Aug 14 2025
This coming weekend, August 16 and 17th will be Flame Con in midtown Manhattan! I like my conventions small and progressive, and Flame Con is therefore generally one of my favorites each year. Created by the organization Geeks OUT, Flame Con is a celebration of queer aspects of various fandoms including books, comics, tv, film, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/08/14/flame-con-anticipation/
Aug 11 2025
This post concludes my year of reading all of Diana Wynne Jones’s books! After her death in 2011, Earwig and the Witch was published the same year, and a collection of her nonfiction writing was published in 2012. Much more recently, Moondust Books has published collections of her plays and poems! In this post I’ll …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/08/11/a-year-of-diana-wynne-jones-wrap-up/
Jul 03 2025
This month I reached the end of Diana Wynne Jones’s life in my year of reading all the books by Diana Wynne Jones! I read The Game, House of Many Ways, and Enchanted Glass. That’s one final book in Howl’s universe and two stand alones – three extremely strong books. The Game (2007) In The …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/03/a-year-of-diana-wynne-jones-the-late-2000s/
Jun 17 2025
Chuck Tingle’s third horror novel, Lucky Day, will be published by Tor on August 12th, and you can preorder it now! I think it’s his best yet. (Content warning: this spoiler-free review discusses bisexual erasure as it occurs in Lucky Day.) In Lucky Day, we meet Vera, a young, Type-A Statistics professor. Her hair is …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/06/17/lucky-day-by-chuck-tingle-comes-out-in-august/
Jun 03 2025
In my quest to read all of Diana Wynne Jones’s books in one year, this month I read The Merlin Conspiracy, Conrad’s Fate, and The Pinhoe Egg! We have now entered the era of Diana Wynne Jones books I read one time when they came out, and generally have not read since. It is an …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/06/03/a-year-of-diana-wynne-jones-the-mid-2000s/
May 20 2025
Even for the decidedly bookish, it can be tough to stay current with new grown-up graphic narratives from small publishers! Here are four gems out this season that are worth having on your radar. Checked Out by Katie Fricas is out today, May 20th; Second Shift by Kit Anderson, and George Takai’s next graphic memoir …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/05/20/grown-up-graphic-novels-to-seek-out/
May 09 2025
In my quest to read all of Diana Wynne Jones’s books in one year, this month I read Believing is Seeing, Year of the Griffin, Mixed Magics, and Unexpected Magic! That’s three collections of short stories and the sequel to my deeply beloved Dark Lord of Derkholm. Believing is Seeing (1999) This is a story …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/05/09/a-year-of-diana-wynne-jones-the-new-millennium/
Apr 23 2025
As I’ve mentioned before, I love speculative mysteries! In the next few months, we can look forward to murders among scholars on far-future Jupiter, at a magical boarding school in England, and revolving around a small town high school rivalry in the U.S.A., all being published by Tor. If “dark academia” is the zeitgeist, these …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/04/23/speculative-mysteries-to-get-excited-about/
Apr 16 2025
Hyo the Hellmaker, by Mina Ikemoto Ghosh came out this week, from Scholastic! It’s got intricate world building, noir vibes, and atmospheric illustrations by the author for any manga-loving teen of your acquaintance. Hyo is a “hellmaker,” which means she is able to make bespoke curses for your enemies. Once you commission her, she can …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/04/16/hyo-the-hellmaker-by-mina-ikemoto-ghosh/
Apr 03 2025
In my quest to read all of Diana Wynne Jones’s books in one year, this month I read Deep Secret, Dark Lord of Derkholm, and Puss in Boots: three titles that could all start with the word “The” and in the U.S., do not. Deep thoughts! Deep Secret and Dark Lord of Derkholm are two …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/04/03/a-year-of-diana-wynne-jones-the-late-1990s/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire