May Book Club Read: "Sorcery of Thorns"
Although no one thought there was anything groundbreaking here, in general we liked "Sorcery of Thorns" by Margaret Rogerson pretty well.
Authors Whose Books We Automatically Buy
This month we’re talking about our “auto-buy” authors, those writers we know are (almost) guaranteed to give us what we need--whether it be an epic escape, a laugh, or a challenge.
May 2020 Welcome and Book Club Pick
This month we’re going to a place where books themselves come alive in "Sorcery of Thorns" by Margaret Rogerson.
April Book Club Read: "The Grace Year"
This month we read "The Grace Year" by Kim Liggett.
April Review: "Little Fires Everywhere"
This month Jane heads into the recent past with Celeste Ng's "Little Fires Everywhere". There will be spoilers in this post!
Problematic™ Books We Love Anyway
Oh boy. It's 2020. As a group of liberal white women, we've been pushing the feminist agenda for years. And, as a group of liberal white women, there are quite a few mistakes and stereotypes we’ve fed into and been fed in our lives. There is also a lot of pressure to see everything with a feminist lens, and that definitely applies to our consumption of media–I mean, have you tried watching "The Lego Movie" with a purely feminist perspective? Ruined. However, we've all let our liberal agenda slip a bit now and then, and here is our list of Problematic™ reads we enjoy despite their many flaws.
April 2020 Welcome and Book Club Pick
This month, we’re embracing dystopia (for better or worse) by reading Kim Ligget’s "The Grace Year"
March Book Club Read: "An Ember in the Ashes"
"An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir is one of the few books every member of our book club, without exception, adores. Here are our thoughts about this month's read.
March Review: "Gideon the Ninth"
Lesbian. Space. Necromancers. Tamsyn Muir's "Gideon the Ninth" is one of our favorite books so far this year. Here is Lydia's take on the hilariously bleak adventure. This post, as always, will have spoilers.
Required Reading We ACTUALLY Enjoyed
We've all been there: you’re sitting in your English classroom being handed yet another old book you’ve got to figure out how to get through without falling asleep. But, what’s this? You open it up, read a few pages and, amazingly, don’t immediately want to throw the book across the room! If you’re anything like us, dear reader, you’ve found more than one book on the required reading list that’s drawn you in, made you cry, or kept you awake at night. Today, we’re sharing a few of our favorite required reads.
March 2020 Welcome and Book Club Pick
What's one thing that always makes the dreary weather more bearable? Good books of course!
February Book Club Read: "The Beautiful"
This month the Nerd Girls picked up a highly anticipated new release that promised to tug at our vampire-loving-heartstrings. What we wanted was steamy (potentially problematic) human-undead romance in a bygone era of eccentric gatherings and enviable extravagance. What we got was, well, wasn’t exactly what we expected.
February Review: "The Ten Thousand Doors of January"
Alix E. Harrow's "The Ten Thousand Doors of January" starts with a girl, a book, and a little magic. Beth takes us on a journey through ten thousand doors. Heads up, we're going to be talking spoilers.
Our Galentines: Favorite Female Friendships
February is a month of love and heartbreak, commercialism, hallmark cards, polar vortices if you live in the States, and, hopefully, plenty of chocolate. February is also a month for one of our favorite Book Club traditions: Galentines. We love to celebrate our best gal pals this time of year, and that extends to the fictional. Here are some of our favorite female friendships, and why we (platonically) love these ladies.
February 2020 Welcome and Book Club Pick
This month's read is all about vampires.
From Page to Screen: "Little Women"
As a book club for women, it feels inevitable that we gather together and see the new film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s "Little Women". We went one step further, however, and decided to refresh our memories with a reread of the novel. Well, does the classic story of growing up in Civil War America live up to our nostalgia? Is the new film an explicit adaptation, or is it reimagined for the social context of 2019? Read below to hear our opinions.
January Book Club Read: "Serpent and Dove"
This month, we read Shelby Mahurin's debut novel "Serpent and Dove," a tale of witches, magic, forbidden love, and centuries old prejudice in a historical France inspired world.
January Review: "Ninth House"
January's review is a dark distortion of our favorite escapist themes with Leigh Bardugo's "Ninth House". This post contains full spoilers of the novel, read at your own risk.
2020 Releases We Can’t Wait to Read!
I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but every January I do find myself making lists of all the new releases I can't wait to get my hands on, and this year is no different! We’ve (impossibly) limited ourselves to up to two 2020 releases that have us waiting anxiously for release day: one new book or series, and one continuation of a series we love. What releases are you most excited about this year? Did any of these make your list? Let us know!
Hello January! New Year, Still Nerdy
Happy New Year! January's Book club read is Serpent and Dove.
December Book Club Read: "Nocturna"
This month, we read "Nocturna" by Maya Motayne, a Latinx, magic-driven heist story that, despite a promising premise, did not live up to the Nerd Girls’ hopes. Read our individual thoughts on the book below.
December Review: "The Calculating Stars"
This month Mary heads into an alternative past with Mary Robinette Kowal's "The Calculating Stars". There will be spoilers in this post!
Our Favorite Cozy Reads
Okay, picture me: I'm sitting on a dark gray couch. I have my feet tucked underneath me with big wooly socks on, the kind with soft soles sewn on so they’re half house slipper, half socks. There's a soft crackle of fire as the pine smell slowly wafts in and out of my consciousness. Outside I can almost hear the wind, but mostly it’s just making the window panes creak every once in a while. I'm balancing a glass of dark crimson wine in my right hand, gripping a book by the lower spine in my left. The book I'm reading is…
December Welcome
Bundled up and warm, this month we're reading Nocturna.
November Book Club Read: "Aurora Rising"
This month's book club read is a YA SciFi Ensemble Space Adventure The Nerd Girls generally adored. Below, read our individual thoughts about the first book in Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff's "Aurora Cycle" series.
Not Another Murder Mystery: "Where the Crawdads Sing" and the Universality of Womanhood
This month Jane shares a deep discussion on Delia Owens's "Where the Crawdads Sing", a coming of age murder mystery. We will be going into spoiler territory, read at your own risk.
Characters We Are Grateful For
In honor of Thanksgiving, problematic as it is, we thought we’d take some time to share some characters that have made an impact on our lives. Not all of them are positive influences, but they all taught us something important, and for that we are grateful!
November Welcome
Welcome to the blog! November's Book club read is Aurora Rising.