Skip to content

About
Contact

Blog

what.rai.reads

Valour by John Gwynne Book #2 of The Faithful and

Valour by John Gwynne
Book #2 of The Faithful and the Fallen quartet.

Oof. I welled up, ngl. I haven't welled up at a book since the first Wayfarers entry from Becky Chambers and that was back in early 2018. The ending to Valour though, 😿. I am expecting Ruin (book 3) to be even more brutal as I have heard that about it.

These are certainly binge-worthy books. I just want to keep following Ban & co all day, every day.

Oh, Halion. Oh, Maquin. Alcyon, even. Where do your fates take you? Does Veradis come to his damn senses? Does Nathair? Will Fidele find vengeance? I must know!

@john_gwynne_author @the_brothers_gwynne #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #booksta #readingchallenge #bookcommunity #bookworm #booknerd #bibliophile #bookcollector #loveofbooks #bookishcontent #raireadschallenge2021 #MountTBR2021 #valour #johngwynne #thefaithfulandthefallen #teamcorban

Finito. I feel a series binge coming on! I have a

Finito. I feel a series binge coming on! I have a list of characters I want to reach in and slap some sense into; a list I'd like to stab; and a list I want to raise up and protect.

Shan't say too much more because spoilers but some of my guesses were riiiight (in the good, exciting way) 🥳

Image description: Pictures feature a paperback copy of Malice by John Gwynne (@john_gwynne_author); front and back covers, being held in front of some floral curtains.

#bookstagram #booksofinstagram #bookcontent #raireadschallenge2021 #MountTBR2021 #bookishcontent #darkfantasy #fantasy #fantasybooks #johngwynne #malice #backlistbook #fantasybingo #teamban #teamstorm #fucknathair

What adventure should I embark upon next? Help me

What adventure should I embark upon next? Help me choose what to read next from my backlog books.

Head to head vote in Stories.

Round one: Malice by @john_gwynne_author
Vs.
We Are the Dead by @mikeshackle

Round two: The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
Vs.
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Winners of 1 & 2 then go into a 3rd round to decide the victor!

#bookstagram #booksofinstagram #bookcontent #headtohead #fantasybooks #mikeshackle #johngwynne #joeabercrombie #lordgrimdark #scottlynch #vote #tbr #backlog

Lovely package from @queerlituk (that I totally ha

Lovely package from @queerlituk (that I totally had forgotten I'd ordered) containing The Seep and Afterlove.

#readqueerbooks #queerlit #bookpost #bookhaul #bookmail #theseep #afterlove #scifi #ya #transisbeautiful #sapphic #bookishcontent #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookcommunity #readingcommunity #bookworm #booknerd #bibliophile #bookcollector #loveofbooks

Bit of a reading slump recently. Giving this one a

Bit of a reading slump recently. Giving this one a go to see if I can break out of it.

Secondhand #bookhaul from both @astleybookfarm and

Secondhand #bookhaul from both @astleybookfarm and @worldofbooksltd bought over the last few weeks and saved up to build a nice little stack.

I think I might challenge myself to get all of The Expanse secondhand as that's how I've acquired the first two installments.

Have you read any of these?

Pictured:
The Shadow Friend
Consider Phlebas
Trans Mission
Caliban's War
The Lies of Locke Lamora
Red Seas Under Red Skies

#bookpost #bookstack #bookishcontent #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookcommunity #readingcommunity #bookworm #booknerd #bibliophile #bookcollector #loveofbooks #secondhandbooks #prelovedbooks #usedbooks

Mini bit of #bookmail with The Bone Shard Daughter

Mini bit of #bookmail with The Bone Shard Daughter and Akata Witch, the latter of which I'm hoping to read for FIF's June pick, plus it'll tick off another bingo square in Fantasy Bingo!

I love the colours on The Bone Shard Daughter's cover and the design in general is brilliant.

I prefer other covers of Akata Witch but this is the only one I could get. I generally don't like faces or people on covers, that's why.

Excited to read both!

