Professional book critic, amateur housewife, full-time polymath. I like a good story. My other mystery reviews can be found here: https://www.criminalelement.com/author/dvaleris/
Mar 16 2023
This collection of essays with recipes is absolutely stunning, both visually and in the impact of the stories. Not all the essays come with recipes, which is why I hesitate to call it a cookbook, and some recipes have definitely been more rigorously tested and precisely presented than others. But overall this is an emotionally …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/03/16/recipe-for-disaster-40-superstar-stories-of-sustenance-and-survival-by-alison-riley/
Mar 14 2023
What a delightful picture book introducing Native American words and concepts to readers, young and old! Amik is a young beaver who is excited to host a gathering of her cousins at her river home. Her little sister Nishiime is curious but shy, and vanishes almost as soon as the others begin to arrive. While …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/03/14/biindigen-amik-says-welcome-by-nancy-cooper-and-joshua-mangeshig-pawis-steckley/
Mar 09 2023
Back when I was a lass, sometime between fifth and eighth grades, cross-stitch became A Thing at my school. I lusted after the beautiful kits some of the other girls had, and remember in particular running my hand longingly over a sampler kit of yellow roses at a notions store. I’m not sure if my …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/03/09/maybe-swearing-will-help-relax-and-curse-your-ass-off-in-cross-stitch-by-weldon-owen-publishing/
Mar 08 2023
This bleak graphic novel follows the Viking-Age return of Hallstein Thordson to his Icelandic home. Seven years earlier, the Althing exiled him for his crimes. Now he’s come back looking, if not for redemption, then at least for rest at his father’s homestead. Alas, he returns to find his father dead and his stepmother wary …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/03/08/the-exile-by-erik-kriek/
Mar 07 2023
What an absolutely delightful addition to the Choose Your Own Adventure canon! And, sneakily, a perfect Easter-time read for any kid who loves animals, especially magical ones. You, the reader, are spending Easter Sunday at your aunt’s place, Glitterpony Farm, at the beginning of spring break. Your mom thinks it’s a good idea for you …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/03/07/glitterpony-farm-by-tina-connolly-norm-grock/
Mar 02 2023
What a brilliant addition this is to the subgenre of adventuring anthropomorphic animals! In a world seemingly abandoned by humans, an alliance of suburban mice and rats finds their supplies dwindling, even as the pickings from the houses around them grow ever slimmer. All scouts sent to the closest city, meanwhile, have failed to return. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/03/02/scurry-by-mac-smith/
Feb 23 2023
with the very long but accurate subtitle: From Deer Woman and Mami Wata to Amaterasu and Athena, Your Guide to the Amazing and Diverse Women from World Mythology. And readers, what a guide! I’m ngl, as a cis woman myself, I’m always at least subconsciously looking for the woman in the work, to see how …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/02/23/women-of-myth-by-jenny-williamson-genn-mcmenemy/
Feb 22 2023
This graphic novel might be the most relatable thing I’ve ever read about marriage, especially from the perspective of a white man. When gay marriage was legalized in 2013, Robert Kirby and his partner John had already been together for about a decade. They shared a dog and a house, and were thrilled that marriage …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/02/22/marry-me-a-little-by-robert-kirby/
Feb 21 2023
I’ll be honest, I and likely loads of others picked up this book because it has Ellie Goulding’s name on the cover. Lights is such a terrific album (I’m listening to it again as I type) and I always thought the media hubbub over her moving on from Ed Sheeran to Niall Horan was overblown. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/02/21/fitter-stronger-calmer-a-mindful-approach-to-exercise-and-nutrition-by-ellie-goulding/
Feb 15 2023
I’m not a terribly meta kind of person: I prefer to play games rather than read about them, and heaven knows, I’d much rather spend my precious time actually writing rather than reading about writing. So despite Paul Czege being a valued collaborator of mine, I wasn’t sure how much I was going to appreciate …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/02/15/the-ink-that-bleeds-by-paul-czege/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire