Happy Monday, Boozie Book Nerds!

Ginny’s Update

Hi All! Not too much reading this week. I started some extra training and my free time basically disappeared.

What Ginny Finished:

• The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett: This was a reread. There’s something about a story about belief powering gods and how that can be used against them that’s weirdly comforting. I meant to read this closer to christmas, but life happens. Regardless, I just really love Terry Pratchett’s writing.
• The Problem with Murmur Lee by Connie May Fowler: The main character Murmur Lee is a little bit witchy and beloved by her community, so when she dies there’s a lot of mourning. Half the book also follows Murmur after her death. Of the two different parts of the book, I really enjoyed learning about the community, and the bits of the past. But I felt frustrated by the metaphysical aspects of Murmur’s “post-life.” still an interesting look at the way a community grieves a sudden loss.

What Ginny is Currently Reading:

• We Free the Stars by Hafsah Faizal: I read the first book in this series recently and wanted a chance to finish the series. The team from the first group is still working to bring magic back to Arawiya as now their enemy (“The Lion”) has been let loose. The most irritating thing about this book is the romance between two of the main characters. But I push past it because this book really does have some wonderful parts.

Sam’s Update

Boy was I right. What a week, but I’ve finished a few things because I was traveling and I read on flights and such.

What Sam is Finished:

• An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X. R. Pan – this is a Romeo and Juliet retelling with Chinese mythology. Super fast read, unique story, didn’t give me enough world building to fall in love with it.
• The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake – this is the second book in this series and I loved the first one. Sooo ready for this, This was great. Not as good as 1, but great

What Sam is Currently Reading:

• The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna – this is the second book in the gilded ones series and again, loving it,
• Stardust in their Veins by Laura Sebastian – this is the second book in this series and I am loving it. Book one is about 3 triplets who get sent to marry future kings of the neighboring kingdoms by their mother so that she can take over. So cool
• Cooking at Home: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Recipes by David Chang and Priya Krishna – I read a review online that said this book is meant to be read cover to cover like a novel… so that’s what I’m doing and it’s actually fab. It helps that they’re talking a lot about Asian flavors (naturally) and I’ve been dying to learn more about those flavor profiles.

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,

— Sam, Minda, and Ginny