Happy Monday, Boozie Book Nerds!

This is your weekly reminder that black lives matter. Also, #StopAAPIHate

Sam’s Update

Wow it has been a long couple days. I was in Chicago visiting a friend for a few days, which was so much fun. I also basically destroyed my liver the last few days… I’m not used to three days of aggressive drinking in a row again lol. Got some good reading done!

What Sam Finished:

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• Half Sick of Shadows by Laura Sebastian: This is an Arthurian retelling told from the perspective of Elaine the Mad. We’ve got your standard cast, and weirdly have Morgause and Morgana even though we usually get one or the other. ANYWAY, I super enjoyed this and I’m going to love writing my drunk review.
• The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho: This is a novella about a woman who joins a group of bandits. I listened on audio and I liked this a lot.

What Sam is Currently Reading:

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• Given by Nandi Taylor: This is an African-lore inspired story where our leading lady Yenni Ajani is the princess of her tribe, set to be married off. The chief is sick, so she wants to learn magic so she can heal him. So she goes to the Big City to go to the school where she runs into a Dragon (and Dragons can walk around like humans and shift into dragons which is so cool). She’s basically insta-bonded (think Twilight imprinting) with this guy and she is mad about it. I’m SUPER LOVING this.
• The Once an Future Witches by Alex E. Harrow: This is a story of three sisters in New Salem and they’re witches and that’s “bad” but it’s also suffragette times so the witches and the suffragettes are trying to resurrect Avalon (hehe more Arthurian) but is being persecuted by the law. I don’t hate this, i’m not super impressed but it’s going ok.
• Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart: I was listening to this on audio, and I’m about half way through, but I am VERY LOST. I think I need to read with my eyeballs and not with my ear balls to be able to get back in to it. I know there’s a princess and a lost princess. I know one is named Ira, but I have no idea what the other one is or which is which. See? Struggling with the audio, so I’m going to switch formats and get back to it.

Ginny’s Update

What Ginny Finished

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• Dread Nation by Justina Ireland: It turns out I may actually like audiobooks, I’m just picky about them. This book is set shortly after the civil war, if zombies had happened, and follows a young black woman who is at a school that teaches black girls to be “attendants” or protectors from zombies that typically work for well-to-do families. There is, of course, a really big twist and there’s a mystery that needs to be solved, but the main character has such a distinct voice and it’s a blast to listen to.
• A Lowcountry Bride by Preslaysa Williams: This book is about Maya, a wedding dress designer who goes home to the “lowcountry” to take care of her father after a fall. Wedding dress shop owner, Derek, is dealing with his teenage daughter and the loss of his wife in an attack of white terrorism. I enjoyed this book, even if I had some issues with it. It’s a beautiful discussion about how grief affects people in different ways. But also, it kind of falls into the tropes of “none of these people seem to have friends even through they’ve lived here for long enough to know people.”
• Feedback by Mira Grant: #4 of the Newsflesh trilogy, except in this book, we aren’t following the Mason’s. We’re back to the events of the book 1, Feed, and following a different team of bloggers. Aislinn, Ben, Mat, and Audrey are following the Democratic candidate for President and find out a lot about a conspiracy before needing to run for their lives. I enjoyed a lot of this book, but I think it was limited due to its need to stay tethered to the events in Feed.

What Ginny is Currently Reading:

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• The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri: There’s an ostracized princess, an underground plot for a coup, freaking weird magic, and goodness this book is compelling. Seriously, the world building here is great. I’m still having fun with this book, I just had a few library books I needed to get through.
• Chimera by Mira Grant: I’m almost done with this book, which is the third book in the Parisitology series. Sal is now caught in the middle of a war between her “cousins” and humanity. We just got to a big plot twist near the end and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.
• Women in White Coats by Olivia Campbell: This book talks about the first women doctors, specifically the women who decided they wanted to become licensed doctors rather than nurses or midwives. So far it’s really interesting in that there are so many hurdles in place, and seeing where the need for “reputation” and “propriety” add to those hurdles.

What Ginny DNF’d:

• Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid:I may pick this back up before book club but oof, there’s a certain level of people being shitty that I don’t want to deal with right now. Especially if the plot isn’t worth reading through it.

Minda’s Update

Busy, busy week ahead! Off to south GA mid-week to hang with the in-laws all week.

What Minda is reading now:

• The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros – “Death lurks around every corner in this unforgettable Jewish historical fantasy about a city, a boy, and the shadows of the past that bind them both together.” I saw this and I was like must. read. now. Thank you Inkyard Press and NetGalley for an ARC!

What Minda Finished:

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• The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown – “While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. As Langdon and gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci—clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle—while avoiding the faceless adversary who shadows their every move—the explosive, ancient truth will be lost forever.” I’ve read it a few times tbh, but I enjoyed it again. Re-read as part of Husband and I’s book club where we read books-turned-movies and read and watch together.

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,

— Sam, Ginny, and Minda