Hello fellow boozie readers!

Sam’s Update:

I had such a busy week but it was fun! I was in one of my best friend’s weddings, and we had a fucking amazing reception. Met some awesome people (even a few book lovers) and got super drunk and loved everything about the weekend. Boy I’m tired.

What Sam finished this week:

• Kingsbane by Claire Legrand: I feel so betrayed by the ending of this book, I cannot. I’m definitely going to be reviewing this one.

What Sam’s reading now:

• The Wicked King by Holly Black: Literally just started it today. We’ve started 5 months after the last book and I have no idea where it’s going yet.
• The Simoquin Prophecies by Samit Basu: Book club book. Just started, it’s weird…

Ginny’s Update:

I read a lot during the week and then I went to a wedding where I laughed and cried and talked to a lot of really cool complete strangers. In other words, I’m in complete introvert mode right now. Wish me luck for the upcoming week, I’m probably going to need it.

Currently Reading:

I Love You so Mochi by Sarah Kuhn:Gonna be honest, I literally haven’t even touched this since last week. It’s been busy.

• Luck of the Draw by Kate Clayborn: I pretty much always have a lighthearted romance novel going. At this point it’s just gonna be a habit. This one is pretty cute, the premise is that Zoe and her friends won a lottery so she quit her job as an emotionless corporate lawyer and is trying to figure out her life. The first thing she decides to do is right some wrongs of her past, starting with (total hunk) brother who received proceeds from the death of his brother caused by a company the law firm represented. 

Finished Reading:

A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole: This book was so much fun. I love Alyssa Cole’s writing styles because she adds these little details about characters that make them fully realized in really short periods of time. Nya and Johan seem like they shouldn’t work, but its those details that make it make sense when they come together. Honestly though, one of my favorite things about this book is that the stress points are never what you think they are going to be. Something comes up and you think that’s going to be a reason they fight later, nope. This next thing could be a horrible secret, nope. They communicate so well and I loved it! 5/5

• The Simoquin Prohecies by Samit Basu: Yet again, this is a book club book. I’ll pretend I’ll write about it after book club, but honestly, nah. 
• The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black: Ah, this is also a book club but that book club has passed so I have no problem talking about it. Holly Black writes the dumbest main characters. Like, people who just never seem to think literally anything in their life through. Vampires, this book is about vampires. I do really appreciate the way that Holly Black makes the various mythical creatures (across her books) as terrifying as they would be if they actually existed, and I though the world in this book was incredibly interesting. This book had a lot of good things about it, but definitely be prepared for the main character to make a lot of inexplicably bad decisions. 3/5
• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi: Man, this was a crying book. Surprise surprise. Honestly, I should have known that, it’s about a man with terminal cancer writing about his life. The man was a neurosurgeon with an interesting way of considering medicine and death. When he gets cancer, that doesn’t exactly change. This book was non-fiction, which maybe I should have already mentioned, but it showed a picture of someone facing their disease upfront with all the knowledge in the world that could help them. Like I said, I cried. 4.5/5

Minda’s Update:

What Minda finished:

• Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly – LOVED! A very amazing retelling of Cinderella from the perspective of a stepsister. Has it all: Fate, Chance, and magic! Can’t wait when Linz finishes so we can chat about it.

What Minda is reading now:

Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman – Haven’t gotten very far, but still going.

• Kingsbane by Claire Legrand – Just came up in my library queue and dying to read. Loved Furyborn, and Sam had some reactions so sounds like I’m in for it.

Linz’s Update:

HOPEFULLY this is the last week of insanity at work before I get a reprieve, because I miss reading and mental low stress.

What I read:

Soul of the Sword by Julie Kagawa: finished an advanced copy just in time for the Tuesday release of the second book in the Shadow of the Fox trilogy. Get hyped.

• The Farm by Joanne Ramos: Immensely readable contemporary fiction about a group of women paid to be surrogates for the 1 percent and the woman who recruits them. It brought up some good points on class and racial disparities, but I think it missed the mark on what overall message it was trying to send.

What I’m reading:

Still working on Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly

• Restarted Jade City by Fonda Lee; it’s kind of a sci-fi gangster novel in a fictional Asian country?
• The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray: for one of my book clubs, we picked a “dazzling debut novel about mothers and daughters, identity and family, and how the relationships that sustain you can also be the ones that consume you.” I’m 3 chapters in and in love.

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,

Sam, Melinda, Linz, and Ginny