Happy Monday, Boozie Book Nerds!

Friendly reminder that not all lives can matter until black lives do.

Ginny’s Update

What Ginny is Currently Reading:

• Anathem by Neal Stephenson: This book reminded me of Moby Dick in the sometimes endless descriptions of things. That being said, this book has some fabulous nuggets of what this book is going to be. Our main character is in a vaguely religious organization based around math. Still not sure what the main plot is going to be, and I’m 100 pages in, so take that as you will.

What Ginny Finished:

• Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta: Eris is a “gearbreaker” who professionally cuts into and wrecks giant fighting robots and Sona who is a pilot that wants to take down the system from the inside.They meet when Eris gets captured: Sona breaks her out and joins the Gearbreakers to fight a new mech. This series is fun but whoo boy is it dark. There’s torture and murder and revenge, and I feel like this book follows the spirit of the Hunger Games.
• Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey: She’s a professional clown, he’s an ex-MLB player, and she happens be the person who bullies him out of his self-induced isolation. I thought this was a cute book about doing what needs to be done to be taken seriously. My biggest problem is that Bailey has a tendency of having her characters get engaged at the end of the book even when they’ve only dated for seemingly two weeks. I’m not sure if that’s me not picking up on how long they’ve dated, or just a flaw. but for gods sake, it’s okay to date for a longer time!
• Good to Great by Jim Collins: This is a business book that talks about what transforms good companies to great companies. It was a really interesting read that talked about the kind of leadership and decisions that were made. If you like business books, it’s a worth a read (even though the book was written in 2001 and some of the “good to great” companies hit the doom spiral and majorly fucked up in the intervening 20 years

Minda’s Update

Had a fantastic week, got to see Sam, hosted our first block party, and now have a sick LO on my hands. How’s it going with you? On the bright side, I am excited for Magical Readathon’s Autumn Equinox!

What Minda is Reading Now:

• Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett – “A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love in the start of a heartwarming and enchanting new fantasy series.“ Excited to read this ARC! Thank you, Netgalley and Del Rey. Works for the Lore category in Magical Readathon.
• The Flight Girls: A Novel by Noelle Salazar – “Shining a light on a little-known piece of history The Flight Girls is a sweeping portrayal of women’s fearlessness, love, and the power of friendship to make us soar.” Excited for this one. Counts for Elemental Studies.

Sam’s Update

What Sam is Finished:

• Oculta by Maya Motayne: this is the sequel to Nocturnal. It’s a Spanish inspired fantasy story. Alfie is tryna make up for all the people who died from the Sombra attacks while also trying to prepare and host the scary white people for a peace summit. Then there’s Finn, who is tryna just live her life and forget about Alfie. I can’t believe people sleep on this series… not gonna lie, it’s great. The next one does t come out until march and I already preordered it
• The Bronzed Beasts by Roshani Chokshi: this is the last book in this series and I am listening on audio. Also sad I waited this long to read it. The ending was… ok

What Sam is Currently Reading:

Nothing yet! Magical Readathon starts tomorrow!

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,

— Sam, Ginny, and Minda