#bookstagram #booksofinstagram #bookpost #bookmail #bookishcontent #readingchallenge #raireadschallenge2021 #fantasybooks #fantasybingo #akatawitch #thebonesharddaughter

Time to adjust that challenge total? 🤔😅 #ra

Time to adjust that challenge total? 🤔😅

#raireadschallenge2021

May Wrapup I read 5 books in May (two were ebooks

May Wrapup

I read 5 books in May (two were ebooks) and all were either 4 or 5 stars! These have taken me up to 29 books read this year.

(In reading order)
She Who Became the Sun - Shelley Parker-Chan
To Be Taught if Fortunate - Becky Chambers
The Shadow of the Gods - John Gwynne
A Closed and Common Orbit - Becky Chambers
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars - Christopher Paolini

@john_gwynne_author @christopher_paolini #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #bookishcontent #wrapup #readingcommunity #bookworm #booknerd #bibliophile #bookcollector #loveofbooks #readingchallenge #raireadschallenge2021 #MountTBR2021

Today, with a day off work, we went to @astleybook

Today, with a day off work, we went to @astleybookfarm! There's a lot lot lot of books here! My OH picked up some oldies from the 10 Bob Barn (50p a book) and I found two in the main shop.

We also had lunch sat outside surrounded by lots of house sparrows.

If you're in the Midlands areas, look it up!

Books pictured:
God Emperor of Dune (Frank Herbert)
From Russia With Love (Ian Fleming)
Goldfinger (Ian Fleming)
Red Seas Under Red Skies (Scott Lynch)
TransMission (Alex Bertie)

#bookstagram #booksofinstagram #booksta #bookishcontent #bookshop #bookfarm #bookhaul #secondhandbooks #Warwickshire #astley

BOOKMAIL ALERT Another delightful package from @

BOOKMAIL ALERT

Another delightful package from @thebrokennbinding, this time with The Blacktongue Thief by @buehlmeister, which I pre-ordered a while ago.

The blurb sounds right up my street and while I haven't read Mr. Buehlman before I am really looking forward to this. Not to mention, check out that awesome cover art!

#bookstagram #booksofinstagram #bookmail #bookpost #bookhaul #bookish #bookishcontent #fantasybooks #theblacktonguethief #newbook

It's arrived! The new book from @john_gwynne_auth

It's arrived!

The new book from @john_gwynne_author, signed and gloriously presented by @thebrokennbinding (love the green/black combo!). Bonus shot of @noomi_cat_uk enjoying the ribbon after I unwrapped this beauty.

Check out The Broken Binding: for all your - and your cat's - entertainment needs 😸

[Not a paid promotion, I'm just being silly!]

#bookmail #bookpost #bookhaul #bookish #bookishcontent #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookcommunity #readingcommunity #bookworm #booknerd #bibliophile #bookcollector #loveofbooks #hardback #newbook #dragons #fantasy #art #catsofinstagram #bookishcat

Weekly Update Let's try a new thing, shall we? I'

Weekly Update

Let's try a new thing, shall we? I'm never good at remembering to do monthly wrap up posts for IG, so how about weekly?

This week I finished both She Who Became the Sun (eARC) and To Be Taught if Fortunate. I gave them both 4 stars though I personally enjoyed the Becky Chambers offering a little more. Both had some queer representation in them though that wasn't my reason for reading them.

She Who Became the Sun is an alt-history, military style fantasy (that is very light on the fantasy elements). Not 100% my thing but I can appreciate a good book when I see one.

To Be Taught... is a sci-fi novella about a crew sent out to survey distant planets. There is a heavy found family vibe and a lot of simply joy too.

#weeklyupdate #readingupdate #raireadschallenge2021 #MountTBR2021 #bookishcontent #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookcommunity #readingcommunity #bookworm #booknerd #bibliophile #bookcollector #loveofbooks #4stars #scifi #fantasy #beckychambers #shelleyparkerchan

Think we're going to have to up that goal soon! 😲

#raireadschallenge2021 #goodreads #goodreadschallenge2021

A little #bookmail of Michael Crichton's Jurassic

A little #bookmail of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park and The Lost World. These came as a duo for not much more than the cost of one so I got both.

