Dec 27 2021
It’s become a tradition of recent years for me to use the Christmas holiday to read another Bad Machinery book, to just sit finally and take the time to put my feet up and enjoy these books that perfectly distil everything I like about reading. Mystery: check. Humor: check. Empathy: check. A hint or more …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/12/27/the-case-of-the-unwelcome-visitor-bad-machinery-6-by-john-allison/
Dec 23 2021
Oh, wow, I do hope this is the start of a series, because Meaghan McIsaac makes some truly great narrative and world-building choices here! Imagine a realm where the kingdoms are devoted to the animal constellations that we readers more or less already know, with the Bear House ruling supreme over them all. The leaders …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/12/23/the-bear-house-by-meaghan-mcisaac/
Dec 22 2021
There are some interesting set pieces and arresting imagery in this modern-day tale of witches on a remote southern island, tied by bonds of blood and love. You definitely get the idea that some of these scenes sprang into Paige Crutcher’s head fully formed, so viscerally and lovingly are they depicted. Alas, that’s about all …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/12/22/the-orphan-witch-by-paige-crutcher/
Dec 21 2021
Matt Kracht loves birds enough to be perfectly blunt about what jerks they can be, to massively entertaining effect. In this follow-up to his initial The Field Guide To Dumb Birds Of North America, he expands his reporting on birds to cover avians of the entire world, gaining a significantly wider range for his mockery. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/12/21/the-field-guide-to-dumb-birds-of-the-whole-stupid-world-by-matt-kracht/
Dec 20 2021
While I’m sure I would have understood more of the passing references here had I started with volume one, this was still a more than alright place to begin with the Carlton Crumple Creature Catcher series, as my 10 year-old will happily attest. As of this volume, Carlton Crumple is bored at home, on the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/12/20/carlton-crumple-creature-catcher-3-reptoids-from-space-by-david-fremont/
Dec 17 2021
Hrm, well, if I’d known this was essentially a memoir by a woman in her 40s, I would have probably skipped it (as I do for memoirs by men in their 30s, and for roughly the same reasons.) I feel that the 40s are a bad age for a woman to try to do a …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/12/17/spilexm-a-weaving-of-recovery-resilience-and-resurgence-by-nicola-i-campbell/
Dec 16 2021
First, a small pat on the back to myself for slowly but surely catching up on my reading backlog. Second, a huge pat on the back to everyone involved with Rick Riordan Presents, an imprint that showcases fantastic middle-grade fiction based on world mythologies. The representation is gloriously diverse and fascinatingly educational. I love mythology …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/12/16/the-cursed-carnival-and-other-calamities-new-stories-about-mythic-heroes-compiled-by-rick-riordan/
Dec 15 2021
It’s always so frustrating reading books like this and feeling the shock of recognition turn into a weariness, then a resentment at the fact that people don’t think this shit could happen to them, too. The Iranians certainly didn’t think they’d lose their freedom in the late 70s when a coalition of communists and Islamic …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/12/15/iranian-love-stories-by-jane-deuxard-deloupy/
Dec 14 2021
This slight but amusing volume is perfect for dance enthusiasts anywhere and of any age! We catch up with Lucy, Alia and Julie as a new girl joins their classical ballet class. Maya’s real love is basketball, but she’s been forced by her mother to try ballet before it’s “too late”. Maya is a team …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/12/14/dance-class-vol-12-the-new-girl-by-beka-and-crip/
Dec 13 2021
Steven Max Russo sent this to me with a warning about graphic violence, but honestly? I’ve read enough horror novels and thrillers that, while this book is definitely on the violent side, it never descends into gratuitous gore, instead giving a visceral depiction of what really happens in war and bloodshed and refusing to look …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/12/13/the-dead-dont-sleep-by-steven-max-russo/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire