Weekly Wrap-Up: Apr 3 -9, 2023

Happy Monday, Boozie Book Nerds!

Ginny’s Update

Network Effect by Martha Wells: Murderbot is working on a job with Preservation when its old friend ART shows up and attacks. Clearly something is wrong and it’s Murderbot’s job to figure it out. I love this journey with Murderbot slowly recognizing its worth and figuring out what it wants to do! And the relationship between Murderbot and Dr. Mensah is just wonderful.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett: . Emily is a dryadologist, or someone who studies the fae living in a world where the fae exist. She ends up in a Nordic country accompanied by her (maybe fae) coworker looking into the “Hidden folk.” I’m already excited for the next book in the series. I enjoyed the setting and the twists in the story were a lot of fun.
The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman: This is the third Mrs. Pollifax book and remains delightful. Mrs. Pollifax ends up in Bulgaria with eight fake passports to give to people targeted by the local government. Again, this series is incredibly cozy because it’s made up of characters who are just earnest and doing their best.
The MacKade Brothers: Rafe and Jared by Nora Roberts: This is technically two books, but the MacKade brothers were the “bad boys in town” as kids. As adults they’re all wildly successful in their own ways. It’s Nora Roberts. How much do I actually need to say?

The Secret Lives of Country Gentleman by K.J. Charles: “Kent” and “London” break off their illicit relationship just months before Joss and Gareth (the same people) end up facing off in a courtroom before Gareth testifies against Joss’ sister. This book is absolutely charming and the conversations between the two main characters do such a good job of fleshing out each person with their distinct ideas.
I’ll be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara: This book follows Michelle’s research to discover the Golden State Killer. the book is incredibly dark, and made darker by the knowledge that Michelle died while writing the book (unrelated). Still, she does a wonderful job of laying out the case and the information she discovered.

The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older: I read this for Magical Readathon. I was extremely pleased with this Novella and I’m very excited to have read it. You all know how much we love Malka and her writing. This was a murder mystery sci if with a professor and an investigator and it was awesome.

The Poison Season by Mara Rutherford: Another Magical Readathon read. There’s an island called Endla (I think that’s the spelling, I’m listening on audio) where there’s a forest that kills things. The forest needs sacrifices to not kill things and who better than the islanders who can sing like sirens and lure their prey or whatever living creature hears it (humans included). But ALSO, they are surrounded by a poisonous lake. Obviously a human makes it on to the lake and will inevitably fall in love with our other islander.
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming: I have been waiting to read this for a while for the title alone. From what I can tell, our leading lady Cinnamon was in her way home from a bar and knocks this demon out of his stupor and saves him. He threatened her family so now they’re going on a journey to rid the world of a witch. I’m in. This accidentally made it back to the library so i am waiting for it to come back
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