Choosing this to read rn was 100% due to my recent coverage of it in the latest Tantalizing Tales column reminding me that it’s a manageably quick, grown-up read. Which is just what I need while my doctors puzzle out what’s been keeping me sick since mid-January, with only occasional bursts of energy that would …
Category: Fiction
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/05/13/the-dogs-of-venice-by-steven-rowley/
May 09 2026
Ehen in Philippsburg by Martin Walser
At the end of January, I wrote that I was not sure I was going to finish Ehen in Philippsburg (Marriages in Philippsburg). It’s not that the book was bad, as such, it’s just that more than six months had elapsed since I had started reading, and that was a good indicator that the novel …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/05/09/ehen-in-philippsburg-by-martin-walser/
Apr 04 2026
The Tailor of Panama by John Le Carré
The Tailor of Panama is Harry Pendel, half of the Savile Row partnership of Pendel & Braithwaite, relocated to Panama City some years back. A large portrait of the late Arthur Braithwaite — shipped over from England at his widow’s insistence and damn the expense — presides over the premises just off the prestigious Via …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/04/04/the-tailor-of-panama-by-john-le-carre/
Mar 12 2026
Hail Mariam by Huda Al-Marashi
Every time I think parts of my Malaysian Muslim upbringing were strict, I run up against really weird shit from other Muslim cultural denominations and I’m all “wow.” Which isn’t to run them down at all! And perhaps nowhere is this sort of reflection more appropriate than in a book about a twelve year-old Muslim …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/03/12/hail-mariam-by-huda-al-marashi/
Mar 08 2026
Jakob von Gunten by Robert Walser
Well I suppose that Jakob von Gunten is a bildungsroman because it follows its young and eponymous first-person narrator through his later school years and ends with his departure from the Institut Benjamenta. On the other hand, its 144 pages raise some doubts about whether it qualifies as a Roman, although the Süddeutsche Zeitung published …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/03/08/jakob-von-gunten-by-robert-walser/
Jan 22 2026
Wandering Souls and other stories by Philip Caputo
I tend to read a lot more female authors than male, which apparently puts me in the minority of readers worldwide. It’s especially unusual for me to read “serious” fiction by men, and while there’s a touch of the supernatural in each story collected here, this is still very much the kind of literary writing …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/01/22/wandering-souls-and-other-stories-by-philip-caputo/
Jan 20 2026
Upcoming Speculative Fiction by Beloved Authors!
The next few months are giving us a lot to look forward to, book-wise! Authors we already know and love are coming out with new works in new worlds, offering that delightful combination of known quality in form with exciting novelty in content. Nightshade and Oak by Molly O’Neill coming in February, Wolf Worm by …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/01/20/upcoming-speculative-fiction-by-beloved-authors/
Jan 14 2026
Eternal Summer by Franziska Gansler
translated from the original German by Imogen Taylor. Iris runs the only hotel left open in Bad Heim, a once-thriving (and fictional) spa town that now lives under constant threat of the forest fires that burn just beyond the river. Every summer seems to stretch for longer and longer, as the heat waves allow the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/01/14/eternal-summer-by-franziska-gansler/
Dec 29 2025
Reading Resolutions Roundtable, 2026 edition
As 2025 fades around us, Frumious Consortiumists Doreen, Doug and Emily are thinking about our reading plans for 2026! Whether we make official resolutions or not, we all have some definite goals. Emily: Okay, let’s chat new year! Do you make reading resolutions? Anything you’re planning or particularly looking forward to in 2026? Starting in …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/12/29/reading-resolutions-roundtable-2026-edition/
Nov 06 2025
Carried Away by TJ Derry (EXCERPT)
Hello, readers! Today we have a pulse-pounding excerpt for you from debut author TJ Derry’s soul-searching adventure novel, Carried Away! From the press materials: “Feeling numb and worn down by routine, Cole leaves New York for a chain of tropical Indonesian islands, chasing silence, clarity, and something real. Amidst the salt and heat, he reconnects …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/11/06/carried-away-by-tj-derry-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