Hey everyone!!

Hope you all had an ok week with all the craziness going on in the world. Hope you all are staying healthy and safe. We’re definitely learning how to have fun separately lol. Virtual happy hours and such.

Sam’s Update

This week was better than last, but I’m starting to freak out.

What Sam Finished:

• Night of the Dragon by Julie Kagawa: This is the finale to the Shadow of the Fox series. I really enjoyed this finale. It definitely rang “final” to me. I’ve already written a drunk review coming soon. We get a ton of our kids, but especially Okame. God love Okame.

What Sam is Currently Reading:

• Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore: This is the third companion novel in the Graceling books. Are you sensing a theme? Yes. I’m trying to knock out my unfinished series one at a time. This will be a story about Bitterblue, a character from the first book. She’s 18 and

Minda’s Update

Magical Readathon starts up this week! So excited—I’m going for a career as a Curse Breaker.

What Minda finished:

• Music From Another World by Robin Talley – In the form of letters and diary entries, two young women from the opposite ends of California explore their sexuality, punk music, and the gay rights movement in the late 70s. Seriously could not adore this book more! Review to come, but it was glowing.

What Minda is reading now:

• The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict – Historical fiction following the life of Mileva Marić, the wife of (you guessed it!) Albert Einstein. I had no idea that she was a brilliant physicist in her own right, so definitely wanted to learn more. I’m about 30% in and digging it—will finish before the readathon.
• Illegal by Eoin Colfer – Counts as my potions class—books under 150 pages. I got this graphic novel at last year’s summer ALA and just rediscovered it on my shelf. The story is about a young African refugee in his journey to Europe, so expecting it to be a poignant read.
• Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin – For Defense Against the Dark Arts aka a book set on the sea/coast. The book is about a woman trying to get to the bottom of her sister’s unsolved murder in the Caribbean from years before. She teams up with an unlikely ally—someone who was the suspected murderer. Sam picked it up at ALA Philly this winter and it came out in Feb.

Ginny’s Update

My brain isn’t working enough to write any sort of introduction. Hope everyone is healthy and safe.

What Ginny Finished:

• Bliss, Remembered by Frank Deford: This book follows Sydney, who ended up being an Olympian in 1936 in Nazi Germany. She falls in love with a German man, and they have a long “written” relationship once she goes home. I think this book tried to do a good job of explaining how the Nazi regime used a lot of tactics to hide what was really happening and did a good job of keeping it from both the German public and the world. A pretty good read even though some of the emotional twists were easily seen.
• Clementine: The Live of Mrs. Winston Churchill by Sonia Purnell: Reading this at the same time as Bliss Remembered was actually pretty good timing because parts of the books overlapped. Clementine sounds like a fascinating person but she was so closely tied to Winston Churchill that at times the book focused too greatly on him, which wasn’t my favorite because Winston Churchill (while often right, and having done a good job leading through WWII) was a raging asshole.
• Sunrise on Half Moon Bay by Robyn Carr: I received this book as an ARC and will be writing a review. The book follows two sisters who are dealing with the fallouts of major events in their lives.
• Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire: This book follows one of the minor characters who jump in and out of the Incryptid novels, the road ghost Rose Marshall. Because this is Seanan McGuire, I will most likely end up writing a review, but short summary, not my favorite of her books, but has some fascinating tidbits that are just in general a ton of fun.

What Ginny is Currently Reading:

• Hilariously Ever After by Various Authors: I have actually added this book to my to-do list. I’m determined.
• The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern: I’ve gotten a little bit further in this book, but the focus has been getting through some of the library e-books I have that were about the expire.
• Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente: Speaking of library books I need to whiz through. I know Sam really enjoyed this book so I put a hold on it a forever ago and then it came up in the rotation right when I started to slow down reading (Still reading, but playing more video games).

Until next time, we main forever drunkenly yours,

Sam, Ginny, and Minda