Author's posts
The afterword of T Kingfisher’s terrific The Hollow Places (which I’ll shortly be reviewing over at CriminalElement.com) mentions that it’s based on the classic horror short story The Willows by Algernon Blackwood, which has been cited by H. P. Lovecraft as being one of the most terrifying stories ever written. Being a voraciously curious reader, …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/09/28/the-willows-by-algernon-blackwood/
As pastiche, J. S. Barnes’ Dracula’s Child is a remarkable sequel to Bram Stoker’s classic tale of vampiric horror, the legendary Dracula. Told in an epistolary manner similar to its predecessor, it tells the tale of the surviving vampire hunters some thirteen years past their execution of the dark Transylvanian lord, as pieced together by …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/09/22/draculas-child-by-j-s-barnes/
It’s starting to get cold here in Maryland, so time for my thoughts to turn to hot soups and snuggling under the covers with a creepy tale or two! First up, an American classic that isn’t, perhaps, as overtly scary as its reputation has made it out to be, tho many literary people have certainly …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/09/21/we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle-by-shirley-jackson/
Decided to devote a full work-week’s coverage to kid’s books, since it looks like I’m on an unintentional roll! My mother-in-law lives in the Virginia mountains, and is a longstanding frequenter/supporter of her local library. She also loves their library book sales, and brings bundles up to us in Maryland, primarily of books for the …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/09/17/department-store-by-gail-gibbons/
This very cute graphic novel tackles a very serious subject in a truly accessible way. The Geeky Fab 5 are students at Earhart Elementary, four of whom have just begun their fourth grade class curriculum on nutrition. They’re also participating in a fundraising bake sale by putting together a rainbow volcano cake, and prepping for …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/09/15/geeky-fab-5-vol-4-food-fight-for-fiona-by-lucy-liz-lareau-and-ryan-jampole/
Since my kids started remote learning, I’ve been spending my days as their teachers’ assistant, making sure they are paying attention in class, have all the supplies they need for each lesson and are turning in their assignments. Despite my background in corporate training, my new job as paraeducator is exhausting. People frequently underestimate the …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/09/14/we-dont-eat-our-classmates-penelope-1-by-ryan-t-higgins/
“Mom,” my eldest child asked me the other night. “Were things better in the good old days?” I looked up from my typing. Given my severe allergy to nostalgia-induced rose-colored glasses, I wanted to be sure to answer this carefully. “What do you mean “good old days”?” I asked. “Well,” said Jms. “When you were …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/09/11/diary-of-a-wimpy-kid-old-school-diary-of-a-wimpy-kid-10-by-jeff-kinney/
With Gardner Dozois’ passing, science fiction lost not only a brilliant writer but also one of the most prominent editors in the genre. Since 1984, he’d presided over the premiere collection of sci-fi’s shorter works via his Year’s Best collections, which numbered thirty-five at the time of his demise. Two years on, Jonathan Strahan and …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/09/09/the-years-best-science-fiction-vol-1-the-saga-anthology-of-science-fiction-2020-edited-by-jonathan-strahan/
Embarrassingly, I totally had Robert B Parker mixed up with Richard Stark because of the latter’s Parker novels. I’m starting to wonder whether I do, in fact, read too many books. And, given this title, whether I watch too little TV, as I’ve definitely watched a wee bit of the Stone Cold adaptation but never …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/09/08/robert-b-parkers-fools-paradise-jesse-stone-19-by-mike-lupica/
I am absolutely wrung out after reading Parachutes by Kelly Yang. I cried — which is a given considering the subject matter — a lot — which is not. Ms Yang crams into one book so many of the traumas that I’ve either endured or been adjacent to by virtue of being or having been …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/09/03/parachutes-by-kelly-yang/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire