Feb 09 2026
It’s my birthday week so I’m going to treat myself by focusing on recently published Middle Grade books this week instead of going for a wide variety of genres, as I usually do. MG is one of my favorite categories because the authors uniformly care about being entertaining and emotionally engaging — and often educational …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/02/09/dante-n-ferno-is-not-a-loser-by-brian-gordon/
Jan 07 2026
For quite a long time there, I’d treat myself every Christmas by reading a new volume of John Allison’s Bad Machinery while the kids played with their new toys. I eventually ran out of volumes (there are only ten, after all) so decided to go ahead and read all three books of the Steeple series …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/01/07/steeple-volumes-1-2-3-by-john-allison/
Oct 29 2025
I am a pop culture maximalist who also happens to be a big fan of Blackpink and especially Lisa, but not even I understand the chokehold that Labubus have had on the global imagination ever since she was snapped with the doll attached to her purse. But, y’know, since I’ve never been immune to FOMO, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/10/29/the-lafufu-coloring-book-the-very-merry-lafufu-coloring-book-by-adams-media/
Oct 06 2025
Yes, it is absolutely ludicrous to have a vigilante whose main weapon is a bowling ball, but he’s out there fighting neo-Nazis and we 100% need more of that nowadays! And it isn’t just some cut-and-dried good guy vs generic white nationalists story either. There’s a lot of nuance in this book, as well as …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/10/06/the-holy-roller-volume-one-by-andy-samberg-rick-remender-joe-trohman-roland-boschi-moreno-dinisio/
Sep 18 2025
I have not yet been fortunate enough to get my hands on the first book in this series but that certainly didn’t dampen any of my enjoyment of this charming graphic novel for children, which works perfectly well as a standalone. Sky and her Tyrannosaurus Rex pardner make up the fastest delivery service in the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/09/18/sky-ty-2-dinomite-by-steve-breen/
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 09 2025
with colors by Michael E Wiggam, and letters by Simon Bowland and Charles Pritchett. When was the last time I sat down and enjoyed a teen comedy that wasn’t primarily another genre, be it mystery or romance or fantasy? Student Government has a bit of all of those, but is primarily just a warm-hearted coming-of-age …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/09/student-government-by-dave-justus-lilah-sturges-joe-eisma/
Jun 02 2025
Lol, that really is the entire title, which should prepare you for the irreverent humor within the pages of this bird guide, written from the point of view of someone who (hilariously) loathes birds. Matt Kracht has been writing about birds for quite a while: while he might really hate them, he certainly knows his …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/06/02/a-dumb-birds-field-guide-to-the-worst-birds-ever-by-matt-kracht/
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/
May 03 2025
Eurovision 2025 is coming up in not quite three weeks, and I’ll be watching it, though I hadn’t given it much (if any) thought until I looked up the date just now. I watched in 2024 and amused myself on social media, cackling along with fellow commenters, but the truth is that I was still …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/05/03/space-oddity-by-catherynne-m-valente/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire