Tag: Humor

Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians #1) by Kevin Kwan

I really liked this book, with one huge exception, which I’ll get to in a minute. It’s a very accurate depiction of life among the jetset in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, which I grew up lifestyle-adjacent to as an upper middle-class kid in Malaysia. Much has been written about how South and Southeast Asia …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2017/12/23/crazy-rich-asians-crazy-rich-asians-1-by-kevin-kwan/

The Light Fantastic (Discworld, #2; Rincewind #2) by Terry Pratchett

I was too busy to do a proper review of the first in the series once I’d finished reading, so this covers both, sorry not sorry. With the help of my local libraries, I’ve decided to read all the Discworld books that I haven’t yet attempted in order. I actually picked up The Color Of …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2017/08/26/the-light-fantastic-discworld-2-rincewind-2-by-terry-pratchett/

Fables: The Deluxe Edition, Book Two by Bill Willingham et. al.

The only problem with reading comics in their original single-issue format is that, if you’re like me and disorganized and somewhat absent-minded (and thus, the kind of person who finds Goodreads a godsend for its ability to help me keep track of what I’ve read and what I haven’t,) a lot of times, you don’t …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/12/05/fables-the-deluxe-edition-book-two-by-bill-willingham-et-al/

Yotsuba&! Vol 03 by Kiyohiko Azuma

Found this on my kitchen table this morning, likely unearthed by someone else in my family. Quick, delightful read centering on a six year-old in Japan and her daily life with her father, neighbors and friends. I thought the kids’ extortion of Jumbo at the Bon festival especially hilarious. Was also impressed by the clean …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/07/13/yotsuba-vol-03-by-kiyohiko-azuma/

Mike At Wrykyn by P. G. Wodehouse

Partway through reading this delightful romp of a boarding school tale, I realized that my entire consumption of the genre to date has been nearly exclusively female-centric, starring Enid Blyton’s St Clare’s and Mallory Towers series (of course,) with a side of Elinor Brent-Dyer’s Chalet School and a soupcon of American tales, including the delightful …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/03/12/mike-at-wrykyn-by-p-g-wodehouse/

Rumpole And The Reign Of Terror by John Mortimer

Originally read this back in 2008, but picked it up to re-read before loaning it to my darling bff. Brilliant book: funny, topical, with a good mystery and courtroom/romantic drama to boot. There are several awfully convenient coincidences, but they don’t distract from the over-all worth of the story. I didn’t realize when I picked …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/03/04/rumpole-and-the-reign-of-terror-by-john-mortimer/

Wake Up, Sir! by Jonathan Ames

The bff and I are both big fans of Wodehousian humor, so while trawling a Best-Of list last year, I stumbled across a glowing review of this novel, recently out in paperback, and thought I’d buy us a copy. Gave it to him for Christmas, and he passed it back to me recently to read …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/02/17/wake-up-sir-by-jonathan-ames/

An Interview with James Roberts, author of Pardon Me: A Victorian Farce

  Q: Every book has its own story about how it came to be conceived and written as it did. How did Pardon Me evolve? Pardon Me began life as an idea for a short story. I wanted to invent a rubbish British diplomat whose ineptitude would be the cause of many of history’s real …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/01/28/an-interview-with-james-roberts-author-of-pardon-me-a-victorian-farce/

Pardon Me: A Victorian Farce by James Roberts

There are several kinds of reader who will absolutely delight in this book. One is the kind who loves a sex romp a la Benny Hill, all innuendoes and awkward hilarity. Another is the kind who loves British/European/South African history of the Victorian era, particularly as the basis for a bit of speculative historical fiction …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/01/24/pardon-me-a-victorian-farce-by-james-roberts/

I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley

I really enjoyed her fiction work, so in comparison, this collection of essays seems fairly bland. It’s okay if you want to read the musings of a young, single white American woman living in New York City, but it’s nothing groundbreaking, distinctive or even particularly memorable. There’s some humor to it, but I didn’t find …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/12/18/i-was-told-thered-be-cake-by-sloane-crosley/