Six Crimson Cranes was a great book and I can't wait to read more by #elizabethlim ✅ Read if you like fairy tale retellings steeped in Asian folklore. I wasn't familiar with The Wild Swans, but the whole book just had a magical feel that brought the fairy tale to life.  ✅ Read if you like magic, dragons, curses, talking paper cranes, and more!  Six Crimson Cranes didn't hold anything back in the mystical department and I loved it.  ✅ Read if you like princesses who go on epic quests and save the day! She put herself through hell to break her family's curse. I loved how weaving became kind of badass, bringing part of her princess life into her quest.  ✅ Read if you like really well written books. The first page had me hooked, which doesn't happen often. Also, check out that gorgeous map!  ❌ Don't read if you like the happy Disney version of fairy tales instead of the darker originals. The main character couldn't speak for most of the book so she couldn't really defend herself when people treated her horribly. Which happened all the time.  ❌ Don't read if you're looking for an intense romance. This has a slow burn romance as a subplot, but it's not resolved by the end.  ❌ Don't read if you want a complete story in one book. The main conflict was resolved, so there wasn't really a huge cliffhanger, but it's definitely set up for a second book. I was a bit unsatisfied with the ending so I'll have to reread it when the next one comes out. I bet they flow well as one story! ❌ Don't read if you prefer logic and not a girl wearing a bowl on her head for most of the story….  I know it's a fairy tale and this was her curse…..but really?  A bowl?  It kind of snapped me out of the story whenever it was brought up because of how weird it was to picture.  #sixcrimsoncranes #fantasybooks #fairytale #fairytaleretelling #yafantasy #bookstagram #amreading

I played a new game tonight that kind of broke my brain lol it's called #cascadia Basically, you get points depending on where you place animals and on groups of similar habitats. My problem was it almost impossible for me to not match the habitats up! Put a prairie up against a forest? Not on my watch! It got to the point where I was placing tiles based on how asthetically pleasing they were instead of how many points they would give me lol it was ridiculous. Speaking of ridiculous, why are so many fish hanging out in the prairies? I had to start making stories up like maybe a bear carried that fish from the river to the mountain. Then I could play it lol The last picture is my friend's crazy map where nothing lines up. She definitely won though! Can't wait to play again. Maybe next time I'll play more wildly.... #boardgames #boardgamenight

It's Trivia Tuesday! Who is the god of war? Bonus question: who is the goddess of war? Leave your answers in the comments below 👇 #greekmythology #triviatuesday #mythologytrivia #mythology #godofwar

Greek mythology has multiple origin myths, but one involves a giant snake wrapped around an egg. Which sounds kind of terrifying, but hey, mythology! In that origin myth, Phanes, the god of creation, hatched from a world egg that was filled with a primordial mix of elements that became other gods as well. He was a golden-winged god, adding to the resemblance of birds hatching from eggs, and represented reproduction in the world. It's not the most common Greek origin myth, but world eggs can be seen across various mythologies. Which is always neat to see and compare. What's your favorite origin myth? It could be from books, TV shows, or actual mythologies. Share your favorite world's origin so we can see what other interesting origins are out there. #greekmythology #mythologymonday #mythology #worldegg #originmyth

#thattimeigotdrunkandsavedademon was so much fun to read and I can't wait for more! ✅ Read if you like whimsical, laugh out loud ridiculous, and over the top adventure stories. The main character is a spice seller named Cinnamon and her best friend's name is Brie. She sells cheese. You get the drift lol ✅ Read if you like dangerous, smug, and powerful heroes who would kill an entire village to protect you, but also sweetly tuck you into bed. ✅ Read if you like heroines who don't need a man to save them! Cinnamon is no slouch in the badass department. ✅ Read if you like a diverse cast of characters. That counts for species too since there's everything from snake-men to wolf-men here. ❌ Don't read if swearing bothers you. Most pages have at least three swears, sometimes all in one sentence lol ❌ Don't read if you like long books. This one is only 200 pages sadly. It was so fast paced and fun that I'm craving more in the series. ❌ Don't read if fairly descriptive sex scenes aren't your thing. Those scenes were good steamy fun, but definitely not for everyone. ❌ Don't read if incredibly modern sounding phrases in an old time fantasy world are going to break your brain. That's kind of a love it or hate it part of the book. I personally loved it. If you've read it, what did you think? If not, what are you reading instead? #amreading #fantasybooks #bookstagram #kimberlylemming

