Eyoo, gonna try my luck here. I love high fantasy epics that are a nice balance between plot- and character-driven (I love getting attached to characters, but I also want to be engulfed in fantastic worldbuilding). Now I'm leaning more towards queer high fantasy epics which is just chef's kiss, I'm reading N. K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season right now.

But I was wondering for some time if there any fantasy books (stand-alones, series, etc) where much of the focus is put on the common folk like peasants etc.? I'm not looking for comfort and cozy only like Legends and Lattes, like there can be a huge plot (Chosen One, evil overlord, a brewing revolution against a tyrant, etc.) but it plays in the background because the story mostly focuses on the common folk. You can recognize the main plot because it's slowly affecting the lives of the peasants (child soldier recruitment, increased surveillance, investigations for rebels, cycle of paranoia, classism, etc.). Like just reading about a poor farmer or maid trying to survive a world that's turning into hell, and how their community combats it in their own way.

I'm an angst-lover, but I also really like that combined with the comfort of a community or found family.

Here are the vibes I can describe to get my meaning across:

• The Lord of the Rings, "Concerning Hobbits" chapter -> basically Bilbo describing wtf hobbits are and how they have such cozy vibes; also the Sacking of the Shire
• The first chapters in the Eragon series where it takes place in Eragon's home village (starting normal to villagers sensing some suspicious stuff happening)
• Essun's introduction in The Fifth Season... no more words needed
• In MDZS (Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation) Wei Wuxian watching a group of kids act out an historical event he was part of.
• Weirdly enough, that one scene from Emil from Lönnaberga, when kid Emil drives a horse cart through the blizzard all by himself to bring Alfred to a doctor

I'm weaning off white, middle-aged fantasy authors, so the more diverse the better! BIPOC cast, queer cast, inspirations from different cultures, disabilities, etc.

No romantasy - it's not my genre, and I'd rather have romance at the sidelines than as a main focus.

This seems a little too specific, but that might be because one of my writing projects kinda falls into these types of books and I'm so curious to see whether it's been written already.

Thank you so much!! ✨

EDIT: For funsies, here are some songs that describes the vibes I'm looking for:

• Árboles Bajo El Mar (Black Panther:Wakanda Forever, Vivi Quintana)
• I Lied to You (Sinners, Miles Caton)
• Wu Ji (The Untamed or Chén Qíng Lìng instrumental version)
• Krigsgaldr (Heilung)
• Helvegen & Lyfjaberg (Wardruna)
• The Old Ways (Loreena McKennitt)

Guys, it lost me. I am currently feeling so disengaged now. I kind of know why it lost me, but I am still surprised it was enough to knock me out of the book. I was devouring this but now I feel soo meh about it. I will finish it since I have around 40 pages left. I was hoping to have a better experience

Does anyone else feel like their opinions on books are less valid/relevant because they don't have as many critique points or don't pick up on as many things? Because I'm very much a vibes gal and while I sometimes notice that a certain writing style or excessive use of stylistic devices is bothering me, or that I dislike the main character or, more often, like the atmosphere an author creates, I usually like most books I read for what they make me feel, if they do make me feel something which is like 90% of books. And while I love some books a lot more than others, I usually can't really tell why, at least not without thinking about it. Like I usually don't pick up on style elements while reading, I just like it. And I sometimes feel like that makes my opinions less valid because oftentimes I like a book and then I read people's reviews where they point out a bunch of things that bothered them or how they hate the way a certain topic is explored, and then I have to rethink my entire opinion on the book 😭😅 A good example could be "A Little Life," I read it because of the hype obviously and I knew it to be a tearjerker, and I sobbed the whole time, I felt so much with all the characters and it really broke me, and then I read a lot of reviews that tore the book apart, saying how it's just misery p*rn and how it's a terrible story and so illogical and far fetched, and that also rang true. And that changed my mind about the whole book.

The additional male narrator is so jarring and unnecessary.

Okay so if there was a dating profile that just featured book taste- which books would you consider green flags and which would you consider red flags?

Hey, cats. I hope everyone is well and safe this weekend.

I've been learning Icelandic and I have to do it mostly via books (I don't live there). My initial focus was on a lot of vocabulary, which I think was a good place to start. Now I'm trying to turn my focus to making sure I get the grammatical aspects right. What is difficult, for me, is that the language has four cases (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive) and words decline by case. Even names do this. Word also change form based on gender or singular or plural. The definite articles provides other forms, again changing depending on whether singular or plural. Certain prepositions require certain cases, and so on. All of which is only to say there is a lot of material.

Because of the breadth of material, I also have a lot of written resources. However, it is almost like I have too many resources. I hop around between them at times and at other times debate which source or subject matter to tackle next.

So the questions I have are:

Q: For those of you who have studied language via books (this is my first time), did you have an overall structure that seemed to work well for you? Did you use a bunch of different sources or just pick one or maybe two and stick with those? How did you approach memorizing the complexities of the new language?

Q: Are any of you aware of books that are not directed to teaching a specific language but are instead about how to learn a language (strategies, tips, and the like)?

Takk fyrir! (thank you)

Jezal is bored waiting for the open counsel to start and I'm bored reading it. This.... gets better, right?

it’s an avid reader, i tend to get asked what my favorite “genre” of book is (and i find this very hard to answer as i am somewhat of a mood reader). but at the end of the day, there are two genre’s that i will always go back to (and they are opposite of each other, hence the dichotomy part): hockey romance – specifically helena hunting – and historical (contemporary) fiction (taylor jenkins reid, kristin hannah)

with that being said, what is everyone’s “genre dichotomy”?

Hey, cats. I hope everyone is well and safe this weekend.

I've been learning Icelandic and I have to do it mostly via books (I don't live there). My initial focus was on a lot of vocabulary, which I think was a good place to start. Now I'm trying to turn my focus to making sure I get the grammatical aspects right. What is difficult, for me, is that the language has four cases (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive) and words decline by case. Even names do this. Word also change form based on gender or singular or plural. The definite articles provides other forms, again changing depending on whether singular or plural. Certain prepositions require certain cases, and so on. All of which is only to say there is a lot of material.

Because of the breadth of material, I also have a lot of written resources. However, it is almost like I have too many resources. I hop around between them at times and at other times debate which source or subject matter to tackle next.

So the questions I have are:

Q: For those of you who have studied language via books (this is my first time), did you have an overall structure that seemed to work well for you? Did you use a bunch of different sources or just pick one or maybe two and stick with those? How did you approach memorizing the complexities of the new language?

Q: Are any of you aware of books that are not directed to teaching a specific language but are instead about how to learn a language (strategies, tips, and the like)?

Takk fyrir! (thank you)

Give me a book character and I’ll serve them a drink!

Before I can give them their order I need to know:

🤎 The character’s name 🤎 The book they’re from 🤎 A brief character description

☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️

Hey everyone! I somewhat recently found the love for audiobooks since I can’t stay alone with my own thoughts - I listen while cleaning, cooking, driving and even to fall asleep. I try to listen to a different book that I am reading on my ereader to make them last longer ahaha

But here comes the problem: I’m from Europe so I don’t have access to Libby, and I didn’t found any somewhat affordable way to listen to them. So I fell into the evil hands of Audible. But since we only get 1 credit per month I am always anxious to pick just one - what if it sucks? I wasted the credit! So I always end up listening to the ones that are included in the membership and now I have 3 credits to spend 😮‍💨 Am I the only one like this? And does anyone have recommendations? I prefer romances and no high fantasy since I tend to lose myself 😂