November 2015 archive

Disclaimer by Renee Knight

About halfway through this book, I hated everyone involved (with the great exception of Catherine,) including, and this is saying something, the author. But I’m glad I gritted my teeth and got to the end, because it was well worth it. In Disclaimer, people are awful to each other because they seek to assuage their …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/11/29/disclaimer-by-renee-knight/

A Brief History Of Seven Killings by Marlon James

I haven’t been so relieved to finish a book in a very long time. Not that it’s badly written, or even that it’s dull, just that it’s so unrelentingly violent and dismal that I could not, in any of my other entertainments, even approach anything destructive (so, goodbye, playing Witcher 3 or watching True Detective …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/11/27/a-brief-history-of-seven-killings-by-marlon-james/

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

I really loved Mindy Kaling on The Office, and quite enjoyed the first season of The Mindy Project. Alas, I stopped watching the latter when the levels of self-absorption stopped being entertaining, so I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy reading this book, especially since excerpts veered over into unfairly judgmental territory. But that, …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/11/21/is-everyone-hanging-out-without-me-and-other-concerns-by-mindy-kaling/

Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

It took me two days to finish the last 5%, mostly because damn you, Ingress double ap, but also because I was neither ready for nor okay with the idea of a cliffhanger, which was where I thought the book was going. Instead, it goes one better and, while I still really, really want to …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/11/20/foxglove-summer-by-ben-aaronovitch/

Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch

This was prolly the first book in the series where the case itself felt a little too convoluted (I mean, Isengard, really?) tho I really loved how the overarching series continues to develop with the Faceless Man and argh argh argh the ending! I didn’t expect that to happen and I should have: props to …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/11/17/broken-homes-by-ben-aaronovitch/

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

You guys, I wanted to love this book (despite even the vapid recommendation from Gwyneth freaking Paltrow that came with my copy) and there were certain parts where I’m like “yes, I understand that” and “yes, I lived that” but… I think the most egregious example of my problem with it is that I only …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/11/13/my-brilliant-friend-by-elena-ferrante/

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

So you get to the one part in the book (and anyone who’s read it will know what I’m talking about) and you stop, stunned. And you go back and you read the last part over again. And if you’re me, and essentially a British schoolgirl at your core, like Maddy you burst into uncontrollable …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/11/06/code-name-verity-by-elizabeth-wein/

Modern Romance: An Investigation by Aziz Ansari

Honestly, this is just a superlative book on what it’s like to date and be in a relationship in the present day. Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg conduct studies and review data to bring a comprehensive but still accessible (in large part due to Mr Ansari’s humor and personal anecdotes) overview of modern romance. They …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/11/03/modern-romance-an-investigation-by-aziz-ansari/

An Interview with Kim Alexander, author of The Sand Prince

Q: Every book has its own story about how it came to be conceived and written as it did. How did this book evolve? An image. I was in bed, falling asleep, and I suddenly had a vivid image of two people sitting at a campfire. The girl had white hair and was in a …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/11/03/an-interview-with-kim-alexander-author-of-the-sand-prince/

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

This book wasn’t for me. I thought it might be — 10 million fans can’t be wrong — I had heard good things about it, the title stayed lodged in my brain, and I thought about buying the book several times over the course of this year. So I picked it up, not entirely on impulse, …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/11/03/the-fault-in-our-stars-by-john-green/