Jan 29 2026
Ooh, is this the first Part Five I’ve ever published of this monthly series? It can’t be because this year’s January has lasted forever can it, hahahahahuuuuuuuunh. Anyway, this column is coming out on a Thursday this week because we’re taking part in the USA’s General Strike tomorrow. No work, no school, no shopping for …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/01/29/tantalizing-tales-january-2026-part-five/
Jan 28 2026
Being confined to the house by a double whammy of flu and ice storm sure has made me appreciate books like this even more than usual! The third in the Cranberry Creek Word Search mystery series finds our heroine, bookstore owner Abby Jones getting ready for the wedding of her best friend, baker Rose Turner. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/01/28/murder-before-i-do-by-rosie-a-point-and-charles-timmerman/
Jan 27 2026
Hello, dear readers! Today we have an excerpt from a centuries-spanning novel of science fantasy that will appeal to lovers of the esoteric and the technological. I’m gonna let the publicity materials for this latest book in a series speak for themselves, for fear of accidentally giving anything away with my own writing: “A twelfth …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/01/27/initial-condition-by-ian-domowitz-excerpt/
Jan 26 2026
with colors by Matt Hollingsworth and letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. There’s no escaping the fact that Ian Bertram’s art is far and away the most arresting aspect of this project. The best way for me to describe it would be horror manga through a 70s psychedelic lens, as a far-future America where body modifications are …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/01/26/precious-metal-by-darcy-van-poelgeest-ian-bertram/
Jan 23 2026
The last* roundup column of January features some terrific upcoming thrillers, as well as a few books I wish I’d been able to get to back in 2025. First up, we have a non-fiction examination of two of my favorite pastimes and one of the places where they intersect. John Curran’s The Murder Game examines …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/01/23/tantalizing-tales-january-2026-part-four/
Jan 22 2026
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 21 2026
w an art assist by Ruka Bravo. This was my first 5-star read of books published in 2026, and you’d best believe that I didn’t think it would be when I first went into it. Abbey Luck has done something exceptional here, writing of horrors both everyday and extraordinary with humor and hope, and without …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/01/21/pig-wife-by-abbey-luck/
Jan 16 2026
Hello, dear readers! This week, we have three books to look forward to and three other books I want to make sure you didn’t miss out on from the Big 25 (that’s 2025 for this of you still not up to date with the lingo.) Publishing this Tuesday is the latest from Ashley Elston, whose …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/01/16/tantalizing-tales-january-2026-part-three/
Jan 15 2026
This is a positive review, I promise, I just need to get something (not necessarily negative) about the publishing industry off my chest first. The titling of kids’ series books, and especially kids’ graphic novels, continues to confuse me. Should we call it first by the series’ name and number as we do with most …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/01/15/the-bizarre-bazaar-down-a-dark-path-by-daniel-nayeri-lesley-vamos/
Jan 14 2026
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/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire