What Are We Up To?

Hey Valkyries! How’s it going? Each month, we want to keep you posted on all things we’re reading, watching, and/or listening to. And just life in general. As we always say: stories go beyond books. So here, we want to tell you about the shows we’ve been binging, the songs on replay, the art that haunts us, and the stories we can’t put down.

We invite you to join in the conversation ♥ In fact, we’re dying to hear from you! Give our monthly scoop a little read & drop us a few lines with your own story adventures.

Morgan Wilson

Morgan Wilson

So we just finished watching The Mandalorian on Disney and OH.MY.GOD. I cannot believe it took this long for us to sit down and watch this. It was amazing! I’m ready to watch through a second time to see everything that we missed on this first run through and cannot wait for season 3.
 
 
On my to-watch list is The Peninsula. The long awaited sequel to Train to Busan. If you haven’t seen that, where have you been?! I love all things zombie and when I first saw this it immediately skyrocketed to number one on my love list. The trailer for its sequel, The Peninsula, looks just as good and I cannot wait to watch it, maybe that’ll happen this weekend! 
 
As for reading, the last book I finished is Whitney Hill’s Eldritch Sparks (sequel to Elemental), review coming soon! It was amazing and everything I loved about Arden in the first book. Whitney is a phenomenal story teller. Up next is We Hunt the Flame and Legendborn. Both reads I’ve been looking forward to for quite awhile and cannot wait to dive into. I am looking forward to Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis (cannot wait for August!!) and sadly I do have to wait for August 2022 for the sequel to The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson. I’m sure it will be worth the wait.
 
Other 2021 reads I’m looking forward to are Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas (c’mon March 23rd!), House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland which comes out in April and Erin A Craig’s Small Favors which comes out in July! So many good books to read, so little time. 
 

As for food and drink for the last month, are you sure you want to know about my pregnancy cravings? I want all the peanut butter. Like all of it, all the time. I cannot get enough. Hello dark chocolate peanut butter cups and peanut butter oatmeal (yes for real, it’s so good). Drink wise, I’m in love with fruit smoothies, I don’t do too many because of all the sugar, but mmmmm smoothies. Also…peanut butter-banana-oat smoothies. I get all my loves in one ♥. I could go on, but it would just be me slathering peanut butter on everything and drinking everything as cold as possible. That’s normal right? 

Gwen Diamond

I am currently watching the new MCU Disney+ show WandaVision. While I do not want to give out spoilers, I will say that it continues from where the MCU left off and marks the beginning of Phase 4. This mini-series will end on Friday and it has been one of the most interesting shows I have seen.

Jen at Bookish Valhalla

It has been a fun couple of weeks sitting down and watching Wanda and Vision journey through different American television eras. I’ve been on the edge of my seat as it unfolds and ties into the greater MCU. After the end of the episode, I enjoy watching fans decipher easter eggs and hidden meanings or speculating on what is going to happen next week. While it is coming to a close, myself and other fans of the MCU will not have to wait long.

Starting in March, we will see the next Disney+ release Falcon and the Winter Soldier. This year is a treat for all Marvel fans and I’m personally excited to see where the story leads us next.

Ari Augustine

I just finished The Demon Prince of Momochi House by Aya Shouoto ♥ the illustrations were gorgeous, and the story was adorable.

I’m not familiar with Shouoto’s work, nor do I often read manga, but this one was too cute and funny to pass up. I want to gush all about it, but..review pending!

My reading moods have been all over the place this month, so it’s been hard to settle on books to read. I’ve been dying for science fiction in the vein of Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang and The Expanse by James S.A Corey. At the same time, I’m craving horrors, paranormal romances, and spooky thrillers.

At the moment, I plan to read The Binding by Bridget Collens, a story about magical books in which people can hide painful memories. Doesn’t that sound curious?! I positively couldn’t resist, especially when Waterstones kept flaunting the cover.

Then maybe after that is Follow Me To Ground by Sue Rainsford. It’s a horrific tale of flesh and eerie desires.

I’d also love to read You Let Me In by Camille Bruce, Black Water Sister by Zen Cho (omg, THANK YOU NETGALLEY & BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP FOR THE ARC), Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon, and The Lost Village by Camilla Sten.

Reading aside, I’ve binge-watched Sweet Home, a Korean horror adaptation of the webtoon under the same name. Needless to say, it was everything I LOVE in an apocalyptic horror, but with many surprising twists! It had serious Walking Dead meets Hannibal vibes. Plus, the main theme song of the show (Side-by-Side) is by Bewhy, an epic South Korean rapper.

3.1운동 100주년 기념곡, Bewhy(비와이) - 나의 땅 - 인스티즈(instiz) 인티포털

I also revisted the first season of Love Alarm, a science fiction romance Kdrama set in a future where a phone app can reveal who loves you. The show explores the mental health implications of the technology, as well as its impact on interpersonal relationships and general views on love.  Season 2 just dropped on March 12th, and I am especially excited to see how the three main characters confront this new world, especially after that SHOCKING decision Jojo made in Season 1.

Click the images below if you want to watch the trailers!

As for life in general, well, it’s been…interesting. I had tonsillitis and a sinus infection for a hot minute. Then I fell down my stairs and had to have my ribs re-adjusted. I’ve been feeding a ramen addiction in between editing for clients, and my mother bought me a hand mixer, so I can finally beat stiff peaks without it taking 15 minutes or killing my wrists. Mori, our furry hellion, is up to his usual trouble-making, which now involves running into glass windows in attempts to kill birds. We applaud his efforts, though. Oh, and I’m failing at stoicism. It’s really, really hard, but I keep trying. That’s pretty much it.

We'd love to hear what you've been reading, watching, or listening to! Anything good on that TBR? Any recs?