May 31 2023
I do so love how this mystery series goes from strength to strength, as our librarian heroine Josie Way learns how to control her witchy powers while helping out the citizens of the small town of Wilfred, Oregon. Bibliomancy isn’t just about recommending the right books to the right people at the right time, but …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/05/31/witch-and-famous-by-angela-m-sanders/
May 21 2023
In contrast to Doreen, I do not feel perfectly suited to review Black Water Sister. I’m basically none of the things that the protagonist is, starting with Malaysian and ending with haunted by my maternal grandmother’s ghost. (To be clear, Doreen is not haunted by her grandmother’s ghost either. As far as I know.) None …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/05/21/black-water-sister-by-zen-cho-2/
May 05 2023
I wrote about Whispers Under Ground that I found the Rivers of London comfort reading, despite the uncanny events, the grisly murders, and the hints about horrible history in British magic. Broken Homes shows that I can still count on a narrator I enjoy spending time with, that there will be adventures and scrapes, and …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/05/05/broken-homes-by-ben-aaronovitch-2/
Apr 23 2023
An unconsidered moment of kindness sets Silver in the Wood in motion. Tobias Finch had been in his cottage during an autumn downpour when he spied “a young man in a well-fitted grey coat stumbling along the track with wet leaves blowing into his face and his hat a crumpled ruin in his hands.” (p. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/23/silver-in-the-wood-by-emily-tesh/
Apr 11 2023
I didn’t even know Tom Gauld had written a children’s book! This is his first of hopefully many, especially given the delightful allusions peppered throughout this volume to the title characters’ adventures while on their epic journey. Once upon a time, a king and queen lived happily but for the fact that they had no …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/11/the-little-wooden-robot-and-the-log-princess-by-tom-gauld/
Apr 06 2023
with colors by Angel/Michi DeSantiago. This is a really fun graphic novel that I almost bounced off of in the first few pages because it’s so darn dark. And I don’t mean in mood: I mean that it’s so visually murky that my brain was refusing to engage with the images on the page. I’d …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/06/codex-black-vol-1-a-fire-among-clouds-by-camilo-moncada-lozano/
Apr 03 2023
Due to my absolutely bonkers (and entirely self-inflicted) work schedule over at CriminalElement.com, I feel like I’ve had to dial back a lot on my professional obligations w/r/t books over here, but you’d best believe that when the chance to join the book tour for J. L. Worrad’s latest book came up, I jumped on …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/03/the-keep-within-by-j-l-worrad/
Apr 02 2023
The October Man begins with what I have come to think of as a hallmark of Ben Aaronovitch‘s Rivers of London: a death that is in nearly equal measure grisly, fascinating and supernatural. This novella offers “a suspicious death with unusual biological characteristics.” (p. 4) The narrator’s local police liaison adds, a few pages later, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/02/the-october-man-by-ben-aaronovitch/
Mar 22 2023
This is a strange, arresting book that one hundred percent works better as a novel(la) than as the lyric game it purports to be. Ostensibly a collection of spells and games created and played by two young girls living within recent memory, the short descriptions take common childhood games of the West and give them …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/03/22/lilancholy-by-john-battle/
Mar 21 2023
This delightful children’s book tells the tale of a young dragon, Long, going to dragon school for the first time. He’s super excited to be there, until he discovers that all of the other dragons breathe fire. Where he’s from, dragons only breathe water. Worse still, his professor’s assignment is for students to learn to …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/03/21/long-goes-to-dragon-school-by-helen-h-wu-mae-besom/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire