Dec 06 2024

My UnderSlumberBumbleBeast by Zoje Stage & J E Larson

I missed the initial surge of excitement around Zoje Stage’s bestselling debut novel Baby Teeth, but was more than happy to take on the sequel, Dear Hanna, for the day job. In the latter novel, Hanna has grown up and gotten married to an older man with a teenage daughter. This pleases her: she doesn’t have any interest in having kids herself, so she’s glad to have found a mostly loving, supportive husband who’s on the same page as she is. An unexpected pregnancy, however, sets off a chain reaction of events that could have Hanna reverting to her old psychopathic ways.

I came out of that book with a huge amount of sympathy for Hanna, and an absolute loathing of her mother. But it also made me very much want to read more of Ms Stage’s work, especially this children’s book referenced in its pages. My UnderSlumberBumbleBeast is a book much loved by young Hanna and her little brother Goose, to the point where they made little UnderSlumberBumbleBeasts of their own. Now Ms Stage has partnered with illustrator J E Larson to bring that tome from fiction to reality.

My UnderSlumberBumbleBeast is the tale of Pru, an inventive young girl who doesn’t like to clean her room. When her Mumbley insists that she cleans up regardless, Pru shoves a bunch of stuff under her bed, little knowing what will result. For the noises that she’s been hearing at night from below her aren’t just from the house settling, as Mumbley and Papier (her very cute names for her parents) insist. She’ll soon find out that something actually is living under her bed, something for which she’s very much responsible.

As this is a children’s book, it is not, I repeat, not a scary novel like the rest of Ms Stage’s fiction has been so far. It’s actually a very cute, offbeat chapter book that’s appropriate for kids, tho it still does convey a frisson of suspense from Pru peering into dark spaces for the things that go bump in the night. It’s still wholly age-appropriate, especially with the glossary of potentially tricky words included in the back for younger readers by the word-loving and -collecting Pru.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/12/06/my-underslumberbumblebeast-by-zoje-stage-j-e-larson/

Dec 05 2024

Orchard Of The Tame by Marlo Meekins & Nick Cross

I go into lots of books blind nowadays, so I definitely wasn’t prepared for how powerful this book about surviving trauma and abuse would be. I was definitely lulled into a false sense of security by Nick Cross’ art, which deliberately hearkens back to animations of the early to mid 20th century, but that — perhaps weirdly — only adds to the timelessness of this tale.

Two love birds are flying around the forest looking for blue things to put into their nest egg when they spy a strange contraption in the ground. They open what looks like a porthole, and discover River Siren in a watery compartment inside. River Siren is thrilled to meet new people: she only ever interacts with Ainsprid, a toad-like creature who keeps her confined and only occasionally visits with exhortations of how much trouble River Siren is and how much Ainsprid sacrifices to keep her safe.

The birds immediately understand that River Siren is being abused, and try to persuade her to leave her prison to enjoy the outdoors, at least for a little while. River Siren, however, has been so conditioned to think of the outside world as dangerous and terrifying that she initially resists. But loneliness is even worse for her than fear, so she decides to just slip out for a little while to see what there is to see.

There are, ofc, genuine dangers in the woods but with the help of her new friends, River Siren perseveres. When Ainsprid discovers that she’s escaped, tho, there will be all hell to pay. Ainsprid kept her imprisoned for a reason, and River Siren and her friends will have to discover this the very hard way.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/12/05/orchard-of-the-tame-by-marlo-meekins-nick-cross/

Dec 04 2024

Gastronogeek Cult TV Cookbook by Thibaud Villanova & Mathilde Bourge

containing recipes inspired by 37 cult TV series.

If you’ve ever wanted to try out the recipes featured in your favorite TV shows but are a little leery of unnecessarily complicated instructions, then this is definitely the cookbook for you! Taking cues from over thirty different fantasy/sci-fi/horror/nerdy series (and Breaking Bad, which I guess fulfils some of those remits?) this beautifully constructed volume presents iconic recipes from each, whether it be Agent Dale Cooper’s favorite cherry pie from Twin Peaks or Tomatoes a la Book from Firefly. Best of all, the recipes are unfussy — while some are definitely more complex than others, they are all, by and large, doable by the beginning to advanced chef.

Each recipe is listed with its ingredients, a bit about the show that inspired it, and a lovely photo of the finished piece. It’s a very fun volume to page through, particularly if you’re a pop culture aficionado. There’s also a helpful glossary at the end, with bonus recipes for making various stocks and tartar sauce. The partially foiled cover is also a very nice touch.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/12/04/gastronogeek-cult-tv-cookbook-by-thibaud-villanova-mathilde-bourge/

Dec 03 2024

Pedro The Pirate by Ciara O’Neal & Antonella Fant

subtitled Learning To Trust A New Crew.

Pedro is a child who lives in a foster home. He doesn’t trust the other kids around him, but thaws to the dog whom he calls Parrot. Whenever someone human makes friendly overtures, however, he rebuffs them, claiming that he’s a pirate who sails alone. Alas for Pedro, too much rudeness calls out the adult known as Governor Daddybeard, who lays down the law.

Frustrated, Pedro decides to run away to sea with only Parrot for company. But when he stumbles across an astonishing treasure, he’ll have to reconsider whether his insistence on going it alone is really what’s best for him, or whether gathering a crew to join the fight and share the spoils is the true, free life of a pirate.

This touching picture book is impressively layered, ostensibly telling one tale with its straightforward story of a young boy with a big imagination, while adding so much nuance and detail with the illustrations. Ciara O’Neal and Antonella Fant clearly worked hard together to convey the story of a scared, lonely kid having big but entirely normal feelings about a tough situation. Ms Fant’s playful digital illustrations are the perfect complement to the light touch of Ms O’Neal’s words, ensuring that this kid’s book stays accessible for the readers who probably need it the most. The amount of care taken in this book to center Pedro and his coping mechanisms — while also gently showing how the people around him engage in best practices to draw him out — makes this an invaluable addition to the library of anyone with any connection to fostering.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/12/03/pedro-the-pirate-by-ciara-oneal-antonella-fant/

Dec 02 2024

Bits Of String Too Small To Save by Ruby Peru (AUDIOBOOK EXCERPT)

Readers, I’m so excited to be able to share a new format of excerpt for you! I am, unfortunately, one of those unlucky people who has trouble concentrating on audiobooks and podcasts, but I know a ton of you appreciate the convenience of those mediums. So today, in addition to the usual printed excerpt, I also have a snippet of an award-winning audiobook to share with you!

Ruby Peru’s Bits Of String Too Small To Save is a witty, classically illustrated fantasy for adults that asks: What’s the difference between animals and people? Magic and technology? A true home and a place to live?

In 2021, BoSTStS was a New York City Big Book Award distinguished favorite. In the novel (now a dramatized, full-cast audiobook,) innocent ElizabethAnn, her criminal genius Grandma and their loyal sheepdog Jackson dive out of the postmodern police state of No Oaks, through a hidden portal, and into the forested dystopia of Bumblegreen. There, ElizabethAnn must either rescue this world from a terrible blight or be executed as the cause of it. In the process, she investigates the disappearance of an ancient genderless magician, befriends a reluctant teenage queen, and rides a scheming, talking monkey, all in order to restore Grandma’s scientific reputation and to make this troubled land their new and true home.

The long-awaited release of the audio format for the book won the 2022 Deanna Tulley Multimedia Prize. Narrated by the author herself and voiced by a wide cast, this full-cast recording brings the novel’s colorful, imaginative characters to life in fresh new ways sure to delight dark fantasy readers of all ages.

Read on for a print excerpt before enjoying the audio sample!

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/12/02/bits-of-string-too-small-to-save-by-ruby-peru-audiobook-excerpt/

Nov 29 2024

Tantalizing Tales — November 2024 — Part Three

Three, three fortnightly roundups for the month of November, ah-ah-ah! (That last bit was meant to be laughed a la Sesame Street’s The Count.) And what a coincidence, today’s post falls on Black Friday too! Let’s take a look at some of the delicious books I haven’t yet had a chance to get to reading these past two weeks, if not longer, shall we?

First up is a time travel YA heist, Tilia Klebenov Jacobs and Norman Birnbach’s Stealing Time. Tori lives in 2020 and her parents are getting divorced. Bobby lives in 1980 and his family is about to fall apart. But when Tori finds herself stranded in Bobby’s time, the two must join forces and prevent a crime that could destroy everyone they care about.

Simultaneously home and not home, Tori finds herself in a gritty New York just beginning to claw its way out of bankruptcy. Pollution and crime are rampant, graffiti is everywhere, and cell phones and the Internet don’t exist. Can two teenagers stop the jewelry theft of the decade? Will Tori ever get back to her own day and age? And how will Bobby react when she tells him that she’s both an accidental time-traveler and his daughter?

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/29/tantalizing-tales-november-2024-part-three/

Nov 27 2024

Smarty The Brain: Stories by Brian S Hamilton

An interesting collection of short stories meant to be read by caregivers to their preschool children, focused on brain/concussion safety.

The main character of these ten stories is Smarty, a responsible young brain who knows that making sensible choices for his own safety can only help him in the long run. His foil, after a fashion, is the less safety-conscious Moody, whom we learn over the course of the book used to be something of a bully. Fortunately, the friendship he developed with Smarty helped him not only learn how to protect his brain, but also how to be a better person in general. He grows so much as a character that he even helps out his aunt and uncle with the safety of their new baby.

Tbh, I wish Moody’s character arc had been more smoothly described, as it tends to go back and forth over the course of the book. I’m not actually sure what guides the organization of these stories, tho there’s definitely a sense of increased affluence as the book goes on. It begins with fairly standard stuff that almost all kids will experience — biking, vehicle seat belts, babyproofing — before growing increasingly more niche, culminating in safety measures while riding horses and snowmobiles. I get that this is a book for children from all walks of life — brain injuries can happen any time and anywhere, after all — but I was still a little taken aback by the casual treatment of rather pricey expenditures.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/27/smarty-the-brain-stories-by-brian-s-hamilton/

Nov 26 2024

Nothing Special Vol 2: Concerning Wings by Katie Cook

I love so much how this book features a cute guy named Declan, giving me further excuse to think of my kids’ future stepdad Declan Rice (not that I really need any excuses, lol.)

Anyway, Declan Hickey is the focal point of the second volume of the long-running web comic Nothing Special. He and our heroine Callie Benson have graduated high school and have started working at her father’s magical antique store with Lasser, the friend they picked up on their last big adventure through the magical world. Working with her dad is Callie’s dream come true, and having her half-human, half-fairy boyfriend Declan work with her is icing on the cake. Dad still does most of the sourcing of goods for the shop — and Lasser most of the actual shopkeeping when he isn’t busy immersing himself in romance novels — but Callie and Declan play important roles in growing both the business and each other’s recently discovered magical abilities.

Dad is actually away on a work trip when Declan’s injured fairy wing starts shooting off sparks, causing him to collapse with pain. Callie, Lasser and Radish (the vegetable spirit who is Callie’s constant companion) shut down the store and take Declan into the magical world in an attempt to find a fairy healer. What should be a simple enough four-day journey to a fairy enclave soon turns into a deeper exploration of who both Callie and Declan really are.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/26/nothing-special-vol-2-concerning-wings-by-katie-cook/

Nov 25 2024

What I Must Tell The World by Jay Leslie & Loveis Wise

subtitled How Lorraine Hansberry Found Her Voice

Oh, y’all, I don’t even know why I’m crying. No, actually, I suspect I do: I am shamed, and for once not in a bad way, and challenged by the courage it took for playwright Lorraine Hansberry to follow her dreams and live honestly in an era potentially even more hostile to her than the one I live in now is to me. Every life is different ofc but her valor stands out through time, reminding me — and potentially many other readers — that courage takes work, and that even just using your voice to champion the oppressed is already an important step in reshaping the world to be a better, more just place for everyone in it. It’s definitely continuing a personal trend that I recently discussed in my weekly newsletter, where I was Writing About Writing. Who do we write for, I asked, and why is it important, even when the days seem darkest? If you too need further reason to keep making art, this amazing children’s book will likely help shore you up immeasurably.

Ms Hansberry grew up the daughter of a family that decided to challenge segregation by moving from their Black Chicago neighborhood of Bronzeville to the white neighborhood of Woodlawn. Despite enduring horrifying racism, the Hansberrys persisted in proving that they belonged, even going to court to defend their right to live there. In 1940, the Supreme Court ruled in their favor in the landmark case Hansberry v Lee. As her father Carl Hansberry told all his children:

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/25/what-i-must-tell-the-world-by-jay-leslie-loveis-wise/

Nov 22 2024

The Ultimate Guide To Dollywood by Erin K Browne

What a delightful way to either plan for a trip to the musical icon’s theme park or to just daydream about eventually going!

While this unofficial guide doesn’t go into the history of Dollywood, it’s certainly a loving look at the largest employer in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, near the birthplace of living legend Dolly Parton. The book occasionally alludes to the former incarnations of what is now Dollywood, but it’s clear that the amusement park as we know it today has been guided and stamped by Ms Parton’s vision. It’s actually pretty impressive how thoughtful, uplifting and inclusive a theme park can be — but that shouldn’t be a surprise for anyone who knows Ms Parton as more than a country music icon. With her early reading initiatives, investment in the poor and championing of equal rights for marginalized groups, she’s long been a quiet but firm backer of common sense approaches to making life better for everyone.

Thus, it’s a pleasure to read of all the ways in which Dollywood is a safe space for all of its visitors, from those with sensory issues to those with uncommon dietary needs. Erin K Browne makes a point of noting these little details and more in ways that make it easier for visitors to plan ahead, so that everyone going can have a good time. Divided into ten parts, this book focuses mainly on the sights of Dollywood actual, confining related attractions such as Splash Country and the Stampede Dinner Attraction to a single chapter at the end. It’s still a large amount of info, neatly distilled by Ms Browne so that visitors can make the most of their time in the area, assuming that they’re primarily there for the main theme park.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/22/the-ultimate-guide-to-dollywood-by-erin-k-browne/