Book Club

[Profs and Pints Northern Virginia](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“Terrors of Irish Fairylore,”** an introduction to Ireland’s strange and unsettling folkloric “Good People,” with Brittany Warman, former instructor at Ohio State University, co-founder of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic, and co-author of the new book *Fairylore: A Compendium of the Fae Folk.* [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/nv-irish-fairy-terrors](https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/nv-irish-fairy-terrors) .] Today it is common to think of fairies as small, childlike, sparkly creatures with glittering wings and dresses made from flower petals. But the fae of traditional Irish folklore were no such things. Amoral, capricious, even malicious when they chose to be, the too-frequently forgotten fairies of times long past would, more often than not, haunt nightmares. Join Brittany Warman, a folklorist who has earned a devoted following among Profs and Pints fans, as she explores the darker side of Irish fairylore. The figures she'll discuss include: The Leanan-Sidhe, a vampiric fairy who gives artistic inspiration in exchange for your mortal spirit. The Dullahan, a fairy with a human spine for a whip and a habit of hurtling across fields in a death coach made from human skin. The Banshee, a mournful fairy whose cry signals a death in the family to which she's attached herself. Dr. Warman also will examine the surprising impact of fairy folklore on two classics of Irish Gothic literature, Oscar Wilde's *The Picture of Dorian Gray* and Bram Stoker's *Dracula.* It’s a talk that will remind you that the relationship between the Irish and the spooky stretches well beyond Halloween. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: “The Banshee Appears,” an 1862 illustration by Robert Prowse (Wicklow Heritage / Public domain).

Join us for a thought-provoking conversation as we discuss ***Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It* by Cory Doctorow** Here's the summary: **Explaining the process of the “enshittification” of digital platforms over time and what to do about it.** Cory Doctorow's *Enshittification* takes a witty yet incisive look at the tech landscape, where platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Google start off great—before they inevitably turn terrible. In this contemporary moment of digital decline, Doctorow explores how tech giants lure users in with convenience and then degrade their services over time, squeezing profit at the cost of user experience. With a mix of sharp humor and deep insight, he unveils the slow creep of "enshittification," turning the online world into a worse place, one algorithm at a time. **Let’s meet at Caboose Commons in Fairfax to enjoy some good discussion and meet new friends.**

Join our partners Watermark Woods Native Plants, Loudoun County Public Library (LCPL), and Birch Tree Bookstore for the Read! Plant! Grow! Book Club, which focuses on native plants, sponsored by Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and LCPL. At this meeting we’ll discuss the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Both memoir and journalistic investigation, this book explores how the Kingsolver family took on a new challenge: to spend a year on a locally -produced diet, paying close attention to the provenance of all they consume. Concerned about the environmental, social, and physical costs of American food culture, they hoped to recover what Kingsolver considers our nation’’s lost appreciation for farms and the natural processes of food production. You can either buy the book from Birch Tree Bookstore or contact Allison Forbes at [Allison.forbes@loudoun.gov](mailto:Allison.forbes@loudoun.gov) to borrow a copy of the book at the library. There are two ways to participate: attend the event online via the library website or [sign up to participate in person at Birch Tree Bookstore](https://www.birchtreebookstore.com/event-details/read-plant-grow-2026-02-24-18-30). ***Questions:*** *Contact [info@loudounwildlife.org](mailto:info@loudounwildlife.org)*.

Please join us as we discuss **SOMEONE YOU CAN BUILD A NEST IN**, by John Wiswell. This queer romance novel won the Nebula and Locus Awards and was a Hugo nominee, and is a relatively short read, at about 363 pages. Please keep your RSVP updated and accurate! Space is limited for this event. We are intentionally holding some RSVP slots for new members specifically, so if you’re new and the event is full, please get on the waitlist ASAP! You may bring your own food/drinks (no alcohol, please) or you may pick something up in Mosaic or at the farmers market before the meetup. We do ask that you pack your trash out with you. * **[KINDLE](https://a.co/d/52iAE17)** * **[PAPERBACK](https://a.co/d/hYo70W5)** * **[AUDIBLE](https://www.audible.com/pd/Someone-You-Can-Build-a-Nest-In-Audiobook/B0CX7C9FQM)** **BOOK DESCRIPTION:** ***Shesheshen has made a mistake fatal to all monsters: she's fallen in love.*** Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by impolite monster hunters, she constructs a body from the remains of past meals: a metal chain for a backbone, borrowed bones for limbs, and a bear trap as an extra mouth. Badly hurt by the hunters, Shesheshen’s nursed back to health by Homily, a warm-hearted human. Homily is kind and would make a great co-parent: an ideal place to lay Shesheshen’s eggs so their young can devour Homily from the inside out. But as they grow close, Shesheshen realizes that eating her girlfriend isn’t an option. Just as Shesheshen’s about to confess her identity, Homily reveals something else: she’s hunting a shapeshifting monster that supposedly cursed her family. Has Shesheshen seen it anywhere? Shesheshen didn’t curse anyone, so now she has to figure out why Homily’s twisted family thinks she did. As Shesheshen’s hunt for the monster becomes increasingly deadly, the bigger challenge remains: learning how to build a life with, rather than in, the woman she loves. *\*Since missing one of these meetups is taking a spot away from someone else who wants to go, we'll need to have a stricter attendance policy than normal. For book discussions, 3 no-shows in a rolling 3-month period will prohibit you from attending any other book discussion for 2 months after your last no-show. In order to avoid a no-show, please update your RSVP no later than 10pm two nights before a discussion. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation! If you need to drop off because of Covid symptoms or exposure or a positive test or any other illness, there will be no penalty to no-showing or dropping late.*