Happy Monday, Boozie Book Nerds!

Ginny’s Update

What Ginny Finished:

• A Promised Land by Barack Obama: This is Obama’s recent book detailing the lead up to the election and then an in-depth look at being the President of the US. The main thing I’m getting is that 1) Michelle Obama is an absolute badass and 2) It doesn’t matter how nice they are, anyone who wants to be the president is at least a little bit narcissistic. This book ended with Osama Bin Laden’s death which just felt like a reallly weird note to end on. 
• The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri: Malini is working to become empress by defeating her brother the murderous emperor. Priya is dealing with the new power that comes from being a thrice-born. I finally finished this book and I really liked the way the different plotlines convened. The ending was a bit of a cliffhanger, and there are so many things still open that I can’t imagine how this series is going to end. 
• An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera: Manuela is trying to have a sapphic adventure in the weeks before she gets married to save her families fortunes. She asks Duchess Cora to be her guide as payment for land Cora needs to complete a railroad. This book had a great ending in that everything wasn’t perfect but it was so much better. I so enjoyed the big moments that happened towards the end. 
• Happy Place by Emily Henry: Harriet and Wyn did long-distance for something like 8 years but broke up months before the last trip their college friend-group will take at a soon-to-be-sold vacation home in Maine. I finished this whole book within 8 hours – hours where I also did things like go to yoga, fix/eat dinner, etc. I really sped through it; the nostalgia here was real, but also the deep look into what can cause a relationship to fall apart and the fixes needed to make it work were beautiful. 
• The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz: First off, the narrator of this was fantastic! The book is hard to summarize but there are a few locations in the world where time-travel is possible, and Tess has decided to use her research back in time to improve the current timeline for women. Meanwhile, Beth is a teen dealing with a spectacularly difficult home life who is approached and warned by a traveler. This book was such an interesting read. I loved that the rules of time travel were built out and then followed. And the world created was so realistic and, at times, heart-breaking.

What Ginny is Currently Reading:

• The Ash Garden by Dennis Bock: This book follows a German scientist who helped with the Manhattan project, his wife who escaped Germany before the concentration camps were created, and a girl who was disfigured when the bomb was dropped in Hiroshima. This book is dark and it’s interesting to me that the two interesting dynamic characters are the women. The man in this book tends to fit the stereotype of tortured genius who is constantly battling with the value of his work. It just seems a bit trite in a book that’s filled with so much emotional depth. 
• The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros: I am reading the tiktok darling where Violet is forced by her mother, the general, to try out for the dangerous dragon rider training where everyone has it out for her. I can already understand why people enjoy this book; but this book has never seen a cliche it didn’t like and the steal in the least subtle way. 
• Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed: Amal is an intelligent girl in Pakistan, and, while she loves school she stops to help out her mother who has PPD, and through a variety of circumstances ended up indentured to the cruel, rich money-lender. I’m listening to this and frankly didn’t realize it was middle grade until I was a decent way in. The story is frustrating in the way so many kids stories are (not in a bad way) where the feeling of helplessness is incredibly powerful. It’s been a nice listen.

Sam’s Update

Magical Readathon starts in a couple days, very excited! TBR coming soon

What Sam is Finished:

• Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson – this is the third of Sando’s secret novels on a planet that has spirits that remind me of spren. So there’s one side in constant night the other in day. This. Was. Fab.
• The Last Hero by Linden A. Lewis: This is the finale to the First Sister series so I can’t say much about the plot, but I am enjoying it. I liked this, but it was super duper slow and I kept getting certain characters confused with others.

What Sam is Currently Reading:

• Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo – this is the second to Ninth House and I can’t remember much except there are ghosts. Trying to fall back in to where we are without having to look it up.

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,

— Sam and Ginny