January 2023 archive

The Love Match by Priyanka Taslim

What a surprising delight of a YA romance novel! Before I go into the pros and cons of this book specifically, I do want to note how so many contemporary Muslim romance writers — particularly those with cultural backgrounds in former British colonies — lean towards Jane Austen as a watchword. My favorite of these …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/01/06/the-love-match-by-priyanka-taslim/

Area 51 Interns #1: Alien Summer by James S Murray & Carsen Smith

I literally have no idea who “Murr” is but apparently he’s super famous on the Internet, and I got to read this cool book by him and Carsen Smith! This middle grade novel features Viv Harlow, who’s about to graduate middle school and is super anxious about having one last perfect summer with her best …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/01/04/area-51-interns-1-alien-summer-by-james-s-murray-carsen-smith/

Looking Back On 2022

According to Goodreads, I read 299 books in 2022, 6 short of my record the year before. The pandemic definitely helped me find more time to read than in years prior, tho 2022 was more difficult because I actually got sick, from COVID-19 itself in May, then with whatever obnoxious unnumbered viruses the kids brought …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/01/03/looking-back-on-2022/

The Case Of The Forked Road (Bad Machinery #7) by John Allison

Every Christmas, while the kids are exclaiming over toys and playing in relative harmony, I adopt benevolent mama pose and sit and read a Bad Machinery book while they giggle and coo (clearly romanticized, but if not now, when.) This year, I was so discombobulated by the book series’ change of format that I accidentally …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/01/02/the-case-of-the-forked-road-bad-machinery-7-by-john-allison/

Taking Stock of 2022

I owe my favorite book of 2022 to the Hugo nominators who got Light from Uncommon Stars onto the finalist list, and the publishers who generously provided an electronic copy to all voters. Without those two groups of people, I would have missed out on a wonderful book and never been the wiser. The book …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/01/01/taking-stock-of-2022/