May 01 2023

Der blaue Himmel by Galsan Tschinag

For some readers, Galsan Tschinag’s description of hard nomadic life in the Altai mountain region of Mongolia’s furthest western reaches in the 1950s will be enough. Der blaue Himmel — which could reasonably be translated as The Blue Sky or Blue Heaven — is a fictionalized memoir of a few years in a boy’s life, growing up in a family of shepherds in the Altai. As depicted in the book, it is a mostly self-contained, precarious, creaturely existence. Family members spend most of their time with the herds, and even the youngest have responsibilities as soon as they are able to fulfill them. By the time he is five or six, the narrator is looking after the small herd of sheep who cannot travel further afield — too young, too old, too lame, or temporarily incapacitated — to graze with the main flocks.

Der blaue Himmel by Galsan Tschinag

The family is not truly alone; in some seasons they keep their ger (Tschinag uses the word “yurt,” which seems still prevalent in German, while English was already trending toward the Mongolian term “ger” when I was there in 1999) near others from their extended family. The permanent settlement where the narrator will eventually follow his older siblings to school is less than a full day’s ride away. A medical emergency brings remedies from numerous sources, as word spreads among people willing to help. Nevertheless, Tschinag concentrates on a social world bounded by the narrator’s immediate family, most definitely including one dog (the family presumably has numerous dogs; this is so usual that a typical greeting as one approaches a ger is “Hold your dogs!”) that is very special to the narrator.

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Apr 30 2023

Wofür Frauen sich rechtfertigen müssen by Katja Berlin

The title of Katja Berlin’s book translates as Things for Which Women Have to Justify Themselves, and the cover shows a circle divided into four equal parts. They are labeled “Only children,” “Only career,” “Children and career,” and “No children and no career.” She is the creator of a pointedly humorous set of graphs that appear in the respected German weekly newspaper, Die Zeit. The series is named “Torten der Wahrheit,” or “Pie [Charts] of Truth.” The book collects about 160 of the best pie charts and bar charts that have appeared in the newspaper, and anyone who chortled at the chart on the cover will probably like the rest of the book.

Wofür Frauen sich rechtfertigen müssen by Katja Berlin

Some of the charts are applicable to modern life in general, such as the bar chart showing “Criticism of the Police.” A small bar on the left is labeled “From conservatives.” A slightly larger one in the middle is labeled “From left-liberals.” On the right, a bar more than four times taller than the others is labeled “From conservatives or left-liberals when radar catches them speeding.” Or the two-column chart titled “The Market”: on the left is a tall bar labeled “Probability that there is a market solution”; the far smaller bar on the right is “Probability that there is a good market solution.” In the chart “”Digital Sources of Aggression” a little less than 10 percent goes to “Shooter games,” while the rest is attributed to “Windows updates.” Some are gentler. “Autumn Activities” gives about 10 percent to “Reading Books” and the other 90 percent to “Buying Books.” Not that I would know anything about that.

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Apr 28 2023

I Did It! and Let’s Go! by Michael Emberley

I was recently sent both of these delightful children’s books (one of them signed by the author, too!) and thought I’d do an appreciation post/review of both in one entry.

I Did It! was written first, and is probably my favorite of the two. Our unisuited protagonist is trying with the help of their friends to do very fun things, including build a block tower, climb a tree and throw a baseball. When their attempts are unsuccessful, frustration ensues. The friends then all come together to fix and ride a bicycle. Will they be able to accomplish their aims this time? More importantly, will they be able to stay positive even in the face of a seeming defeat?

While this is billed as a comic, it really has the feel of a traditional picture book. Tbc, both are great! My middle child read quickly through it with me, and we both deemed it cute and funny. It’s great for beginning readers, with its limited vocabulary and adorable, colorful art providing full context for the characters’ dialog. The book conveys so much with so few words, while modeling extremely useful sentences for children to know and use themselves as they tackle life’s challenges.

I also used this book to successfully help soothe my reluctant reader youngest child Theo out of a tantrum. My husband barred the kids from playing Doors In Real Life because someone always gets hurt and cries — as they did earlier today — which set off a fresh round of tears and protests because Theo wanted a chance to finally win. He was assuaged with some joint deep breathing and stretching in a calm environment, followed by reading this book, which both validated his frustrations and encouraged him to keep trying to manage his emotions.

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Apr 26 2023

Bitches In Bonnets: Life Lessons From Jane Austen’s Mean Girls by Sarah J. Makowski

Okay, I know that no retrospective of Jane Austen’s work is complete without Anne Elliott, but why on earth would she have her own chapter here when she is about as far from a Mean Girl as I can think of in this canon? Elizabeth Elliot, absolutely. Ending on Anne is just a weird thematic choice that I didn’t love.

