Author's posts
So how to describe this book without devolving into a slew of Personal Issues that had me sobbing so hard at points in the book that I had to set it aside and just cry from the relief of knowing that someone, somewhere, experienced the same pain and came out intact and even, dare I …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/07/04/one-life-my-mothers-story-by-kate-grenville/
Ugh, Brandon Sanderson, why are you so good at writing?!?! Stayed up the other night just to finish this, and cried my way through the ending. Not as badly as I cried through 40 entire pages near the end of Way of Kings (which was also partly due, I feel, to the Mistborn trilogy being …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/07/04/the-mistborn-trilogy-boxed-set-by-brandon-sanderson/
I read Chandler Burr’s original New Yorker article on Un Jardin Sur Nil when it came out and remember being absolutely fascinated. Mr Burr is an excellent journalist and writer, and he really drew me into a world which I never really give much thought to otherwise. This book expands upon that original article and, …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/04/02/the-perfect-scent-a-year-inside-the-perfume-industry-in-paris-and-new-york-by-chandler-burr/
I would likely have considered this YA novel just a smidge above average, if not for that thoughtful, bittersweet ending. I thought it was entertaining overall, but at times it felt a little too self-consciously political. The Hunger Games trilogy trod that line (mostly) successfully when dealing with its anti-war and anti-propaganda narratives in books …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/03/10/material-girls-by-elaine-dimopoulos/
Not as good as the first in the series, but still above average. Once again, the magic theory was compelling, and I love Ms Mock’s overall plotting and world-building. The characters are flawed and believable, but… as with the first book, the overall writing is horrendous. Grammar and spelling are secondary, and what is it …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/03/05/render-by-elizabeth-c-mock/
The main reason I enjoyed this book is the impressive way in which Peter Swanson sucked me into Lily Kintner’s psyche. I was originally repulsed by her philosophy of ending lives (and still am, tbh) but as the book progressed, I desperately wanted her to get away with all the marbles. Conversely, her murderous spree …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/02/07/the-kind-worth-killing-by-peter-swanson/
It seems a bit odd, tbh, to lump together the many contributors to this compendium of short stories under the one word “various” but Galley Press never named an editor, and there were enough anonymous contributors that I don’t feel all that bad doing it. Anyway, this book was one of several I brought home …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/25/the-giant-book-of-stories-by-various/
I don’t know how I feel about this book. On the one hand, the depictions of violence and its physical aftermath were gripping and convincing, but something about the internal lives of Therese and Laurent felt off. I don’t know if Emile Zola was intending to moralize, or to present their guilt as the inevitable …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/19/therese-raquin-by-emile-zola/
Oh my God, where to even start with reviewing this book? Okay, it is exceptionally, intelligently plotted. The plot twists are surprising and smart, the moral quandaries meaningful and moving. As far as story and world-building goes, Elizabeth C Mock has come up with something to rival Brandon Sanderson or Jacqueline Carey. “Wait,” you’re asking. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/14/shatter-by-elizabeth-c-mock/
Despite the unpromising beginning, The Secret Life Of Pronouns did turn out to be a fascinating look at how our personalities and circumstances influence the language we use, unconsciously betraying us to the canny observer. I especially liked how it tied into the website and the exercises there, with bonus points for the humor. A …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/04/the-secret-life-of-pronouns-what-our-words-say-about-us-by-james-w-pennebaker/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire