October 2024 archive

Mr. Lovenstein Presents: Feelings by J.L. Westover

I’ve seen plenty of Mr Lovenstein panels and cartoons floating around as memes on social media, but it never occurred to me that these were actually part of a regular webcomic. Thank goodness for books collecting this material so that people like me can finally understand what the rest of the Internet has been going …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/16/mr-lovenstein-presents-feelings-by-j-l-westover/

The Light Keeper by Karen Levine, Sheila Baslaw & Alice Priestley

Times are hard in young Shmuel Saslovsky’s shtetl. Papa has just lost his job, and tho everyone in their family of eight pitches in to make ends meet, it’s a struggle to get by. While Shmuel’s five older sisters earn a few kopeks taking in mending or helping out around town, no one wants to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/15/the-light-keeper-by-karen-levine-sheila-baslaw-alice-priestley/

Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold

Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold

After two Vorkosigan books that are outliers in the larger series — Shards of Honor because it was the first; Ethan of Athos because it’s about an unusual planet — Brothers in Arms returns to what I think of as the main sequence of the saga: books about the life of Miles Vorkosigan. Brothers in …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/14/brothers-in-arms-by-lois-mcmaster-bujold/

The Helmet of Horror by Victor Pelevin

The Helmet of Horror by Victor Pelevin

What’s the difference between a very long online discussion and a labyrinth? What if the thread is started by someone called Ariadne? “I shall construct a labyrinth in which I can lose myself, together with anyone who tries to find me — who said this and about what?” (p. 1) What if the participants all say …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/13/the-helmet-of-horror-by-victor-pelevin/

Die Physiker by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Die Physiker (The Physicists) by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Dr Miss Mathilde von Zahnd runs one of the most renowned, and one of the most expensive, private psychiatric clinics in all of Switzerland. The enormous fees paid by the rich clientele — in the stage notes before the play proper, Dürrenmatt speaks of moronic millionaires, schizophrenic authors, arteriosclerotic politicians — have enabled most of the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/12/die-physiker-by-friedrich-durrenmatt/

I Will Do Better by Charles Bock

subtitled A Father’s Memoir of Heartbreak, Parenting, and Love. Perhaps my most popular and controversial review over on Goodreads is of an absolutely abysmal “parenting” memoir by a blogger who lost his wife in childbirth and struggled to raise their child on his own afterwards. I have genuine sympathy for his situation — with my …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/11/i-will-do-better-by-charles-bock/

Do-It-Yourself Dollhouse: Making More With Less by Shannon Anderson & Giulia Pintus

Firstly, I should note that this isn’t technically a how-to manual, but it’s certainly very inspirational for being able to make a dollhouse on your own! Secondly, wowzers, I wish I’d had a book like this when I was a kid! I always kinda resented my mom for throwing away the three story Barbie dollhouse …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/10/do-it-yourself-dollhouse-making-more-with-less-by-shannon-anderson-giulia-pintus/

Spinetinglers 3 by R. L. Stine

When R. L. Stine started making headlines as a writer with the Fear Street novels, I was already aging out of his target audience. I know that that’s a weird thing to say given how I voraciously read books across all age ranges now, but having grown up on Nicholas Fisk and Scary Stories To …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/09/spinetinglers-3-by-r-l-stine/

Kill Shakespeare: First Folio by Anthony Del Col, Conor McCreery & Andy Belanger

Nothing screams “this was written by men” more than having Juliet Capulet (lately of Romeo & Juliet) assure Othello that he is not a villain. Lol, like hell. Iago may be just as much a bad guy as Othello, but Desdemona is still dead! Murdered for no reason! Even if she’d been cuckolding her husband …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/08/kill-shakespeare-first-folio-by-anthony-del-col-conor-mccreery-andy-belanger/

The Midnight Mitzvah by Ruth Horowitz & Jenny Meilihove

Being a creature of perpetual lateness, let me apologize for that first before wishing a belated Shana Tova to all readers who celebrate! Whether Jewish or otherwise, plenty of people will enjoy and hopefully benefit from the message of The Midnight Mitzvah. Hanina Chipmunk is a champion nut collector who enjoys sharing her bounty with …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/07/the-midnight-mitzvah-by-ruth-horowitz-jenny-meilihove/