There was a lot to love otherwise, tho (and at least one other thing I was fairly lukewarm about) in this fun retrospective of all of Ms Austen’s novels, including Lady Susan. Before I continue, I must say that while I’ve read all of Ms Austen’s published works, I am terrible at keeping hold of minutiae. I literally had no recollection of Lucy Steele, despite having read Sense And Sensibility at least twice. The book I probably remember the most about is Emma, and that’s only because I’ve seen the movie Clueless far too many times. My college debate partner even thought I was a total Cher Horowitz, which in fairness is a lot better than being a total Emma Woodhouse!

Emma, ofc, gets her own chapter here, as the queen of Ms Austen’s Mean Girls. Sarah J Makowski does a terrific job of analyzing why Emma is so terrible yet why we’re so ready to root for her, at least up to the point where she finally goes too far. And even then, we’re happy to follow along as she sets out, more or less, to redeem herself. Ms Makowski not only analyzes Emma’s thoughts and motives but sets them — and similarly for the other Mean Girls in this book — alongside sociological texts on female interpersonal relationships, bringing a fresh perspective to the characters’ actions.

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Apr 25 2023

Outpost Zero by Sean Kelley McKeever & Alexandre Tefenkgi

Collecting the entire fourteen issue run of the sci-fi comic book title.

So this book has an interesting perspective on the living-in-space genre. Outpost Zero is all that remains of a generation ship that left Earth centuries ago. The survivors have adopted something of a small town mentality, focusing on keeping their outpost alive and otherwise exhibiting a marked disinterest in exploring the icy planet on which they crash landed.

Ofc, not everyone is so inwardly focused. Alea is the brave, almost foolhardy daughter of members of the Discovery team, the dwindling group responsible for venturing outside the dome. As she and her friends approach Singularity — i.e. the day they choose their grown-up career paths — they contemplate their futures. Alea wants to follow in her parents’ footsteps. Steven is happy to join his own dad in Engineering, while Lyss doesn’t particularly care where she ends up, despite her father’s ambitions. Mitchell wants to be a prizefighter, the dome’s main entertainment. No one’s heard from Mitchell’s twin Maddie in some time. Steven’s friend Sam, who for some reason rouses Mitchell’s ire, is already interning for Security, under the watchful eye of his foster mother, who’s the station’s Chief Of Security.

But then Steven breaches the airlock in an apparent suicide. The rest of the kids are devastated. Alea refuses to believe that Steven would kill himself without any sign or warning, and begins to investigate. What she discovers could turn their entire community upside down, and either crush their spirits for good or give them a new hope altogether.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/25/outpost-zero-by-sean-kelley-mckeever-alexandre-tefenkgi/

Apr 23 2023

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

An unconsidered moment of kindness sets Silver in the Wood in motion. Tobias Finch had been in his cottage during an autumn downpour when he spied “a young man in a well-fitted grey coat stumbling along the track with wet leaves blowing into his face and his hat a crumpled ruin in his hands.” (p. 7) Tobias hollered for him to come in. Within the first three pages, Emily Tesh establishes differences between Tobias and his visitor, Henry Silver. Tobias’ cottage is neat and he keeps a cat, but the cottage’s one good window has cloudy panes, and when Henry arrives Tobias had been preparing to sharpen his own knives. Henry’s nice coat, by contrast, “was a damn good coat … the kind so perfectly tailored it required a servant to pour you into it and peel you out again.” (p. 8) The cat likes the visitor, and the two men seem inclined to pass the time in companionable silence, though they have only just met.

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

When they do start to talk, it’s the friendly sort of banter typically born of long acquaintance, though Tesh will later show that the conversation was hardly typical for either of them.

“They say a madman lives in Greenhollow Wood,” said Silver, looking over at him.
“Who’s they?” said Tobias.
“The people I spoke to in Hallerton village. They say there’s a wild man out here—a priest of the old gods, or a desperate criminal, or just an ordinary lunatic. He eats nothing but meat, raw, and it has made him grow to a giant’s stature; or so I was given to understand at the Fox and Feathers. They informed me that I would know him by his height and his hair.”
“His hair, hmm,” said Tobias.
“Waist-length and unwashed,” said Silver, looking at Tobias.
“Now that’s a slander,” said Tobias. “It’s not past my elbows, and I wash all over every week.”
“I’m glad to hear it, Mr Finch,” said Silver.
“The rest’s all true,” said Tobias.
“Old gods and banditry and lunacy?”
“And the one where I eat people,” said Tobias, unsmiling.
Silver laughed abruptly, a splendid peal of sound. “Maidens, they told me. Yellow-haired for preference.”
“Nothing for you to worry about, then,” said Tobias. (pp. 9–10)

Tobias reveals that he has figured out that Silver must be the new owner of Greenhallow Hall, making him Tobias’ landlord. When Silver asks how he can make it up to Tobias, he answers “Cut my rent.” They make a few more joking remarks about the wild man of the wood before Silver returns to the road to the Hall, bidding a friendly farewell.

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Apr 20 2023

Otis & Peanut by Naseem Hrab & Kelly Collier

This heartwarming children’s book is being marketed as a graphic novel but feels very much like a picture book to me. That said, both formats are good? Especially when the story and art are both so strong.

