Happy Monday, Boozie Book Nerds!

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

Minda’s Update

What Minda Finished:

• Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett – Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett – Emily Wilde is on a mission in a remote corner of Scandinavia for one thing and one thing alone: to uncover the secrets of the “Hidden Ones”—the otherwise undiscovered fae that exist in this corner of the earth. She is determined to finish her encyclopedia of faeries with this as the missing piece. And she will not let anything get in her way. Not the townsfolk and their customs, not the discomforts of the icy north, and most certainly not her frenemy/colleague, the handsome Bambleby who is determined to join her on this discovery and who she believes may have secret intentions. Drunk review coming soon! Thank you, Netgalley and Del Rey. Book debuts in Jan 2023.

What Minda is Reading Now:

• I haven’t decided yet, so TBD!

Ginny’s Update

What Ginny is Currently Reading:

• All Systems Red by Martha Wells: I was in the mood for an audiobook and this was available at the library and honestly right now seems like a perfect time for a reread. Even though this book is about a character named Murderbot, it’s oddly cozy? I’m so enjoying getting back into Murderbot’s head.
• Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal: This is a pakistani retelling of Pride and Prejudice. I’m not far in, but I think this book does a great job of translating characters from one story to the other. It’s easier to understand, for example, the dad’s flaws in this version!
• The Slaves’ War by Andrew Ward: This book covers the civil war from the perspective of the slaves, which is a really interesting idea. I’m not very far in, but I’m enjoying seeing the wide variety of perspectives of how the war started and what was thought about the various leaders.

What Ginny Finished:

• Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner: This is the sixth and final book in the Queen’s Thief series. The book is written from the perspective of Erondites, the grandson of a shitty baron in Attolia who has some sort of disability (he’s non-verbal but clearly intelligent). The book does a great job of playing around with gaps in the main perspective, but I found the actual “war” aspect to be kind of boring. Meaning there were large gaps in this book where I wasn’t super impressed. Regardless, I enjoyed the series and I’m happy to have finished it.
• Why My Cat is More Impressive Than Your Baby by Matthew Inman: So the author of this is the the artist behind The Oatmeal which is a delightful webcomic. This was a funny read (even if the emphasis on poop wasn’t really my jam). But I’ve always enjoyed the Oatmeal cartoons and this was a nice reminder of those.
• On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah: This book follows Anne, a woman who’s daughter is just off to a study abroad program, when her husband dumps her for a younger woman. She goes home to “Mystic Lake” to find herself and finds her old friend/flame Nick, now a single dad. I tend to like Hannah’s books mostly because of how well she can deal with this very real trauma. The interactions between Anne and her daughter were particular insightful.
• The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake: This book was wonderful! Six people are chosen every ten years to become members of the Alexandrian Society, aka the people who hid and still protect the Library of Alexandria. They all have magical abilities and they’re all pretty messed up in unique ways and this book has a fascinating idea of how magic would work, the limits therein, and how different personalities would approach the different aspects. Honestly, I’m not gonna say much more but this book is absolutely worth the time.

Sam’s Update

What Sam is Finished:

• Not a thing…

What Sam is Currently Reading:

• Wings of Shadow by Nicki Pau Preto – this is the last book in this series so I can’t really tell you what it’s about. Again in my mission to catch up. Listening on audio and I’m enjoying it so far
• Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson – this is the last book in the Skyward series (seeing a theme here this week?). Again, can’t say much except Spensa somehow got herself in to a worse pickle this time. Slow going but enjoying it

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,

— Sam, Ginny, and Minda