Great, I’m in! Just started reading some Helena Hunting (is there a name that sounds more like a fake name? I think not) and I can’t say I really understand why hockey romance is so big? I am not a hockey person but apparently it’s all I read!

My book club pick for July's meeting was The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. I had picked it this month as the newbie in the group because it was the #1 pick in category from Goodreads. It was a very good choice for book club! Particularly since our group leader is a retired teacher who really makes us discuss the book in depth and asks leading questions. There was a lot going on, and I only wish it was a few hundred pages more so that some of the characters could have been developed more.

Now, what is next? My TBR list is so long.

I loved that book, Laura. So well written and interesting. What genre are you looking at for your next rec?

Yes, I will absolutely read more from Brit Bennett in the future.

I looked at my TBR list and decided to take a hard left to Sci-Fi since I am still swirling a bit from the reality of The Vanishing Half. Queued up The Kif Strike Back, the 3rd in the Chaunur series from CJ Cherryh. Familiar characters, adventure, space stuff.

I do like the variety in my fiction!

Hello book Buffistas! I am doing my once-in-a-great-while pop-in to the mother site to share news for those who may have missed it on the Facespace and the Twitterbooks. I have launched a Patreon and I'm posting weekly installments in a serial that will run until December of this year. It concerns a magical bookstore, gender shenanigans, and a shapeshifting wizard proprietor. If this sounds interesting, you can become a patron with full access for just $1. (More is permitted but not expected.)

You can check out the first part over here.

<3

^^^^^^ This is SO DELIGHTFUL and I'm loving it. Don't sleep on it.

Exciting! Good to see you and the linky. I don't get over to those other places to any great extent so didn't see the news.

Knut! Nice to see your pixels here. I shall check it out.

Laura, I'm so pleased you're enjoying the Chanur novels. Isn't Pyanfar the best? I want her to get her own tv series. I really enjoy Cherryh.

In other news, Mely mentioned Gillian Bradshaw's Cromwell-era historical novels on Twitter today; she's the only other person I know who has read them! We decided that Bradshaw is sadly under-rated and underappreciated, given the volume of really solid historical fiction she has produced over her career.

The Smart Bitches have three or four books available on sale every day. Today's included the N.K. Jemison Fifth Season. I check it out every day ... and have found some good books there (also some not so good ones, but at least I didn't pay full price).

Laura, I'm so pleased you're enjoying the Chanur novels. Isn't Pyanfar the best?

She certainly is. The current one, #3 The Kif Strike Back, has been a tougher read for me so far. Maybe because I only seem to get a chance to read late night and there are just an overabundance of competing factions. That said, I might have a bit of a crush on Khym. He's an excellent mate.