Doreen Sheridan

Professional book critic, amateur cellist, full-time polymath. Occasional game designer, perpetual game enthusiast. Mom of 3. Arsenal till I die. I like a good story. My other mystery reviews can be found here: https://www.criminalelement.com/author/dvaleris/

Most commented posts

  1. Deathless (Leningrad Diptych #1) by Catherynne M. Valente — 12 comments
  2. A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan #1) by Arkady Martine — 10 comments
  3. Sweet Tea by Piper Huguley — 7 comments
  4. I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley — 6 comments
  5. Busting Vegas by Ben Mezrich — 5 comments

Author's posts

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/

Poor Doreen by Sally Lloyd-Jones

I was walking through the kids’ section of the Silver Spring library nearly two weeks ago, somewhat haphazardly selecting books for Jms while he was at school, when I came across THIS book. Honestly, the only major character I can think of named Doreen in literature is the crazy ass friend in The Bell Jar, …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/11/02/poor-doreen-by-sally-lloyd-jones/

Did You Ever Have A Family by Bill Clegg

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 …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/10/31/did-you-ever-have-a-family-by-bill-clegg/

The Adventures of Tintin, Vol. 1: Tintin in America / Cigars of the Pharaoh / The Blue Lotus by Herge

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 …

Continue reading

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 Clasp by Sloane Crosley

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 …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/10/28/the-clasp-by-sloane-crosley/