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Summer Book Bingo: Wins, Faves, and Future Plans · Galaxies and Goddesses: A Sci-Fi & Fantasy Bookcast

• Andrea: I’m Andrea. Elizabeth: And I'm Elizabeth. Andrea: Join us as we chat about sci-fi and fantasy books and beyond. Elizabeth: Looking for a little escape from reality. So are we. Andrea: Welcome to Galaxies and Goddesses. Elizabeth: On this week's episode, we'll be recapping our summer book Bingo Challenge. Andrea: We'll talk about the books that were our favorite and which ones scored in our bingo. Elizabeth: Didn't have time to play or read as many books as you were hoping?Well, this is your chance to hear the highlights. Andrea: Let's get started. Andrea: So the first question is, did you get a Bingo, Elizabeth? Elizabeth: I did.I got three. Andrea: Nice. Elizabeth: What about you? Did you get one? Andrea: I only got one bingo and that was a little bit of a stretch, but I think it counts. I think it counts. Elizabeth: Wait there’s a chance that it doesn’t count? Andrea: Well, I had initially counted a book for Read with a friend because it was for a friend's book club. And at the book club, I found out that it was recommended to her by a bookseller. So I was able to shift that, that book to the suggested by a bookseller square. Andrea: And I got a bingo. Elizabeth: That totally counts. That’s not a stretch. Andrea: Yeah, that counts. That's well, yeah. Elizabeth: It because in our bingo we, it has to be said it does not specifically say that it was recommended to you by a book seller, Andrea: That's true. Elizabeth: Just that it was recommended by a bookseller. So absolutely. Andrea: But it was after the fact that I, I had like actually written it down on my little bingo card. Elizabeth: That’s okay, you can move them around, I moved some of mine around. Andrea: I do wanna get into like what books they were, but I only got one bingo. And two of the books we chose for the podcast that happened to be in that line. Andrea: How many books total did you read? Elizabeth: I believe it started May 23rd, if I remember correctly. And between then and now, or September 1st. Between that and September 1st, of them I could not actually fit into the Bingo card. So I have 15 on the bingo card. Andrea: Okay. Well, you, you almost doubled me, but not quite because I read eight, Elizabeth: Alright, yeah. Elizabeth: Like, it doesn't matter that I got three bingos, right? Three bingos versus one Bingo there is no difference. It's really only bingo versus blackout. Right? So like my three bingos, whatever. Andrea: Right, right. Elizabeth: The important of this thing is you did get a bingo. Andrea: Well, and one of the books I read was really long, at least it felt really long. It was, it was over 500 pages, I think. So, you know those, that's a big book when you read a a 500 page book. Elizabeth: For sure. Andrea: I read the hardcover version of By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult. The hardcover version is 525 pages. So yeah. But it was really good. And it's not sci-fi or fantasy, it's historical fiction mixed with sort of contemporary times too. Andrea: But it is kind of a, what if Shakespeare didn't actually write all of his plays and it alternates between a historical fictionalized account of a, a real person, Aemilia Bassano. And it kind of goes into her life story at that time in 1581 juxtaposed with her descendant Melina Green who's a playwright, and that's a fictional character that is juxtaposed with that. Andrea: But I, I really enjoyed it. I didn't know if I'd like it and it made me get kind of back into Shakespeare. I haven't even thought about Shakespeare really, to be honest, since like high school. So it was kind of a fun change of pace. Elizabeth: Couple things about Shakespeare, I have to say. There is a cool system of plays in the summer. It's called Shakespeare in the Park, out of Bozeman, but it goes all around the state of Montana and maybe even to like parts of Idaho. They'll always pick two plays every summer and then they'll have this traveling play in the park. Elizabeth: It's cool. Andrea: They do that here too, actually. Seattle Parks and Rec does Shakespeare in the Park, but I, Elizabeth: Ah, you Andrea: I've never been, but I was like, oh, maybe I should try to go. Andrea: Yeah. Elizabeth: I went to, I think both last year and they had an abridged version of, Hamlet, which brings me have you heard of the book Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. Andrea: Yes, I've heard of it. I have not read it. Elizabeth: It is so good. So I've read three of her books I read. The Marriage Portrait and Hamnet both fantastic. Oh my gosh. They're both like really good historical fiction, and Hamnet is about the relationship between William Shakespeare and his wife. And they had a son named Hamnet that dies in the book. It's not that big of a spoiler, it's kind of early on. And so then it's like sort of their family's reaction to the sort of grieving process of losing their son. And that is part of what led to his in the book. Of course, I don't, who knows in real life, but led to his inspiration to write Hamlet. So, yeah, it's a really good book and they're making it into a show with Paul Mezcal. He's very handsome. Very handsome Irishman. A big fan of Paul Mescal. He's gonna be William Shakespeare. Andrea: Well, if you read By Any Other Name, you will question Elizabeth: Whether he wrote it or not? Andrea: Yes. They don't talk so much about Hamnet or Hamlet, the play. But one of the points that Jodi Pico makes at the end of the book, she talks about a lot of her research that she did, and Shakespeare had daughters, but he'd never taught them to read or write, and if you write about strong female characters in a lot of your plays, like how can you not Elizabeth: raise your daughters to be strong. Andrea: Yes. Andrea: That was just one piece of her Elizabeth: Hmm... Andrea: Research. Anyway, and, and that was one of the books in my book Bingo. So that I used for it has flowers on the cover because it's a very pretty cover. Elizabeth: Yeah. Andrea: Yes. Elizabeth: What other books did you have in your bingo? What made up your bingo? Andrea: So next to Has Flowers on the cover was suggested by a bookseller, which as I was saying, was our book, club book called The Sins On Their Bones written by Laura R. Samotin. And it's set in a Jewish folklore inspired reimagining of the 19th century Eastern Europe. Was suggested by a bookseller at Charlie's Queer books. Elizabeth: Presumably you also had next to it the non-binary main character? Andrea: yes, yes. And I really liked the non-binary book that I just happened to come across at Worldcon. So that was a really fun find. Andrea: In the the working class sci-fi panel, somebody asked the question, you know, who's your favorite author? And that's a really hard question to ask other authors to single another author out that's their favorite or someone they would recommend and I loved Becky Chambers' answer. She's like, she didn't mean to pivot, but she said, you know, you're at World Con and there's tons of indie authors here. Go find an indie author that you like and buy their book and read it. And so that's what I did. Andrea: At one of the other panels I went to about designing things that don't exist, like the whole concept of designing creatures or worlds that don't exist and where does that inspiration come from, et cetera. And one of the people on the panel, I really liked the answers that they had, and they had a book series that they were selling down on the floor. Andrea: So I went and checked them out later and I walked away with two of their books, one of which was a novelette. And I'm like, okay, I could try to read this Novelette. It was called Awry with Dandelions by JS Fields. And it was only a hundred pages. I believe. Elizabeth: Wait, did we talk about the difference between a novella versus a novelette? Andrea: Yes, but I don't know what the exact distinction is. Elizabeth: So you can pick one? You can choose whichever it is? Andrea: The title, you know, Awry with Dandelions: A Sapphic Space Opera Novelette. Elizabeth: It specifically designates itself as a novellete. Andrea: It designates itself as a novelette. Correct. It was published in 2022, and it was a short, quick read and really fun. Andrea: I really enjoyed it. It's not maybe for everyone, it kind of feels like you're experiencing somebody's dream. You know? It has kind of a, a dreamlike quality to it and there's lots of interesting world building elements. And it has dragons, but not the dragons you'd expect. Andrea: So yeah, they're like, Komodo dragons. They're not flying dragons. Elizabeth: Or fire breathing dragons? Andrea: Right. Large land-based dragons. Elizabeth: And presumably a non-binary main character? Andrea: Yes. And the, the main character in that is named Orin. And the whole book uses xie/xir pronouns like XIR or XIE. Elizabeth: With an X not a Z. Oh wild. Andrea: Yeah. Elizabeth: All right. Andrea: So I really, I really liked that. Andrea: I thought that was super cool. And I'm excited to read more by JS Fields 'cause it was a really fun… Elizabeth: Indie author. Andrea: Indie author read. Yeah, and then the next two books. Elizabeth: is Witches and Warlocks, A Very Secret Society of Irregular Wishes, Andrea: By Sangu Madanna, and Elizabeth: Then Monday Letters for epistolary novel. Andrea: Yes. Then Moon Day Letters by Emmi Itäranta, so that completes my bingo. Andrea: A very memorable bingo collection there for me this summer. Elizabeth: Quirky. Andrea: Mm-hmm. Elizabeth: Nice. I also got a bingo in that same line. Elizabeth: Used Moonday Letters and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. Elizabeth: My square for the non-binary main character was Mooncakes by Wendy Xu, Suzanne Walker and Joamette Gill. A graphic novel. And one of the two main characters is non-binary. And it's a cute little love story, but also a graphic novel. And we had originally thought that maybe this could be a book that we could read because it's got Moon in the cover. Why was it called Mooncakes? Andrea: There's a part in the story where they celebrate the mid autumn festival. and you eat moon cakes at that time. And so that's just sort of an element in the story. Elizabeth: Not a very big one. I don't know. That's a very good title for that book, Elizabeth: So originally Andrea read the book and then sent it to me and was like, I don't know if this would be enough for us to have an entire episode. Andrea: Well, you know, thinking about it later, I was like, there could be enough for a whole episode, but I don't think I have enough graphic novel experience to compare it to many other things. Andrea: One of my favorite points in that book, and I, I don't think this gives too much away. But there's a scene where the animals of the forest unite and I, I kept picturing like the scene in one of the Shrek movies. Elizabeth: Like creepy animals of the forest. Yeah. Andrea: But they're not creepy. There's, they're just like, kind of sweet and weird or something, you know? That was one of my favorite very visual elements in that story is the, the animals uniting. Elizabeth: The cartoons of the animals are kind of a little bit on the creepy side, if I remember Like really big eyes maybe. Yeah, so that was my non-binary was Mooncakes. Elizabeth: Then suggested by bookseller was Say Nothing: A true Story of Murder in Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe. so I didn't necessarily speak to a bookseller for them to recommend this, but I saw it on a staff picks shelf at a cute little independent bookstore in Yuri, Colorado some years ago. And then maybe a year or two ago, saw it on the staff picks of The Book Exchange in Missoula. So yeah, I was like, I think that counts as suggest by a book seller. Andrea: It was suggested by multiple booksellers, so that it stuck in your brain. Elizabeth: the list. It might be on both of those New York Times list. The People's Choice Hundred Best of the 21st Century. It was definitely on that list, and it might've been on the Critic's Choice Hundred, best of the 21st century. Elizabeth: Anyway it is fantastic and the show is also really good. Elizabeth: I feel like it's one of those cases where the show is as good as the Andrea: It is pretty violent though. I'd give like a little bit of a trigger warning there. Elizabeth: It's in the title murder in Northern Ireland. Andrea: It's in the title. Elizabeth: Some sort of international group recently listed the most peaceful countries in the world. Elizabeth: And I think Iceland was number one and Ireland was number two. And then I've thought to myself, they're counting the Republic of Ireland, not Northern Ireland. I would not say that that is a very peaceful place. Luckily it's been a lot more peaceful in the last 30 years. Elizabeth: The book is violent as is the show, but I feel like they are different. They are enough different that it's worthwhile to both read the book and watch the show. Anyway, that was my suggest by a bookseller. Elizabeth: And then has flowers on the cover was November Nine by Colleen Hoover, and I don't know that I wanna spend any time talking about that. Elizabeth: It was a fine book. It was readable. Colleen Hoover kind of beach read. It did have a flower on the cover. Elizabeth: Then the other two… Andrea: Yes, that's right. You got multiple bingos. Elizabeth: That was the second bingo that I got. The first bingo that I got what would be the number B, right? Elizabeth: Like on your bingo card if you had an actual Bingo card would be the, vertical column B. so, So subjected by a librarian was The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides. It was about captain James Cook and the third voyage, like around the world, to try to find the Northwest Passage, but coming from the other side to go like past Alaska, like Bering Straight between Alaska and Russia to try to go find a Northwest Passage that way, which obviously they did not. They tried twice and they ran into a wall of ice both times, of course, 'cause there is no Northwest Passage, and then James Cook was killed by Native Hawaiians on a beach in Hawaii. And he was known to be a captain that was very like favorable, I guess you could say, you know, in the late 18th century. It was interesting. Yeah. Suggested by a librarian. Elizabeth: Takes place in the woods was The Rainbow Trail by Zane Gray, classic Western 'cause I read the first one is called Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Gray. These were all published like over a hundred years ago. Riders of the Purple Sage… Andrea: Oh wow. Elizabeth: is great! It's a great little western. And then The Rainbow Trail is basically the like 20 years or 15 years in the future update on the end of Riders of the Purple Sage. 'Cause Riders of the Purple Sage. It's only like 250 pages. Both of them are like 250 pages. They're exciting. They would make great movies. I don't know why they haven't been turned into movies and like the end Riders of the Purple Sage and The Rainbow Trail, like epic. The Rainbow Trail ends with they, raft down the Grand Canyon to escape the bandits. It's epic. It's, it's good. Elizabeth: It's great. Anyway, even though it's the desert, there are some, some forests and stuff in the desert sometimes. As you would know, as a person from Arizona Andrea: that's what I was thinking, like when you said Western, I was like, takes place in the woods and Western don't combine in my mind. Elizabeth: At first I was like, does this count? 'cause it's the desert but it called it a forest. Elizabeth: It used it in the book, it said forest. Elizabeth: I was not intending to be able to use that in the spot until, as I'm reading along and they're like on horseback and they ride into the forest. They use the word forest. So like, I was like, whoa. Well there it is. There's the forest. Andrea: Okay. Elizabeth: It kinda came out of nowhere. I wasn't expecting to put that there, but it did. Andrea: So, I did not get a bingo in that row, but I thought about using The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig for, it Takes Place in the Woods because there is a forest that they travel through. But I put it under my published this year category because it came out earlier this year. Andrea: One that could fit in either category, but neither one got a bingo. Andrea: I, I did enjoy the book. I don't think it was quite as good as her first two novels, but it's still kind of eerie, dark, unique magic system. So I think if you liked the first two books by Rachel Gillig, the first one is One Dark Window. Andrea: The second one is Two Twisted Crowns and it's a completed duology. They're both really good. Yeah, but The Knight and the Moth was good. Maybe just not as good. Elizabeth: For publish this year. Well, so has Moon in the title was When the Moon Hits Your Eye. Which that one also could have fit into published this year. 'cause it was published in 2025. but I ended up putting, published this year was, Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. I, I Andrea: Ah. Elizabeth: hers that I've read. And it was just kind of a generic beach read romance. It was cute. I think Goodreads gives it like a four . I wouldn't necessarily have given it a four. I, I mean it was maybe 3.5 if you do, if you're doing you know, point systems, not whole integer ratings. It was a fine little beach read romance Andrea: I’m planning to read that one. Elizabeth: Yeah? Andrea: I, I haven't read it yet, but it's on my short list because one of the book clubs I'm in is going to read it this year. So, Andrea: I'm gonna try to read it this month. I have the book, I've read two of her other books. Elizabeth: Yeah? Andrea: People You Meet on Vacation and Beach Read and I liked people you meet on vacation more than beach read. Andrea: And what I've seen in the discussion around this newest book, is that it wasn't Emily Henry fan's favorite of the books that she's written. Elizabeth: Ahh. Andrea: They liked it, but it like, wasn't favorite. Elizabeth: What do the fans of hers have to say are their favorite books? Andrea: They say Book Lovers is one of the better ones Elizabeth: ‘Kay. Andrea: and People You Meet on Vacation. Those two, I feel like are consistently high, highly rated by Emily Henry fans Elizabeth: I do like an occasional romance. Elizabeth: Book Lovers and People You Meet on Vacation. I could see myself reading those. I don't know that I would read based off of this being the first book of hers that I've read. I don't know that I would be like looking to read all of her books, if that makes sense, but Sure. Andrea: Yeah. Elizabeth: I’d read the more popular ones. Elizabeth: That sounds, that sounds fair. Elizabeth: And then, okay, then a epistolary novel for Moonday Letters counts in that bingo as well. And then for novella, I read The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy. I have been meaning to read that for a very long time. It’s actually only like 60 pages or something. Elizabeth: It's sort of been on my list for a long time . It has to do with death. Elizabeth: And I find it really interesting to read books about death, honestly, how different cultures approach death and how we in the western world approach death and, you know, yeah. I just find it an interesting. So it is fascinating.'Cause the main character, Ivan Ilych, it starts out the very first chapter is like people going to his funeral and they are like colleagues or acquaintances. Elizabeth: They didn't know him all that well, like, weren't necessarily super close to him. And just like how they're interacting with each other at his funeral, where it's not that grave an event for them. Andrea: Hmm. Elizabeth: Having an opportunity to like, socialize with their colleagues at this funeral. So that's how it starts. And then it goes back in time to sort of first inklings of illness and then he definitely in the end has cancer. They don't necessarily specify what kind of cancer, 'cause it's sometime in the 19th century. And then he's slowly dying throughout the rest of the novella. Elizabeth: And it's just like how a dying person still interacts through society. And it's fascinating. I think everybody should read it. That was really good. Elizabeth: Anyway, so that was actually bingo number one. Elizabeth: And then the same bingo that you had was bingo number two, bingo number three was the line above that, the one that you had as well. So When the Moon Hits Your Eye, was still has Moon in the title. Andrea: So it uses the free space. Elizabeth: It uses free space. Uhuh, uses the free space! Andrea: Yeah. Elizabeth: Yeah, it counts. Elizabeth: The novel for dystopian was Parable of the Sower by Octavia E Butler was the very last book that I read most recently. Fantastic and very, very disturbing. I will have to say as dystopian novels go, perhaps one that cuts the closest to the bone. Andrea: It is the most plausible, is that what you're saying? Elizabeth: Yes! It’s like that’s what’s going to happen. Now it takes place in like 2024 to 2027, and she published it I think in 1993. This sort of prophecy of like what was gonna happen in basically 30 years, which obviously has not come to happen, but where we are in the world currently, I could see it happening in the next 20 to 30 years. Elizabeth: I mean, seriously. Right. You've read that book, right? Andrea: Yes, Elizabeth: Yeah. Andrea: Yes. And I do remember it feeling like not too farfetched. It seems like this is something that could happen. Elizabeth: This could just happen. Andrea: And, and that could have been because it was well written, but it also could have been, just very on the nose, right? Andrea: Yeah. Elizabeth: Right, you think about other dystopian novels like, you know, 1984 by George Orwell, or Brave New World by Aldus Huxley or Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Like all of these books that, there are many elements to them that seem very plausible, but the, the thing as a whole doesn't seem as plausible in a way. You know, maybe some of it is like sort of the technology that's used the way that the people are living their day-to-day lives that don't seem quite as feasible, but Parable of the Sower seems super feasible and there's no like, big major event. It's just climate change and economic hardship. Andrea: Yes. I think there is some type of fantastical element to it too, right? That she can sense other people's feelings or emotions. Andrea: Right? Elizabeth: Hyper-empathy syndrome. Elizabeth: So there, I suppose there is that. Andrea: Yes. Elizabeth: That’s not a thing that I know of as a real thing. Andrea: I mean, there are people that I think are more sensitive or aware of other people's feelings, but not to the extent of like feeling their pain so, so strongly. Elizabeth: Physically feeling someone else's pain and like making yourself bleed from feeling someone else's pain. Yeah. Yes, there is that. Elizabeth: But in, just in terms of like the, the world building of the dystopia, it seems very plausible. That like, more and more people falling into poverty, becoming more and more desperate, leading to more and more violence and theft and rape and murder and arson and these like walled communities like basically neighborhoods that they just put a big wall up around to save themselves from, the street poor that then the street poor over time as they get more and more desperate, finding their way into these wild communities. That then like, you know, like refugee out of these walled communities. Elizabeth: Yeah, just thinking about what would happen if people became so poor that they became that desperate? Andrea: Right, right. Elizabeth: I'm like, yeah. Andrea: There's almost a parallel with a lot of zombie apocalypse type societies. Elizabeth: But there’s no actual zombies. Andrea: Right. Elizabeth: It's like, okay. So that's also a drug that I do not know of . They call 'em pyros, that it's as if seeing fire gives them as much pleasure as like sex does. So then they purposefully are starting more and more fires just to watch stuff burn. Elizabeth: And that's not a drug that I know of. So that's also a fantastic element to it yeah. Yeah, that was a really good book. Oh my gosh. Andrea: Did you read a Young Adult novel? Elizabeth:Yes. Andrea: That's the next one in the line. Elizabeth: My young adult novel was Paper Towns by John Green. That is now the third John Green book I've read. I've also read Fault Our Stars which is okay, little bit soapy, campy maybe. I have also read in the last year actually Turtles All the Way Down the John Green. Andrea: I have not read any of those books, so... Elizabeth: Alright. Andrea: But I do have a copy of Paper Towns. I picked it up the latest book swap I went to. I was like, oh, Elizabeth mentioned this book. Maybe I should read it. So I snagged that one, but I have not read it yet. Elizabeth: It’s a fine book. You know what's nice about young adult novels that you can usually read 'em pretty fast. That's always fun too. Elizabeth: And then first person point of view was, James by Percival Everett. And that was fantastic. Oh my God, that was so good. I have read, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn twice, I wanna say like definitely in high school or middle school. And then I have also read it as an adult maybe like 10 years ago. Elizabeth: And so I remember hearing that as part of civil rights movements, so as in women's rights back in, you know, a hundred years ago when like the suffragettes fighting for the right to vote. Elizabeth: And then with like the civil rights in, the late 1960s African American folks wanting to assert their rights and, you know, native American rights and LGBTQ plus rights, all of these different movements for reasserting the rights of a group of people that then as part of that, over time, it doesn't happen immediately. Elizabeth: It takes a while for that group of people to reclaim their stories. So, there are so many more female authors now than there ever have been, and I feel like we can see a lot more African American authors, which, especially in the last maybe like 10, 20 years, I'd say. Right. So like, it doesn't happen immediately, but eventually over time with enough time passing from the rights movement that then the, the authors reclaim their own stories. Andrea: Yeah. I also wanna point out though it's not just about the civil rights and sort of visibility of it, but it's also the book publishing itself and the people that are in places and roles of making those decisions of who gets published , the people that are the gatekeepers to whose voices get shared. Elizabeth: Yeah. Andrea: That's where some of those changes need to be made. And, it's really, it's not just in the social world. Elizabeth: Totally. Andrea: It's also the book publishing world itself. Elizabeth: Which then also goes back on the readers too. Like, what do the readers wanna read and what are the readers gonna buy? And so if then the book publishing companies recognize that these are stories that people wanna read, then they're gonna be more likely to publish them. Right. So like sort of the, you know, the full circle of all of it. Andrea: Well, that gets back to actually, that Awry with Dandelions book that I bought, they weren't self-published, there was a small publishing company, like an indie publisher that published the novelette. But I couldn't check it out at the library. I went to go track it that like, oh, I read this book. Andrea: I wanted to get categorized with all my other books, and it was not available at the library. So if I could promote one book in this episode, it would be Awry with Dandelions by JS Fields. And we can put a link in our show notes so you can go check out that author and buy their book. Elizabeth: Nice. Yeah, totally. Totally. Elizabeth: But anyway, I've not read anything else by Percival Everett. I wanna read other things by him Because James is phenomenal. And it's like a pretty quick read actually, and especially because it also is so action packed, right? Elizabeth: Like, there's so much that happens in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. But it, it's fascinating because it's, Jim's story. It's James's story, right? And so then there are these parts that you recognize because they're the parts that Huck Finn is part of, but then in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim is not in every single scene in the book. So then you get to like, follow Jim's story and like what he's doing when he is not with Huck Finn. And also like, wild story, so it's action packed. It is page turner. so like trying to read more African American stories and more black stories and stories from people of color. Unfortunately, just because of the nature of being a person of color, oftentimes the stories are not happy stories, but James has a happy ending. It's great. It's such a great ending. Yeah, it was really good. and that's also on the reader's choice of New York Times Hundred Best of the 21st century. Elizabeth: So that was my third bingo. Yeah. Andrea: Cool. Andrea: Well, the only book that I have on my card that we haven't talked about because I also had the monthly podcast pick for When the Moon Hits Your Eye. Andrea: That's one of my books. And even though it didn't contribute to a, particular bingo, I also read an advanced reader copy of a Fallen City by Adrienne Young. Andrea: So that comes out in November, November 4th, I believe. And that was pretty good. It was a little confusing at times because it had multiple timelines. So there were two main characters in sort of a Romeo and Juliet esque fashion, like they were born as enemies and they become lovers, right in this Greco-Roman fictional walled city. Andrea: And there's fantasy elements, there's magic, there's this love story. There's two main characters, Maris and Luca that you read from their perspective. So there'll be a chapter that says " Maris: Now" and then you go to a chapter that's "Luca: Now", and then "Maris: Before" and then "Luca: Before". And so you're alternating not only between points of view but also timelines, which keeps it interesting. Andrea: You're constantly trying to put together pieces of the puzzle of what happened to get them where they are in that future timeline. And you're learning as you go through the book, how the story unfolded. I don't know if it's just a, a writing device, but it does keep you reading. Andrea: It keeps you intrigued, but it can also be confusing. So there'd be times when I'd start a chapter and I'd realize like a few sentences in that it was from the male perspective instead of the female perspective. Elizabeth: Yeah. Andrea: I'd have to start over, but, but it was interesting and it's part of a duology, I believe so. Andrea: I think if people liked The Will of the Many by James Islington or Circe by Madeline Miller, this feels very up that alley. It has very Greco Roman vibes. Andrea: So yeah, Fallen City by Adrienne Young. I used for my Read Outside box. Elizabeth: Also had one for Read Outside, my book for Read Outside was All the Presidents Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward published in 1974, I think the subtitle of the book is the greatest reporting story of all time. So basically Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodard created this case through investigative journalism over a year or two, I think, where they had these like, anonymous sources and whistleblowers within the government that were reporting on, the nefarious wheelings and dealings of Nixon and his administration. Elizabeth: And so then they were the ones broke the Watergate story. And so it was the story of how that all came together. Elizabeth: And then the last book that I have in mind that we haven't talked about yet was my Read with a friend. which was How to Read a Book, by Monica Wood. So I'm counting my sister as my friend. She brought that book with her to Seattle, actually, when I saw you a few months ago. It was really cute. It was like heartwarming, charming. It was a cute little book. Andrea: Okay.Nice. Elizabeth: I would recommend it to anybody, just like a, you know, like, just read this and just enjoy, you know. Yeah. Andrea: Well, we did book Bingo and we also invited people that follow us on Instagram to join in. And we had two winners from people that shared their completed book Bingos to their Instagram page and tagged us in that so we could be notified about it. And as a prize, they're each getting a book. So jewelsgules has requested something by NK Jemisin or Brandon Sanderson, so we'll be sending her a copy of Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. Andrea: She said anything by either of those authors because she's been wanting to read them. And I thought it'd be nice to give a standalone book. Instead of starting somebody down the path of a trilogy… Elizabeth: [chuckles lightly] Andrea: It's kind of nice to just end on a standalone note sometimes. Elizabeth: Yeah. Andrea: And then shaylawritesmagic was our other Instagram winner, and we picked one of the books off of her wishlist to send her and she'll be receiving Accomplice to the Villain. So that's the third in a series. But if she's read the other two books and she wants to read this one, that's sort of like, you know, okay. Andrea: Giving her something that she wants. Elizabeth: Very specifically asks for that book… Andrea: Yes. Elizabeth: Then we give her that one. Yeah. Andrea: So Accomplice to The Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer. And it's a new book. It was just published this August in 2025. And like I said, it's the third in a series, the first one being Assistant to the Villain. And I've heard really good things about that series, so now I'm like, oh, well maybe I, that's another book series I need to pick up. Andrea: But those are the two books that they're getting. And it was really fun to have a few people join in on a group chat and share book recommendations. Andrea: Seattle Arts and Lectures, SAL Book Bingo, also finished up at the same time. And see, and it's, it is the same thing. I didn't get a bingo this year. I got a bunch of random categories, but not a complete bingo on their list. One of the categories was a "New to You" format. So I was like, oh, maybe if I actually had checked out a large print book, that would've been a new to me format. Elizabeth: You’ve never read a large print book? Andrea: No, I haven't, I was like, oh, maybe I could do that for that summer Bingo of Square, but… Elizabeth: Oh, funny. Andrea: Maybe I should save it for next year. Elizabeth: Yeah. Elizabeth: I was like, how many different formats are there? So how do you get a new to you format, I'm a little bit fascinated by large print books . And the only reason I would ever would think about them is because my mom is so into getting large print books from the library. But she's totally right that you get 'em for a longer amount of time, usually, and there are fewer people who are putting holds on the large print books, so you have a better chance of getting them sooner , like, if there's the option of a large print book versus the regular size font book that you have to put a, hold on, you have a better chance of getting a large print sooner. Elizabeth: Well, I don't know. What do you think? Was this an enjoyable endeavor? Would we do book bingo again? Andrea: Yeah, I think so. I mean, Andrea: like I said, we'd swap out some of the squares. Yeah. Elizabeth: I've never done a book Bingo. And, I found quite fun. I enjoy thinking about books and like thinking about the books that I'm gonna read next. It's always an ever changing, shifting list of books that are gonna come next. Elizabeth: And as time goes on, things always pop up in the moment, you know, if it's like a library book, especially then maybe you need to like, read that soon to take it back. But then, you know, it like made me look at the books that I already own in a different way, which is always kind of fun. I had lined up if I'd had time, author's debut novel, I have a copy of The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, which was his debut novel apparently came out with maybe some like short stories or books of short stories or something. I think he published two things, or maybe before The Sun also Rises, but The Sun Also Rises was his first novel. But I didn't get a chance to read it, so I still haven't read it. Elizabeth: Takes place in Space. I definitely have a couple of the Andy Weir books. I've got The Martian and Project Hail Mary and those would've been great ones that I could have used for that. Involves time travel. Elizabeth: I've talked about it before, I'm about to read the fifth book in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King, Wolves of the Calla. Other books in the Dark Tower series do involve time travel. Elizabeth: The Drawing of The Three back and forth between worlds and time and yeah. Andrea: Hmm. Elizabeth: So I was like, well other books involve time travel. Elizabeth: Yeah, so it was just kind of fun as I was kind of looking through the books that I already own and to kind of like, well, what would fit into these categories? Elizabeth: I could not find any books amongst the books that I own that have dragons in them. Andrea: Oh.. Elizabeth: I know sorry. Andrea: So many of mine have dragons. Elizabeth: They don’t have any books of dragons in 'em. I don't think, unless that's a thing is like, I just don't know enough about the book that's on my shelf to know that it has something like dragons in it. But I don't think so, don't think I have any dark academia. For a second I was like, well, Paper Towns maybe kind of takes place in school and sort of, but it's not dark and like, anyway, I couldn't find anything for that. And I don't think I have anything that involves vampires actually. Andrea: It is funny because the ones that you were like, oh, I don't have anything for that. Those three specifically, has dragons, involves vampires and dark academia. Elizabeth: You have lots of those. Andrea: I have books. I didn't get a chance to read them. Right. So I think that's funny. For dark academia, I wanted to read Blood Over Bright Haven by ML Wang and I just didn't have time. Andrea: Similarly involves vampires. I have Joe Abercrombie's new book, The Devils, that was just released this year. And I got to go to an author event to see him speak and talk about the book, which was really fun. And so I, I wanna read it and I haven't read any Joe Abercrombie, but I've heard he is really funny and fun. And then has dragons. Andrea: I want to read Priory of The Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. But it is a huge book. Do you wanna like, guess? When I say huge? what, what comes to mind, Elizabeth? Elizabeth: I'm gonna go with eight to 900 pages. Andrea: Yes. Yes. 848 pages. Elizabeth: All right. Andrea: I didn't have time to just slip in an 848 page book. Elizabeth: Yeah, that was the only thing with the Wolves of the Calla, Dark Tower number five by Stephen King, that it's like eight or 900 pages. And so I did read. Wizard and Glass last summer. And so I was like, maybe just each summer I read the next one in the series, but that just didn't really, ' it's a big book. Elizabeth: It's quite an undertaking. even though Stephen King does , tend to read pretty quickly, so it's, even though it is a really long book, it, reads pretty fast. Andrea: Well, speaking of has dragons and large books, another book that we picked for this year, so it's not this month, but next month we have When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker. And depending on what edition you get it's wildly different in pages. Andrea: So I don't know if they just fit more words on a page or what the deal is, but my copy is 547 pages, but some of them are over 700 pages long. And I'm like, I don't understand where like Andrea: a hundred pages went. Elizabeth: Bigger font, more white space. Andrea: Okay. But they look huge on a shelf. I'm excited to read it. Elizabeth: I have put a hold on that at the library. Andrea: I wonder if you'll get a 700 page version when you pick it up from the library. Elizabeth: Well yeah, I might. Andrea: I can only imagine what a large print version of that book would be. Elizabeth: But then it reads so fast. I mean, you really do, and like, you're like, wow, I sat down and just read like a hundred pages. Imagine that. Andrea: The next book we're talking about is a pretty heavy hitter, The Dispossessed by Ursula k Le Guin. Andrea: If we had read The Dispossessed in time for book bingo, I would've put it under the dystopian category. Elizabeth: Yeah. Andrea: From what I've read so far. Elizabeth: Yes, that would count as dystopian I’d say. Uhhuh. Andrea: Yeah. Elizabeth: If I had got it done in time, I would've put it under podcast monthly pick. But I didn't get it done in time, Elizabeth: so... Elizabeth: The categories, are there some that we repeat, some that we'd add? Some that we do different? Andrea: I like the new to you format. Elizabeth: That’s kinda cool. Andrea: I don't know if I'd change that out for audiobook. I think having audiobook on there is still a nice square to have because I am often listening to an audiobook in the background, so as a way to stack my board a little bit. Elizabeth: For purely self-driven motivations. Andrea: I don't think we can do has the moon in the title anymore, because we'll have a new theme for next year. Elizabeth: Indeed we will. Mm-hmm. Andrea: So, but it'll be a different theme. Elizabeth: Yeah. Andrea: I think some are at good staples, like suggested by a bookseller or suggested by a librarian. Elizabeth: We could add onto that, like suggested by a friend or suggested by a trusted source or something that you're like, oh, I don't know them very well, but they read a lot and they said this one. And I, and I really believe them, you know? I feel like we can also expand on the read outside. Andrea: Maybe this is a very Seattle biased change to that one instead of read outside, maybe red in a coffee shop. Elizabeth: Oh yeah, because it's not always nice there to be able to read outside. Andrea: Yeah. Elizabeth: Yeah. Andrea: But in the summer, the idea is that you go outside, but you could read outside at a coffee shop, so you know, you could… Elizabeth: You could, absolutely that still counts. Andrea: You could interpret it that way. Elizabeth: On like the deck or something of … Andrea: Mm-hmm. Elizabeth: a sidewalk table at a coffee shop for sure. Andrea: That sounds quite nice. Elizabeth: Doesn’t it, yeah. So, yeah, I don't think it'll be exactly the same, but I definitely think we should do it again. That was great. Yeah. Andrea: I'm really glad you had a good time with Bingo because I had fun doing it as well. Elizabeth: And keeping track as I'm reading the books, sort of book logistics, just like adding an extra layer to the regular book logistics . Like, oh, that book could count for both this square and this square, you know, and then the potential of moving books around. Elizabeth: I in the end did not really end up needing to move any books around. There was the potential that I was gonna move some books around, But anyway, so that's just kind of fun, you know, just like thinking about Andrea: Yeah. Elizabeth: basically. Andrea: I have a book journal, but I don't have a good way to memorialize this piece of paper. Right. It's like, oh, frame it and no, not quite. Elizabeth: Well you're gonna put it on the internet where we will live forever. Andrea: Yeah, that’s true. Elizabeth: Well, unfortunately, that concludes this week's episode. We've reached the end of another cosmic journey on Galaxies and Goddesses book Bingo is over, but it's not the end of our bookish fun together. Andrea: Don't worry. The adventure never really ends. There are always more stories to explore and let's be honest, more bookish, tangents for us to go on. Elizabeth: That's part of the fun. If you love today's episode, make sure to subscribe. Leave a review and share the magic. Andrea: Stay tuned for our next episode where we'll be talking about The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin. Elizabeth: In the meantime, keep your mind fueled by the magic of stories. Andrea: And never stop chasing the worlds waiting for you between the pages. Thanks everyone!