Our title characters are best friends. Otis is a long-haired guinea pig while Peanut is a naked mole rat. Over the course of the three stories collected here, the besties face a number of surprisingly complex challenges together, and deal with them sensitively and with a load of heart. Best of all, the situations they face are not uncommon for any young reader, and help set a template for how to grapple with each circumstance.

In the first and perhaps silliest of the stories, Otis needs a haircut but is afraid it will hurt. Peanut would like a haircut but doesn’t have any hair, so the two decide that a wardrobe update might help Peanut with a well-needed change.

In the second story, The Swing, our friends talk about how much Otis misses Pearl. The circumstances of why Pearl is gone are never discussed, but the friends talk about how hard it is to miss someone while also having happy memories of them.

The last story, The House, is a thoughtful look at what makes a house a home. And then be still my heart: a recipe for baked potatoes! (pictures after the jump)

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Apr 19 2023

Magical History Tour Vol. 12: The Samurai by Fabrice Erre & Sylvain Savoia

As someone who has spent a patently absurd amount of time playing Legend Of The Five Rings, a role-playing game heavily inspired by Far Eastern cultures, it’s always fascinating to me to see how lacking my knowledge of Japan actually is. Books like this one gently correct my misperceptions, in the most interesting way possible.

Regular readers will know I’m a big fan of the Magical History Tour series which, while written for kids, is full of thought-provoking information for curious minds of all ages. This twelfth installment focuses specifically on Japan’s samurai: who they were; how they came about, came to power and declined, and the hold they continue to have on the world’s imagination. It’s a wholly absorbing book that presents its information clearly and without prejudice, and is honestly an essential primer for anyone who doesn’t know much — or who wants to know more — about this topic.

The seriousness of the subject matter is greatly leavened by the presence of Annie and Nico, our young present-day narrators. The story actually begins when Nico continually loses his cool while they’re playing a game of badminton. Annie suggests that staying calm will help him focus, much like the samurai believed. Nico, ofc, has no idea who they are, launching the two on their magical tour through history. Our narrative duo are perpetually charming, even if I, like Annie, feel that Nico maybe shouldn’t be trusted with sharp blades quite yet.

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Apr 18 2023

The Night Tent by Landis Blair

My middle child loved this book so much that he took off with it after we finished reading it and I still don’t know where it is, lol.

Landis Blair’s first picture book is the story of Watson, whose fears of the creatures in his closet and under his bed prevent him from feeling sleepy. Watson soon discovers a light under his covers, and crawls beneath to find a tent spangled with stars from the night sky. This sets him on a voyage through a fantastic nocturnal landscape where he learns that maybe strange creatures aren’t so scary, and that having lots of adventures makes a body very sleepy indeed.

This is a perfect book for helping kids get ready for sleep! The little insets with “Watson wasn’t sleepy yet so” (and I have to paraphrase because my kid ran off with the book) feature pictures of Watson getting progressively sleepier, and made me want to yawn as my body involuntarily relaxed with Watson’s. It’s a deeply clever psychological technique that’s perfect for soothing children (and their tired adults) to sleep.

The art is delightfully tenebrous, with clean lines and a style hearkening back to classic author-illustrators such as Maurice Sendak and Tomie dePaola. Mr Blair’s palette is cooler than those authors’, with blues predominant and pale yellows and white used as highlights, in keeping with the subject matter.

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Apr 15 2023

Sation Eternity by Mur Lafferty

What’s it like to be the protagonist of a mystery series? Everywhere you go, people die. Vacation? Murder. Big social occasion? More murder. Village fête? Very murdery. Spotting the clues and solving the crime when local police are stumped does not exactly win friends either. Mallory Viridian hates it. She’s had years of practice, and a testy relationship with police across North Carolina up to and including the State Bureau of Investigation. Normal people never adjust to murder. It’s debatable whether Mallory falls into the category of “normal,” given the number of premeditated deaths she had been in close proximity to, but her reaction is normal. She tried therapy — during a session the therapist’s wife murdered his secretary in the mistaken belief that they were having an affair — she tried religion — several, in fact.

Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty

“Miracles happen daily if we just open ourselves to it,” one priest had said while she was in confession. He hadn’t wanted to call it a miracle when, while hearing Mallory’s confession, a parishioner had been murdered in the church’s parking lot. The church had not admitted she was right; they instead accused her of orchestrating the crime. This was her eighth murder and she should have known better. (p. 11)

When Station Eternity opens in 2044, she has more than ten murders behind her. She’s adapted. “She had kept her distance from her neighbors and made friends only with the night volunteers at the local animal shelter. She shopped online or late at night in twenty-four-hour grocery stores. She tried to avoid groups of people at all costs.” (p. 13) She has a reasonably successful career as an author of mystery novels, mysteries based on the real crimes she has solved. The approach keeps her alive, and it does a good job keeping people around her alive too. But it’s “so, so goddamn lonely.” (p. 13) Which is probably why she lets a neighbor persuade her to go to a birthday party being held on a nearby military base.

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