! Back when the American Library Association’s Annual Conference was held in DC two years ago, I was subcontracted by Wizards Of The Coast to run D&D games for librarians. As part of my experience, I got …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/22/magic-the-gathering-oracle-deck-by-adam-lee-fred-gissubel/

The Band by Christine Ma-Kellams

Reading this book was a distinctly disorienting experience, in the best way possible. Was I reading the author’s diary? Did this thus make us best friends? Obviously the answer to both questions is no, but it still felt like a weirdly intimate experience, as if a good friend was telling me all about a recent …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/21/the-band-by-christine-ma-kellams/

Plain Jane And The Mermaid by Vera Brosgol

I love pretty much everything First Second Books publishes. My relationship with them started with the excellent Sailor Twain by Mark Siegel, and while I haven’t had the time to cover as many of their books as I’d honestly like to, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to review their latest title that also features …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/20/plain-jane-and-the-mermaid-by-vera-brosgol/

The Way by Swann’s by Marcel Proust

The Way by Swann's by Marcel Proust

The writing of Jozef Czapski persuaded me to read Proust, and the writing of Marcel Proust persuaded me to stop. Czapski noted that Proust wanted popular success, and that one of the first translations of Proust into Polish had made him popular in that language, in part by rendering his famously extended sentences into more …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/19/the-way-by-swanns-by-marcel-proust/