I have never read any Crichton but felt like hopping on @zepp1978's readalong when it comes to JP and Sphere (still en route) so I bought some copies.

Have you read any Crichton? What do you recommend?

#bookstagram #booksofinstagram #michaelcrichton #jurassicpark #bookishcontent #sphere #mcrichton #bookpost #bookhaul #newbook #paperback

Now & Last Plain Bad Heroines #CurrentlyReading

Now & Last

Plain Bad Heroines #CurrentlyReading
This is How You Lose the Time War #justfinished and a 5 star read

#bookstagram #booksofinstagram #bookishcontent #plainbadheroines #emilymdanforth #thisishowyoulosethetimewar #maxgladstone #amalelmohtar

April TBR Ideas Some books I'm thinking of readin

April TBR Ideas

Some books I'm thinking of reading during April, featuring:

Leviathan Wakes
Mother of Invention
Alien and Philosophy
Plain Bad Heroines

I'm also considering Hyperion and currently awaiting its delivery in the post.

I've started Leviathan Wakes already, read one story from Mother of Invention and two essays from Alien and Philosophy!

I'll be writing an essay about Ripley from the Alien films during April & May so that's pretty exciting!

I thought I needed a break from sci-fi after Dune but it turns out I just wanted MORE! 😅

[Image descriptions: image 1 shows the four mentioned books stacked on a garden chair with a fence in the background. Image 2 shows the same bookstack from a higher angle to show some yellow wallflowers behind. Image 3 is a close up of 3 daffodils in flower with a white wall and window visible in the background]

#bookstagram #booksofinstagram #bookstack #bookishcontent #tbr #april #spring #daffodils #wallflowers #sunshine #scifi #theexpanse #leviathanwakes #plainbadheroines #motherofinvention #alien #ripley #horror #spaceopera #hardback #paperback

March #Wrapup: Books 14-16 🏞 The House in the

March #Wrapup:
Books 14-16

🏞 The House in the Cerulean Sea - 5 stars
🔫 The Dispatcher - 3.5 stars
🌪 Dune - 4 stars

A bit of a slower month but nevertheless have passed the half-way point for my target number of books this year (30). Might have to up it to 52 over summer if I keep up this pace!

What did you read in March? What are your hopes for April & beyond?

#bookstagram #booksofinstagram #raireadschallenge2021 #MountTBR2021 #bookishcontent #readingchallenge #goodreads #readingcommunity #loveofbooks #booksta #bookcommunity #dune #arrakis #fantasy #fantasybooks #frankherbert #scifi #johnscalzi #tjklune #thehouseintheceruleansea #thedispatcher #audiobook #libby #librarybook #paperback #classicscifi

For International Trans Day of Visibility here are

For International Trans Day of Visibility here are a few books to help widen your knowledge of trans and non-binary lives.

Beyond the Gender Binary - @alokvmenon
Non-Binary Lives - Twist et al
The Emergence of Trans - Pearce et al
Transgender History - Stryker
Trans Britain - Burns

Also, not pictured, I'd recommend Trans Like Me by CN Lester.

Cute pride froggie stickers from @sofftpunk

[Image description: a stack of the 5 named books on a purple fabric background. Two stickers propped against the books feature cartoon frogs flying pride flags. One flies the trans flag, one flies the non-binary flag.]

#TDOV2021 #TDOV #trans #nonbinary #transrights #bookishcontent #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookcommunity #readingcommunity #bookworm #booknerd #bibliophile #bookcollector #transbooks #enby #transisbeautiful #nonbinarylife

Getting there slowly... #dune #frankherbert #bud

Getting there slowly...

#dune #frankherbert #buddyread

Load More… Follow on Instagram

What I’m Reading

Support This Site

If you like what I do please support me via Ko-fi.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Scratchpad by Automattic.