Author's posts
Happy July, dear readers! If you’re in an area affected by high heat, I sincerely hope you have every opportunity to stay cool, especially with a good book or five to keep you company. And as always, I have suggestions, including the recently published Pasha The Storm by the fabulous Lin Codega. If you’re not …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/07/02/tantalizing-tales-july-2026-part-one/
As someone who believes in the need for a Palestine free of occupation and genocide, it feels weird to say that nothing in this graphic memoir persuaded me further along towards that cause. The Israeli occupation is horrifyingly cruel, and the abuse the Palestinians continue to endure unthinkable. If, for whatever reason, you don’t already …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/07/01/welcome-to-hell-from-the-west-bank-to-gaza-by-mohammad-sabaaneh/
This adorable book for beginning readers is perfect for anyone who loves cute animal illustrations, and especially those of delightful little pugs. Hugo is a charming pug puppy who is ready for a day of big adventure! With his small child owner, he goes to explore the wider world, finding both enchanting experiences and significantly …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/06/30/uh-oh-hugo-by-jonathan-stutzman-jay-fleck/
accompanied in the volume I received by the short story Johnny Hollowback And The Witch, which I actually preferred. Which isn’t to say that the main novella here is at all bad! I very much preferred it to the last thing of hers I read, the wildly overrated This Is How You Lose The Time …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/06/29/the-river-has-roots-by-amal-el-mohtar/
Okay, but what happens neeeeeext?! That is less a complaint than a plea for Kirsty Applebaum to keep writing more books about the garden at the heart of The Strange Disappearance Of Imogen Good. The book itself opens with Imogen about to sneak into a forbidden garden, in hopes of ditching her once best friend …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/06/26/the-strange-disappearance-of-imogen-good-by-kirsty-applebaum/
I’m pretty sure that this is meant to be an illustrated poem, but that’s not the only thing that baffles me about this purported graphic novel. Leaving heartbreak behind, the protagonist pares down their physical existence and decides to go on a long hike in the woods. Things get weird very quickly, as the narrator …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/06/25/oracles-by-olivia-sullivan/
Unlike Doug, I knew that this would be a variation on Cinderella from the very first page, steeped as I am in my love for all fairy tale and mythological retellings. But like him I was immediately hooked by the premise that Ella, our heroine, essentially shuffles off her mortal coil on that very same …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/06/24/cinder-house-by-freya-marske-2/
Along with many others lucky enough to do so, I took Juneteenth off last week (and wound up having to accompany my best girl while she hit on men in kilts, lol, instead of having the restful day I’d otherwise anticipated.) This week’s Tantalizing Titles column is thus a double header for this week AND …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/06/22/tantalizing-tales-june-2026-part-three/
Hello, readers! We have a treat for you today with an interview from acclaimed sci-fi author Kevin Hincker. His latest novel riffs off of the Wag The Dog scenario familiar to consumers of both sci-fi classics (that we won’t name here because of potential spoilers) and political thrillers of page and screen. The Story Eaters …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/06/18/an-interview-with-kevin-hincker-author-of-the-story-eaters-of-yamm/
Hello, readers! We have a treat for you today with an excerpt from a sensitive coming-of-age tale, as a young girl must come out of the shadows in order to embrace a whole life. The closest that 16 year-old Zara Kegg has to friendships in her coastal North Carolina town is with the regulars she …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/06/16/the-reel-life-of-zara-kregg-by-brad-barkley-excerpt/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire