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Stunning and sensitive, this book would have been perfect but for the ending, which I felt petered out in a way that was meant to be philosophical but which just felt oddly disconnected given all the emotions that had filled the pages till then. I mean, honestly, I’d cried three times before even getting halfway …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/10/31/did-you-ever-have-a-family-by-bill-clegg/
It is so weird how bad Tintin In America is compared with the other books in this collection. It’s the kind of thing you expect from a successful series writer towards the end of his interest in the venture as anything beyond a profit generator, when he’s just churning out pablum to please the mindless …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/10/30/the-adventures-of-tintin-vol-1-tintin-in-america-cigars-of-the-pharaoh-the-blue-lotus-by-herge/
The weird thing for me with this book is how little I care for the story that inspired it, Guy de Maupassant’s The Necklace. That famous tale is essentially an account of vapid people doing stupid things, to their own detriment, exactly the kind of thing I have little patience for (looking at you, Fates …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/10/28/the-clasp-by-sloane-crosley/
Crushed this book in a single sitting today (tho it’s a graphic novel, so that’s not at all difficult) and was just devastated by that ending. Ostensibly the story of a musician who gives up on life after he cannot find a suitable replacement for his broken instrument, it’s a heart-rending tale of… well, I …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/10/28/chicken-with-plums-by-marjane-satrapi/
Wait, so this is the second book he wrote about MIT students who figured out how to scam casinos? Anyway, the story itself is compelling enough, but the writing is violently purple. The best description I’ve encountered of his writing style is “non-fiction pulp”: tolerable enough for a book, I guess, and much improved by …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/10/24/busting-vegas-by-ben-mezrich/
I’ve babbled on about my issues with Malaysian writers before (nutshelled: I want them to be super good, but when they are, I immediately hate myself for not writing, too,) and with this book, I realized that those issues extend to Singaporean writers, as well. I think it might be due to the two countries …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/10/18/aunty-lees-delights-singaporean-mystery-1-by-ovidia-yu/
In the interval between Endgame: The Calling and Sky Key, I got heavily involved in the Endgame: Ancient Societies augmented reality game, a primarily on-line game that involved solving puzzles and being creative after declaring yourself for one of the 12 lines. I chose to be a Nabatean, and set up our online community, and …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/10/17/sky-key-endgame-2-by-james-frey-and-nils-johnson-shelton/
I get the distinct feeling that Harper Lee only allowed this book to be published because a) she just didn’t care any more, and b) maybe it would stop people from pestering her about publishing (and honestly, shame on those people squeezing a profit out of this!) Go Set A Watchman is not a complete …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/10/14/go-set-a-watchman-by-harper-lee/
Liane Moriarty’s debut novel is a remarkably accomplished, near-perfect exploration of family dynamics in contemporary Australia. Witty and wise, with excellent pacing and an inventive structure, it exemplifies the genre of contemporary women’s fiction. And after reading Three Wishes, I was impressed with how well she’s living up to her initial promise: her fifth and …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/10/11/three-wishes-by-liane-moriarty/
For real, if I’d known this novel would be the first in a series, I wouldn’t have bothered reading it till the rest came out. As it is, the book ends well before the… oh jeez, how to explain without spoilers? I know this is all based on what might as well be ancient history, …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/10/09/hild-by-nicola-griffith/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire