Check out what’s keeping the staff of Can’t Talk all tied up this week:

Amelia

I am burning my way through “Saving Grace” with no regrets; it’s a great show. I’m also about to begin my world quests in “World of Warcraft” now that I’ve hit level 110. I’m reading “Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert and finding that my fiction writing genius isn’t as absent as I thought he was. (In the book, Gilbert talks about genius being like a house elf that lives with you rather than a thing you are.) The fall light is chasing away my summer gloom, and I feel reenergized for new things.

Kirstin



This weekend I’m going to crack open my newest book, “Queens Consort,” by Lisa Hilton. It’s about the medieval queens of England. I’ve always been fascinated by England’s monarchy, and I’m thrilled to see a book focusing on the badass ladies of that time period.

Melissa

This weekend I’ll be experiencing paintball for the first time, followed up by tons of tabletop games. On Saturday, I’ll be resuming my role as my group’s Elven Ranger in D&D and breaking in my first set of dice, purchased from the Chessex booth at PAX West. Then on Sunday, I’m hosting a team-building night of “Cards Against Humanity” with my local coworkers; what could possibly go wrong? If we burn through that too fast, I’ll be introducing them to “Werewolf.”

Ness

This weekend will be a busy one for me, with working and taking part two of a beginner quilting class, but I’ll still make time for some fun stuff.

I’m making my way through Colson Whitehead’s “The Underground Railroad,” which is beautiful and devastating in equal measure, and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Between the World and Me,” which is another difficult but necessary read. I’m also doing a new “Dragon Age” run with a human mage; I’ll be tackling the “Dragon Age: Origin” DLC this weekend (or at least getting started; there are a ton of them). “Supergirl” just came to U.S. Netflix, so I’ll likely start binging on that because it sounds sweet and light, and that’s the kind of superhero show I need right now (to counteract how dark and violent the season of “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” I’m currently watching is). Finally, while sewing, I’ll start the audiobook of Rainbow Rowell’s “Fangirl.”

Rosie

I can’t talk right now – too much going on! I have a friend who is getting married in about 6 weeks, and I have a ton of stuff to do for her wedding. I finished knitting a pretty shawl for her this week (I’ve been working on it since April); this weekend I intend to wash and block it—as well as make alterations to her wedding gown, three bridesmaid dresses, the bride’s mom’s dress, my own dress, and sew up 17 tablecloths. Whew! Interspersed with all the sewing this weekend, I’ll be recording as a guest on the Geek Speak podcast (not sure when that’s going to air, but I’ll let you know), I have to finish reading for this month’s “Pancake Sex Bookclub” on Sunday, and my husband and I are very nearly done watching the current season of “House of Cards.” I need Monday to come back around so I can get some relative rest at my regular job.

Vianey

After weeks of reading dark, suspenseful, emotional books, I really needed a bit of a palate cleanser to help me recover. Enter “Heroine Complex” by Sarah Kuhn. I like to think of it as a mix of “Lost Girl” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” (There’s even an annoying teenage sister! Sorry, Dawn.) This book stars not one but TWO Asian-American women, who save the world from some rather unique demons popping up all over San Francisco. As if that weren’t awesome enough, I was thrilled to come across a sexy scene featuring enthusiastic consent, something that is unfortunately still very rare in books (and TV shows and movies and games). Give this a shot if you want to binge-read a fun urban fantasy with entertaining characters and twists that will keep you engaged until the end.

Bell

I’ve been reading a lot lately, and I don’t see that trend changing anytime soon. I recently read “A Bachelor Establishment” by Isabella Barclay (an alias for “The Chronicles of St. Mary’s” author Jodi Taylor), and I really enjoyed it. The writing is a bit stiffer (heh heh) than I’m accustomed to seeing in contemporary historical fiction; normally, this would be something that would turn me off from a book, but in this case it somehow works. The characters are likeable and the dialogue is snappy, which makes up for the thinness of the plot. (Big trigger warning here, though, for domestic abuse.)

It’s a fun, quick read and I heartily endorse it, along with Ms. Taylor’s time travel series, “The Chronicles of St. Mary’s.”