Doreen Sheridan

Professional book critic, amateur cellist, full-time polymath. Occasional game designer, perpetual game enthusiast. Mom of 3. Arsenal till I die. I like a good story. My other mystery reviews can be found here: https://www.criminalelement.com/author/dvaleris/

Most commented posts

  1. Deathless (Leningrad Diptych #1) by Catherynne M. Valente — 12 comments
  2. A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan #1) by Arkady Martine — 10 comments
  3. Sweet Tea by Piper Huguley — 7 comments
  4. The Love Report by BeKa & Maya — 7 comments
  5. I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley — 6 comments

Author's posts

How To Survive The End Of The World by Katy Doughty

with the subtitle A Graphic Exploration Of How To (Maybe) Avoid Extinction. And while this book is aimed at teens, I think that anyone with an interest in science and the many different ways in which the world could end will gain a lot from this well-researched and innovatively drawn volume. Never has the end …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/04/27/how-to-survive-the-end-of-the-world-by-katy-doughty/

Tantalizing Tales — April 2026 — Part Four

April is almost over, dear readers, and we have so many delicious books to look forward to as the weather warms here in the Northern Hemisphere! First up is a globe-trotting delight, as the prolific Jesse Q Sutanto takes a break from her usual mysteries to explore what it feels like to start over again …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/04/24/tantalizing-tales-april-2026-part-four/

Was That Normal? by Alex Potts

Is it weird that I read this book and immediately assumed that the protagonist must have grown up with a super critical parent or guardian who absolutely failed him in preparing him for an autonomous life? Lol, the irony there, ofc, being me asking if that’s weird, given the title of this book. And I …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/04/23/was-that-normal-by-alex-potts/

Hafsa’s Way by Aisha Saeed

Back when I was growing up in Malaysia, the private school I went to for a good part of my primary and secondary schooling essentially gave up on teaching after the General Certificate of Secondary Education exams, and organized fun extracurricular activities for us instead. One of these was trips to the nearby zoo, and …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/04/22/hafsas-way-by-aisha-saeed/

Table Titans Club: Sneak Attack by Scott Kurtz

with beautiful colors by Steve Hamaker. I’m ngl, I want to incorporate that Magic Mistletoe spell into my next character sheet, somehow, some way, lol. I super loved the first Table Titans Club graphic novel but also have a terrible memory, so will freely admit that I spent a good portion of this novel feeling …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/04/20/table-titans-club-sneak-attack-by-scott-kurtz/

Tantalizing Tales — April 2026 — Part Three

Lol, just as I thought I was coming out of the woods, I’m back to being bedridden and canceling chamber orchestra rehearsals because I’m feverish, fatigued and, in a new development, achey at primarily my extremities instead of all over. Is that progress? I’m so tired, I don’t even know any more. But I’ve been …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/04/17/tantalizing-tales-april-2026-part-three/

Be Right Back by Bill Wood

The sequel to the bestselling Let’s Split Up finds the Sanera Four assembled again in the town that catapulted them to macabre fame only one short year earlier. Jokester jock Cam never actually left, choosing to take on a role as assistant at his former high school instead of going to college. Meanwhile, both his …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/04/16/be-right-back-by-bill-wood/

Let’s Split Up by Bill Wood

Let’s Split Up was the fastest selling UK Young Adult debut of 2024. It’s said to appeal to the demographic that loves both the Scream movie franchise and Scooby Doo fans, but I suspect that this leans more to the former than the latter, at least if my reaction to it has been anything to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/04/15/lets-split-up-by-bill-wood/

Just One Oak by Maria Gianferrari & Diana Sudyka

subtitled What A Single Tree Can Be. And in the case of the oak, the answer is “a lot!” Growing up in Virginia, I had two massive oak trees in my front garden which, along with the red maple I spent hours climbing, were my favorite trees for the longest time. My dad made a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/04/14/just-one-oak-by-maria-gianferrari-diana-sudyka/

The Counterfeit by Ralph DeFalco (EXCERPT)

Hello, dear readers! Today we have an excerpt from a thrilling novel that reads like it could have been ripped from tomorrow’s headlines! In his debut novel The Counterfeit, historian and national security intelligence veteran Ralph DeFalco depicts a disturbingly plausible near future in which China has won a Pacific War against the United States …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/04/13/the-counterfeit-by-ralph-defalco-excerpt/