Random but notable: It hailed this morning. Emphatically. Hail the size of hominy (smallish hominy, but still).
Relevant to book blogging: The Mermaid, The Witch, And The Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall is an enjoyable YA fantasy (with another very lovely cover, this one illustrated by Victo Ngai). It's set in a world ruled by the expanding Nipran Empire (apparently mostly modeled on historical Japan, although there are some elements that suggest Britain's colonial history). Evelyn Hasegawa is the daughter of noble but indebted parents who learns she has been promised in marriage to an Imperial officer and will be a "coffin girl," sent overseas to a colony with her possessions packed in her own coffin. Flora, or Florian, is a reluctant pirate on the Dove, which books passengers in port only to turn slaver at sea. The first part of the book does a good job of establishing Evelyn and Florian as characters and building their relationship, with Evelyn unaware of the danger she's in. After Flora and Evelyn escape the Dove, the change of setting and storyline at first seems abrupt, but the pieces start to come together as the two learn more about themselves and about those left behind on the Dove. Parts of the final two sections seem rushed, but there is plenty of action and adventure. The book has a unique take on mermaids, and the role of the Sea is well handled.
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