Dec 01 2025
translated from the original Czech by Martha Kuhlman. Part of the problem with preferring to go in blind to books after I initially say yes to them (usually months and months ago) as a professional book critic is that I’m sometimes blindsided by topics that I didn’t think a book would cover to the extent …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/12/01/heartcore-by-stepanka-jislova/
Oct 30 2025
A good friend of mine has a slight but noticeable disability, and one of the first things he ever said to me was “Ask me about it.” That, in no small part, fueled my desire to read and review this title. Mazie is ready for her first day at a new school. She and her …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/10/30/maybe-just-ask-me-by-katie-mazeika/
Oct 27 2025
What I would give to have been as confident a teenager as Taylor Cassidy! As this book progresses, it becomes clear that good parenting played a huge role in raising such a well-adjusted, intellectually curious, boundlessly creative person who, in turn, wants to shine a bright, warm light for others to follow and be inspired …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/10/27/black-history-is-your-history-by-taylor-cassidy/
Sep 09 2025
So happy to celebrate five years of Street Noise’s dissident graphic novel publishing by featuring a review of this incredibly moving autobiographical tale! I’m not gonna lie, the first four parts of Jim Terry’s deeply personal graphic memoir Come Home, Indio, are tough reading. Jim, or JT as he’s often called, was born to an …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/09/09/come-home-indio-by-jim-terry/
Jun 26 2025
subtitled Visual Poems For Living In Climate Crisis. It’s always a refreshing surprise to me whenever someone professes belief in both Christianity and climate change. Of all the major faiths, mainstream (and especially Evangelical) Christianity has always struck me as the one least interested in responsible custodianship of the planet, as it focuses more on …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/06/26/you-are-a-sacred-place-by-madeleine-jubilee-saito/
May 12 2025
subtitled A Graphic Memoir of Sorts. First, big thanks to Doug and Emily for holding down the fort while I went on what I thought was going to be a working holiday… that turned into a mostly devices-free holiday. It was thus a delight to come back to work, and read and laugh and cry …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/05/12/good-luck-to-us-all-by-karen-vermeulen/
Apr 02 2025
In an increasingly dark sociopolitical climate, it helps to know that there are people out there who genuinely care, who don’t think that empathy is a sin, and who understand that helping others in need isn’t a huge sacrifice but an everyday thing we can all incorporate into our lives. One such person is Karen …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/04/02/meant-for-more-following-your-heart-and-finding-your-purpose-by-karen-olson-excerpt/
Mar 10 2025
with Lisa Dickey. Subtitled Lessons for Anyone Who Wants to Make a Difference. Despite being fairly politically informed, I wasn’t super familiar with Governor Gretchen Whitmer until the news of her attempted kidnapping and murder made national headlines. Even then, her policies didn’t (and still don’t, as most if not all of my Midwestern friends …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/03/10/true-gretch-young-adult-edition-by-gretchen-whitmer/
Feb 20 2025
I deeply appreciate what Michael Toledo is trying to do with this collection of short stories, interspersed with several illuminating autobiographical entries. The parts that were written with young readers in mind are trying hard to reach them at their level, especially the at-risk kids like Cielo in Grandfather To Granddaughter and Gracie in Heart. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/20/be-limitless-be-love-by-michael-toledo/
Feb 06 2025
subtitled Two Decades Of Photos From Comic Books & Hollywood. So I’ve been a comic book fan since the mid 1980s but darned if I can think of a single Gerry Duggan comic that I’ve read. This is not meant to be an insult, especially since my devotion to mainstream Marvel/DC Comics faded soon after …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/06/timing-luck-by-gerry-duggan/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire