May 09 2024
subtitled The Story Of Norman Mineta, A Boy Imprisoned In A Japanese American Internment Camp During World War II. Many Americans will know of Norman Mineta as a trailblazing Japanese American politician, a moderate Democrat who served in both Democratic and Republican cabinets. He always resisted having any books written about his life until he …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/09/enemy-child-by-andrea-warren/
Apr 29 2024
subtitled The Cold War, Joe McCarthy, and the Red Scare. Ever since the end of the Second World War, the word “communism” has been used as a bogeyman for the average American, and is often the default label for any behavior that threatens a selfish sense of privilege. Why explain why you don’t like something …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/29/witch-hunt-by-andrea-balis-elizabeth-levy-illustrated-by-tim-foley/
Apr 12 2024
What a timely short read for these ages! I’m so glad I had to chance to pick this up, to be reminded that fighting fascism isn’t just about wars and polls, but is an ongoing, everyday, and very necessary struggle. Serge Klarsfeld and Beate Kunzel met in Paris in 1960. The young adults — he …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/12/nazi-hunting-a-love-story-by-jess-mchugh/
Feb 11 2024
Vasily Grossman is one of the great writers of the twentieth century, and The Road is a very good place to start reading his work. Born in the Ukrainian city of Berdychiv when it was part of the Russian Empire, Grossman experienced the Bolshevik Revolution and the ensuing civil war as a teen. He began …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/02/11/the-road-by-vasily-grossman/
Dec 30 2023
Samantha Power was a writer before she went into public service. And even though she’s been America’s ambassador to the United Nations, and is now serving as the chief of the US Agency for International Development, it’s possible — maybe even probable — that she’s a better writer than anything else. Which means that even after …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/12/30/the-education-of-an-idealist-by-samantha-power/
Dec 08 2023
Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate! I am so pleased to have a whole slew of Hanukkah-themed books to review for the week, tho I gotta say that it is sometimes really weird talking about books centered on religion when you’re as quasi-religious as I am. I decided to start this slate with the most …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/12/08/the-story-of-hanukkah-by-david-a-adler-jill-weber/
Dec 05 2023
Hi readers! Here we have a different kind of autobiography, as an author chronicles what it felt like to grow up with two very different men, switching between father and stepfather every weekend. As his credit card industry pioneer stepfather’s career rises and his well-known radio actor biological father’s eases downward, author Anthony J. Mohr …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/12/05/every-other-weekend-coming-of-age-with-two-different-dads-by-anthony-mohr-excerpt/
Nov 26 2023
Right up front I should say that Henry Farrell, one of the authors of Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy, is a friend from graduate school. Part of me read this book the way one would read a draft of a friend’s project — not that Henry has ever wanted or needed my …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/11/26/underground-empire-by-henry-farrell-and-abraham-newman/
Oct 26 2023
I continue to be impressed by the breadth, depth and humanity Fabrice Erre and Sylvain Savoie show in their long-running series on famous historical figures and events. This thirteenth volume of the children’s illustrated series focuses on Marie Skłodowska Curie, who did so much and fought so hard to be able to help people and, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/10/26/magical-history-tour-vol-13-marie-curie-a-life-in-science-by-fabrice-erre-sylvain-savoie/
Sep 30 2023
World War II in Europe began when Nazi Germany invaded Poland in the early days of September 1, 1939. Sixteen days later, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east. Less than three weeks later, the Nazis and the Soviets had conquered all of Poland. They divided the country between them according to the secret …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/09/30/lost-time-lectures-on-proust-in-a-soviet-prison-camp-by-jozef-czapski/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire