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Everything I love in an epic fantasy! Complete complex world, political intrigue, romance, all with an underlying message about essential human nature. 5 🌟 #bigbookreading2023 #52bookclub23 #highfantasy @Clwojick @BookBelle84 @jennifer80 @Librarybelle @triplem80 @AshleyHoss820 @LauraReads @KarenUK @britt_brooke @CarolynM @Smarkies @LeeRHarry @Read4life @Bluebird @squirrelbrain @BarbaraBB @ravenlee @Deblovestoread @batsy @jlhammar

THE LIONS OF AL-RASSAN hit me hard back in 2007 and even harder last week. It concerns itself with a small group of people who manage to create a bubble of beauty and respect amidst the violence and terror that dominate their religiously intolerant land. They know it won‘t last. They do it anyways because what they build is worth fighting for. 4.5 stars

I decided to reread THE LIONS OF AL-RASSAN before I finish the last couple books on La TBR, and this has been an excellent life choice. I last read the book in 2007, so it feels almost entirely new.

#doublespin @TheAromaofBooks
#bookspinbingo
Square 5

Not a bad book. Kay is brilliant, but not the right book for me right now. Maybe one day I'll revisit it

“He opened his arms and she moved into the space they made in the world, and laying her head against his chest she permitted herself the almost unimaginable luxury of grief.”

Gripping alternate history of medieval Iberian peninsula. Good choice for reading over a week or s longer period, as each chapter is meaty and substantial, as you slowly learn characters, their backgrounds, and the conflicts which surround them. Reader beware of some... gruesome depictions of violence, as the horrors of war is one of the messages of the book. (Image is fountain with lions from Granada.)

#recsforbecks !! Check out the AWESOME giveaway by @LiteraryinLititz !! To enter, give a book rec for our sister who‘s joining Litsy, @TheArtsierTheBeckster ~ more details found in the original post!

I recommend the tagged book because it‘s one of my all-time favorites. I‘ve read it many times now and am always swept up in the lyricism and otherworldliness of it, similar to The Alchemist in that sense.
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I admit that keeping the characters straight was a challenge but it was totally worth the effort. This author has a magic pen. Love ❤️ his work.

#weeklyforecast I think I will be able to finish Ask Again Yes on audio this week. I hope to start In Cold Blood as my next audiobook. Don't think I will finish the two physical novels but if I do..fantasy is up next. The Lions of Al-Rassan. #boutofbooks is this week!!

Part two of the thing I did haha some have made it to my shelves temporarily and very unorganized. Still haven't had a chance to get my books unpacked though. 😑

I've been rummaging around my shelves and have finally come up with a book stack for #24in48. I'll be starting in the morning on my own and will have friends join me for the afternoon. The readathon is all I have planned for the weekend and I couldn't be happier. Yay books and snacks and blankets!

I wish there were a rating between pick and so-so. I don't even know how you would describe the genre; it's barely fantasy, it's not exactly alternate history. Anyway, I did enjoy that aspect of the book. But the ending was a bit anti-climactic, and I have some issues with how he wrote the main female character. I liked Kay's Sarantine Mosaic books better.

One awesome advantage of ereading: the ability to read outside in the dark on a summer night! 🌘✨#summerreading

Book+sun+coffee=ahhhh!! #bookandsun Also, my book is showing all the signs of an impending love triangle ❤️🔼 👍@tiffy_reads

Always fun attempting to read while dodging the Tail Flick. And Maddie is a fidgety one, so she is constantly shifting her position, which is very distracting. But I will persevere!!#catsoflitsy

In my dotage I seem to have become a morning person...who knew? A quiet morning in the garden with my Kindle and a cinnamon dolce and I'm a happy girl 😊

I loved Kay's Sarantium duology, so I'm embarking on this today. Kay is great if you like historical fiction (with a dash of fantasy), in that he sets his books in fictional places and times that are basically real, but with a twist. Al-Rassan is set in a fictional Spain during the time of Moorish rule. Since I am a fairly slow reader, this will probably be my #summerread.

I haven't been reading enough lately, but maybe this broke the streak and got me back into rereading. One of Kay's best, I think: rich and heartbreaking.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ An unorthodox fantasy novel but it made me cry and the writing is beautiful. GGK writes more alternate history than fantasy and this one is about medieval Spain. Highly recommended!

#firstlines #andsoitbegins A buddy read with a friend after this came highly recommended to both of us.

We're doing a writing, reading and walking retreat in England with the dogs. This is where we stay. A converted chicken barn. It's lovely.

#riotgrams day 14 calls for #kissingbooks. Here are some of mine getting comfortable in front of the fireplace. My kindle holds many more titles. Thanks to Smart Bitches podcast, @bookriot and @SarahKat84 for all the recs!

I have quite a few #signed books actually, but my old beat-up used copy of Lions is one of my favourites. In undergrad another Eng class was studying Tigana and Kay came to give a lecture. My class was invited too so obviously I went. I was the odd one out in the signing line, my well-worn Lions among everyone else's brand new Tigana copies :) #readjanuary

Very busy with life stuff but I have made some progress with this amazing book! It's very cinematic and immersive. #fantasy #currentlyreading

I am obscenely excited to be reading another Guy Gavriel Kay book but also am simultaneously dreading the day I'll exhaust his backlist. #book #fantasy #historicalfiction

#favbookishfriendships thought about favorite book friendship and tried to come up with an unusual one and this one sprung to mind. Ammar and Rodrigo, two legendary warriors on opposite sides of a religious war who get a chance to meet and become firm friends on neutral territory. An when the war starts again they are drawn apart despite their bond. A fantastic book, which may have left me a little teary at the end.

I love a book with a map and a cast of characters on the first pages! Really enjoying my first Guy Gavriel Kay book. Historical alternative/fantasy fiction.