Hello fellow boozie readers!

If you haven’t heard about #Booziebookathon, it’s our week long readathon we host every year! We had such a blast hanging/reading with you guys!

Sam’s Update:

I got a lot of reading done this week, it was Booziebookathon, Dewey’s Reverse Readathon, AND NEWTs.

What Sam finished this week:

 

• Booziebookathon Gin: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid: There was the Sam before Evelyn Hugo and the Sam after Evelyn Hugo. I will never be the same. I’m gonna drunk review it.
• Booziebookathon White Wine and Smirnoff Ice: Demon in the Whitelands by Nikki Z. Richard: I did not enjoy this very much. I wanted to, it was such a unique concept but it was choppy and very little was answered.
• Booziebookathon Beer and NEWTs Charms A-level Exam: Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed: This was a really cute quick story and I really enjoyed it! It shows the ins and outs of indentured servitude on this planet. 3.5/5 shots.
• NEWTs DADA A: Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel: These books are fab. It’s really hard to say what I did and didn’t like because the audiobook is just so good and so much happens that it’s hard to describe.

What Sam’s reading now:

 

• NEWTs Transfiguration A: Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera: This is a book about a newly-out lesbian on an internship on the other side of the country. I’m still at the beginning but I’m loving the bits of Spanglish, and the crazy hippies, and the tone overall. I can’t wait to keep going.
• The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad: Buddy reading with Ginny and Liz and also for book club. I’m ready for more, but I don’t want to say any more thoughts because we still have to discuss as a group. I might figure out how to work this into my NEWTs but it’s not currently there…

Ginny’s Update (Aka Reads-with-the-wind):

Hi Everyone, good to have wrapped up the BoozieBookathon! Happy August, we’re only a few weeks away from going back to tolerable weather. I’m already looking at my closet looking forward to jackets and jeans and basically not being a walking sweat-being as soon as I walk outside.

Currently Reading

• The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad: This is still for a book club, I’m still reading it slowly. There was a pretty big twist and I’m enjoying seeing it ripple out. 
• The Ten thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow: I grabbed this book from bookcon and I am so looking forwarding to reading this.

Finished (aka ALL THE MF BOOKS)

• Leap Days: Chronicles of a Midlife Move by Katherin Lanpher: this was one of my books for Boozie Bookathon and it fulfills my Gin challenge (book on tbr forever). Also technically fulfilled white wine. This book is an autobiography that focuses on change and really how to move between what you expected things to be and what things actually are. I really enjoyed some of the chapters, but I also don’t necessarily feel ridiculously drawn to the city of New York and found some of the descriptions a little tedious. 3/5
• The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman: IT’S THAT TIME! I’m reading the fifth book in this series that I adore. Irene is being called in to act as mediator in a conversation between the Dragons and Fae. This book was delightful. I also enjoy a mystery where all of the players are on the table early. (If you’d like to start at the beginning, my first review is here.) Most definitely writing a review.
• Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews: Some people have crazy wild powers and one of those people is going crazy. Neva is tasked with bringing him in ssafely. Except dude is kind of a psycopath. Neva ends up working with pretty much the strongest other person, Mad Rogan (I know, that name…) who is trying to snag one of Adam’s (I think it was Adam) co-conspirators. I’m unsure of how I feel about this book. The plot was wild and a lot of fun, but some of the romance felt weird due the question of where consent should come into play…. I’m going to keep reading because I like the universe but will keep an eye out for consent issues.
• All the Bad Apples by Moira Fowley-Doyle: This is a bookcon book (that I finally got around to) and I’m planning on writing a review, so brief summary. On Deena’s 17th birthday, her sister goes missing. She follows some loose threads to learn a lot more about her family history and the “family curse.”
• Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh: I’ve read a few of the books that come much further in this series but I really liked them and decided to come back to the beginning. Sascha is a Psy who has been taught emotion is weakness but is struggling to uphold the “Silence.” Lukas is the head of his clan and is trying to find a serial killer. Also they fall in love. Sascha is a lot of fun and it would have been completed different to read this book first when I didn’t already know about some various things. Still, a romp of a read! 4/5
• A Hope Divided by Alyssa Cole: Alyssa Cole is an always read for me now. I might prefer her contemporary things, but dear god is this series great. Marlie is the illegitimate daughter in a white family, which has given her a protected status but still a status of “other.” Ewan was responsible for torturing the Rebs captured by the North and then was captured himself. He escapes from prison and hides in Marlie’s house with her help. Due to circumstances she ends up as trapped as she is. This book was lovely. Ewan had a slight level of autism (I assume, it’s never directly diagnosed) but is one of those people who one sees his deficiencies rather than the things that made him wonderful. Marlie is just a brilliant character and the way they worked together was great! I enjoyed watching them learn their own self-worth. 4/5

Minda’s Update:

Booziebookathon is complete! Now full focus is on NEWTs Readathon for the rest of the month.

What Minda finished this week: 

 

• The Liar’s Daughter by Megan Cooley Peterson (Beer) – This book was kind of a trip—girl taken from her cult family resents having to readjust to life in society. Definitely recommend!
• The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (Whiskey & Champagne) – Slog is the best word used to describe how I felt about this one.
• All Systems Red by Martha Wells (Shot & White Wine) – Loved this one! Super short and just what I needed after the above. Counts for the first part of the Ancient Ruins exam for NEWTs Readathon!
• The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon (Vodka, Gin, and Red Wine) – I did like this one and it was on the shorter side, but not as much as I feel I could have from the premise. I thought it was a weird decision to have only one person tell the perspective of three. Also counts for Ancient Ruins exam.

What Minda is reading now:

 

• Kindred by Octavia E. Butler – My final read for the Ancient Ruins exam, this has been on my TBR for a bit. Excited to see how it goes! 
• The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow – Counts for the first part of this History of Magic exam! I got really excited about this when everyone picked it up at BookCon.

Linz’s Update:

Booziebookathon is OVER and I can finally get back to The Starless Sea *takes nap*

What Linz read (jmj what didn’t I read):

 

• Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay: Published this summer, this book is about a Filipino-American teen who goes to the Philippines to find out the real story behind his cousin’s murder. This book could not have spoken to me more and it was EVERYTHING.
• Our Dark Duet by V.E. Schwab: I’m glad I finally read this sequel to This Savage Song but it wasn not nearly as solid a book
• Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi: I sat on this book foreeeever; it’s about an alien race approaching a Hollywood agent to help them be introduced to the human race. It wasn’t what I thought it would be, and it was super tell-y and monologue-y
• Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas: EXCELLENT romance novel, could have used like 1-2 more sex scenes
• All Systems Red by Martha Wells: A bombass novella about a science team’s mission gone wrong and the android sent to protect them, told from the android’s perspective.
• SLAY by Brittney Morris: Thanks Jesus I managed to get a copy of this book at BookCon because I do NOT know what I would have done if I had to wait til its release. In case you’ve been living under a rock, this is about a black teen girl, Kiera, who created an underground computer game for the black community. One of the players is killed in real life over a dispute in the game, and a lot of shit happens. It’s an incredible book and I’m absolutely reviewing it.

What Linz is currently reading:

 

• The Revisioners by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton: a forthcoming novel about women’s relationships and racial identity, told by a mixed-race mother in the modern day and her ancestory, a former slave. It’s the only challenge I didn’t finish for Booziebookathon, but it’s not a book that you should rush through.
• The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern: THANK GOD I CAN FINALLY GET BACK TO THIS, I don’t know what I was thinking starting it 2 days before Booziebookathon.

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,

Sam, Melinda, Linz, and Ginny