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Dear readers, it has started…The Final Countdown…*pause while you sing it in your heads* to Virtual Book Club to discuss The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray on Friday, August 7!   Registration is open here. We know one of our readers has already started reading it and, not surprisingly, we have not.  Will this be the book club we don’t finish the book in time for?  Sign up and show up to find out!

Ashley IN MEDIAS RES

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine  by Mike Michalowicz

Nikki IN MEDIAS RES

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
• The Future of Feeling: Building Empathy in a Tech Obsessed World by Kaitlin Ugolik Phillips

Ashley FIN

• Cannon (Carolina Reapers #5) by Samantha Whiskey *June
• The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
• City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
• To Have and Hate (Love in London #1) by Donna Alam
• (Not) The One (Love in London #2) by Donna Alam
• Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad
• The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months by Brian P. Moran

Nikki FIN

• The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
• The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
• Motherhood So White: A Memoir of Race, Gender, and Parenting in America by Nefertiti Austin
• To Have and Hate (Love in London #1) by Donna Alam
• The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom
• (Not) The One (Love in London #2) by Donna Alam
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
• Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad

July has felt strange to me, dear readers.  It’s been full of back to school drama (will they go, won’t they go, but what if…) and decisions (as my district let parents choose between 100% online and an in-person plan that may go online from time to time depending upon the numbers in our county), so I’m going to say something and direct it at everyone who has a child in their life:  I’m so proud of you and so grateful for you!  You are a part of someone’s village, and I’m even prouder if you helped them think and talk through the pros and cons of different school situations during the virus that shall not be named!  Once more, let’s practice together “I’m so proud of you!  I know it wasn’t easy making that decision.”  Seriously, I don’t care what decision you made, as long as you thoughtfully made the best decision for your family.  See also: elections (and also do your research people!).  

Also, as mentioned last week, I’ve had some reading pressure from my eldest too, who’s currently upstairs reading consuming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  I’m not sad or sorry I took a four day head start on him!  The best part of my head start was the look on his face when he asked the librarian for his holds and he saw Order of the Phoenix.  He asked me if he could really have it, or if he had to wait on me still (to finish Goblet of Fire).   I told him he could have it in a couple of days (because I had other things he needed to do first, before I lost him to the book).  He waited, more patiently than I expected, and now he’s lost in the best way possible, with his nose in a book!  

And I’m enjoying Order of the Phoenix a lot more than I did Goblet of Fire and I’m about halfway in as of now.  It might be my favorite, but I’ll have to report back after I complete my full reread.  I really don’t have much else to say about this month’s books.  We’ve shared about some, and the other notable titles I’m still processing.  I will add though, that along with the Bluewater Billionaire authors, Donna Alam is a Heart.Wants.Books favorite for open door romance novels.  We needed a low pressure, easy, and entertaining weekend break, so we picked out a Donna set and have had “Donna Day” on Fridays after beating some blog and library deadlines earlier in the month.  It’s been fun!  We did miss last Friday because we were both extra busy on Friday and over the weekend!  So, we are now preparing to cancel our Kindle Unlimited subscriptions for a bit so we can minimize distractions while tackling a couple of fun things (to share with you in August, never fear).  We’re also preparing to defeat Ashley’s holds (because I’m now at 74!  And Ashley and I do have several mutual holds, so those first, then I’ll go from there).  It’s been a good reading month, even if the list is short, and the TBR is long, which is how I like it!  Always something fun waiting to be picked up!

~Nikki

July has been super-busy on several levels. Mostly on the home front. Literally, my home. We closed on our house in Gallatin and have been packing, getting things repaired/cleaned at the house, and moved just on Saturday. We have a few more things to finish packing up at our rental but, we’ll be officially out by the end of the week. Hooray for paying rent until the end of the  month.

We are still internet-less at the new house and I had to make it down to the office in order to get our post situated. Not having internet also affects my reading life, as I am not able to download all the kindle books that I might have been able to start reading while at the new house this weekend. Rough times. No Donna in our weekend. But, Harry Potter’s preparing to walk into the third task in Goblet of Fire, and I am ready to just sit down with the Trio and finish up the book and catch up with Nikki! (But, it probably won’t happen in time once KU is gone in a couple days.)

As you all know, we finished reading Me and White Supremacy yesterday and it has enlightened the both of us on how all the ways every system we live within in this country, and many others, are predicated upon the concept that pale skin makes you a person worth more time, energy, effort, and understanding by those systems. We each need to find a way to fight the systems that are inside of us and outside of us, if you have read along with us, please let us know and we are happy to discuss whatever you need. [Nikki here, I’ve been meeting in Circle for years and truly believe in it, particularly having had some tough conversations in Circle. Virtual Circle isn’t as awesome, but I’ve been doing that for months now, and it too works. If you want people to process with, we are here for you, even as suggested and during a pandemic.]

My completed list is short, and this week I’m focusing on our book club reads after Harry Potter has accomplished all his tasks, of course. I’ve got tasks, too, mostly unpacking boxes and setting up my new home (yeah, bookshelves!), and cleaning up the rental we’re leaving. And waiting impatiently for the interwebz to be installed, let’s hope it happens before Virtual Book Club or I’ll be in a different kind of pickle…

~Ashley