Hello, reader…
We received not one but TWO poems in our mailbox – yay!
Here is the first one:
Surrounded
bottom feeders are
gonna bottom feed
but what are all
these hungry ghosts
doing stuck up in our heads
gee I wonder?
It was written by a resident named Elan. Check out his original art here.
Here’s the second poem, by Manow Bellic:
A soulful link, so pure and true,
Ignited by a coffee brew,
A bond that’s grown, steadily strong,
In friendship’s garden, it belongs.
Did I mention, a coffee’s grace,
The genesis of this embrace?
Through sips and words, it found its start,
A tale of two souls, a work of art.
Thanks to Veyot for sparking this wonderful project! Our poem mailbox has been such a lovely way to connect with talented inworld poets.
And now, on to this month’s book notes!
Weyward by Emilia Hart
Shelved in historical fiction, but also referred to as “Witch Lit”, this is the story of three women who share an ancestral line but live in three different time periods. Each woman encounters tragedy but works through it with the help of a bit of magic – magic born of strong ties to nature, rather than the abracadabra sort. Zoe considered this a page-turner. She sympathized and was inspired by each woman – they showed remarkable strength and resilience. Also, it has a gorgeous cover!
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
This is a cozy fantasy about an orc who changes careers and opens a coffee shop with the help of a succubus, a hobgoblin, and a rat. Zoe thought this was a fun read! No one in the village had ever heard of coffee or cinnamon rolls. The orc renovated an old livery to create her shop and brought in a coffee machine made by goblins. Apparently goblins have all the cool tech.
Armageddon Averted: The Soviet Collapse (1970-2000) by Stephen Kotkin.
Sierra’s delve into Russian history continued with this title, which she commented was more satisfying than some of her other recent reads around the same topic.
Sierra also picked up these books for her TBR pile:
The Loom of Time: Between Empire and Anarchy, from the Mediterranean to China by Robert D. Kaplan
The Ghost at the Feast: American and the Collapse of World Order, 1900-1941 by Robert Kagan
The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy by Moiya McTier
Our next gathering is October 8th at 1pm. See you then – bring a friend!
The Reading Room 