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. I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley — 6 comments
  5. Busting Vegas by Ben Mezrich — 5 comments

Author's posts

The Case Of The Severed Alliance (Bad Machinery #10) by John Allison

I usually read a Bad Machinery book each Christmas, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it this past year. Book 10 is the very last book of the series, and I was not in the correct frame of mind to face the end of the stories featuring my favorite teen mystery solvers, not …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/01/09/the-case-of-the-severed-alliance-bad-machinery-10-by-john-allison/

The Miraculous From The Material by Alan Lightman

subtitled: Understanding the Wonders of Nature Ah, what a refreshing collection of essays for the intermediate scientist on the many wonderful things around us! I would say that it helps to have a knowledge of basic science before diving in, but if this book with its beautiful selection of photos and plainly stated appreciation for …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/01/08/the-miraculous-from-the-material-by-alan-lightman/

Fairy House Disaster by Tina Connolly & Norm Grock

a Choose Your Own Adventure book! Can I say how much I love Chooseco’s Dragonlark series of CYOAs for younger kids, and especially the ones with female protagonists? I remember always wishing I had books like Fairy House Disaster as a kid, instead of having to pretend to be some dopey pre-teen boy making less …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/01/07/fairy-house-disaster-by-tina-connolly-norm-grock/

Beneath The Moon by Yoshi Yoshitani

I purchased (that’s right, I BOUGHT a book! Granted this was in 2023 and I’m only now getting around to reading it, lolsob) this beautiful collection of fairy tales, myths and divine stories because I deeply love Yoshi Yoshitani’s Tarot of the Divine, with which this book is inextricably linked. In order to illustrate the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/01/06/beneath-the-moon-by-yoshi-yoshitani/

The Maid And The Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko

I ADORE Jordan Ifueko, but when I first started reading this book back in August, I bounced off of it hard. It’s been a while since I read Ms Ifueko’s first book, the amazing and heartbreaking Raybearer, and while the follow-up Redemptor was also good, it felt oddly clinical in comparison. Very, very good, but …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/01/03/the-maid-and-the-crocodile-by-jordan-ifueko/

Looking Back On 2024

Happy New Year, readers! Hopefully, 2025 is an even better year for all of us than 2024 was, tho I know I speak more from optimism than from any actual expectation. Gosh, I’m such a bummer already, lol. This is partly due to the fact that, according to Goodreads, I read 336 books in 2024. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/01/02/looking-back-on-2024/

Tantalizing Tales — December 2024 — Part Two

Hello, readers! I decided to keep my final 2024 recap of books on my TBR pile for the very last day of the year instead of trying to shoehorn it into last Friday’s slot. Mostly, I needed the time off from writing and publishing. It has been a very busy year filled with a tremendous …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/12/31/tantalizing-tales-december-2024-part-two/

Darkly by Marisha Pessl

You know how sometimes you have an author whose first work you encountered was so life-altering that you’re down for whatever they write after, no matter the quality of the subsequent output? Marisha Pessl is one of those authors for me. I fell in love hard with Special Topics In Calamity Physics, which was a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/12/30/darkly-by-marisha-pessl/

Gastronogeek: The Book Of Potions by Thibaud Villanova & Stephanie Simbo

Honestly, I didn’t know what I would think about a cookbook devoted to liquids alone, but this was a really magnificent compilation of pop culture media-related recipes, covering both drinks and soupy dishes. There are definitely more than enough of the latter to give this volume pride of place in the kitchen and not just …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/12/23/gastronogeek-the-book-of-potions-by-thibaud-villanova-stephanie-simbo/

Suitor Armor, Vol. 1 by Purpah

Okay, this might be the best of the covers Ten Speed Graphic has picked for its books recently but even this one barely hints at the charm of what lies inside, IMO. Suitor Armor is the tale of a young lady-in-waiting named Lucia, who’s been the companion and best friend of the king’s betrothed, Kirsi, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/12/20/suitor-armor-vol-1-by-purpah/