June’s Nerdette Book Club pick is The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty! It is the first of a new trilogy about pirates, magic, and mystical artifacts. While the book is technically fantasy, it is also deeply grounded in the history of the Crusades.

Amina al-Sirafi left her life as a pirate to live peacefully with her daughter and observe her Muslim faith. When a wealthy stranger offers her one last job, she has no choice but to return to the high seas. What begins as a quest to find the lost daughter of her former crewmate turns into a more complicated assignment than she ever could have imagined.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi is Shannon Chakraborty’s 5th book. She joined us for this spoiler-free conversation about mixing fantasy and history, middle-aged protagonists, and her pandemic writing process.

We will be back for a panel discussion on the last Tuesday of June! Read along with us, then send us a voice memo with your thoughts. You can send the file to NerdettePodcast at Gmail dot com. We can’t wait to hear from you!