Carcassonne is a tile laying game that can be as relaxing or cutthroat as you want. It's a classic and probably my most played game over the years. 🎲 Players draw a tile and place it, creating a medieval themed map. Points are scored by creating and claiming cities, roads, monestaries, or farms. ✅ Play if you love simple games that can also have deep strategies. There's more to the game than just placing a tile. Deciding where you place it is where the strategy aspect comes in. ✅ Play if you love tile laying games that let you make a really impressive map with crazy shaped cities. I've made a few silly roundabout roads too lol ✅ Play if you like a short setup time. Since you're building the board as you play, you pretty much just hand out the player meeples and start playing. ✅ Play if you love lots of possible expansions and different themes. This game has a bit of everything. I always play with the Traders and Builders expansion and the Inns and Cathedrals expansion. I often use The Phantom and The River as well. ❌ Don't play if you dislike luck in your games. Since you draw a random tile each turn, you might never draw what you're looking for. It's rare for a tile to be bad, it just might not be what you want. ❌ Don't play if long end game scoring drives you crazy. At the end, you score all unfinished features as well as some very confusing, but powerful, farmers. Those farmers can swing the game in somebody else's favor easily and are often overlooked. ❌ Don't play if somebody sneaking into your city that you've spent the whole game building and taking your points will really upset you. Some players never do this, but other players do it all the time. You can usually see it coming though and can sometimes prevent it. If you've played Carcassonne before, what did you think of it? What's your favorite tile laying game? #boardgames #tilelayinggames #carcassonne #boardgamenight

It's Trivia Tuesday! Who are Zeus' two brothers? Bonus question: who are his two sisters? Hint: one of them is also his wife.... Leave your answers in the comments below 👇 #greekmythology #mythology #mythologytrivia #triviatuesday #zeus

Ambrosia is the food and/or drink of the gods. It's often linked with nectar, which served the same purpose. The sweet, honey-like substance was said to grant immortality and longevity. Something we'd all want some of if it existed. So where did it come from? Sadly the myths don't say, just that doves delivered it to Olympus each day. Since it's basically honey, maybe the bees made it! I am curious what would happen if the gods stopped eating ambrosia. Do you think they'd become mortal? Or would they fall into a deathless sleep? I guess we'll never know... #greekmythology #mythologymonday #mythology #ambrosia #honey

Crescent City isn't a perfect book, but it was the most emotional story I've read in years. It's hard to describe it without spoilers, but it definitely packs a punch and I loved it! ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ✅ Read if you like badass heroines, powerful friendships, and intense endings that make a ridiculously long book worth it. ✅ Read if you like urban fantasy, angels, demons, fae, mermaids, werewolves, and a sizzling romance! ❌ Don't read if you prefer short books. This one is over 800 pages and kind of hurts your wrists after reading for too long lol ❌ Don't read unless you enjoy huge, giant, mind-blowing reveals that change the entire book. I literally had to set the book aside for a bit and ask somebody WTF just happened.... ❌ Don't read if you'll be annoyed by all the confusing names thrown at you in the beginning. It definitely took a while to sort everything out with the worldbuilding. ⚠️ Crescent City contains a lot of drug use, slavery, speciesism, sex, blood and gore, and a war on humans. That last part isn't actually shown very much since none of the main characters are human, but the tone is that humans are inferior to everyone else. If you've read it, what did you think? Did you love it or was it kind of meh? #crescentcity #sarahjmaas #amreading #urbanfantasy #bookstagram #fantasyfridays #fantasybooks

Ticket to Ride is my favorite train game. This map is of the USA, but there are at least a dozen other countries in the expansions. 🎲 Players use matching colored train cards to make their way from one city to another to complete tickets and score points! ✅ Play if you like trains, short and long term goals that both score points, strategizing the best way to get from one place to another, and easy to learn rules. ❎ Don't play if you will get upset when all your carefully laid plans get foiled by another devious player. Only so many trains can go between two cities and sometimes your path gets blocked. ❎ Don't play if relying on a bit of luck drives you crazy. Sometimes it takes a while to draw the color trains you're looking for, but wild colored trains and tracks help with that. #tickettoride #boardgames #boardgamenight #trains #tickettorideanniversary