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Julie | Books and Boardgame Recommendations

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Hello, new friends! 👋

Maybe you found me through my Gen Con posts, maybe Instagram dropped one of my book reviews into your feed, or maybe you arrived here through the algorithm. Either way, welcome. I’m Julia, and this account is where I talk about the books, boardgames, audiobooks, and conventions I attend.

I hope this account helps you discover a new favorite, gives you someone to compare opinions with, and feels like a welcoming place to talk about the hobbies we love.

📖♟️Which books or games from this post do you love too? What belongs on the list that I missed?

#bookstagram
#boardgamegeek
#instagramfollowers
#under1k
#followforfollow by @books.boardgames

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2 months ago

Since there are a few new faces here — Hi! I’m Julie or Julia or even Julia_Gulia— and this is the easiest way to figure out if we’re going to be internet friends. ✨🫶

This is my Meet Me in 5: the books, games, shows, hobbies, and little obsessions that explain a lot about me very quickly.

📚 5 Books
I love big world-building, strong female leads who do not need anyone to save them, and stories that fully pull me in. Bonus points if I’m still thinking about the characters weeks later.

🎲 5 Board Games
Give me table interaction, deep strategy, negotiation, shopping, planning, and moves in counter-moves.

🎧 5 Audiobooks
Some books are good. Some audiobooks become an entire experience because the narrator and characters live in your brain now. These are those.

📺 5 Movies/TV
These are the ones I can lose a couple hours to very easily. Comfort watches, dramatic spirals, big feelings, and “just one more episode” energy.

🎮 5 Video Games
I do not play video games as often as I’d like, but when I love one, I really love it. Give me memorable stories, nostalgia, great gameplay, and a world I want to revisit.

💛 5 Hobbies
My personality is basically 50% quiet social battery recovery and 50% doing too much. Books, board games, curling, DIY, travel — apparently I contain multitudes and also need a nap.

If we have similar taste, we should probably be internet friends. Tell me which slide gave you the biggest “same” moment. 👀✨ by @books.boardgames

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4 months ago

Games that ...👈🏻
Taking a book trend and converting it to books 😆
There are so many more games than books that exceed my expectations. Maybe it's just that I love love love board games 💛 and itd so much easier to be presently surprised by them.

While games that met my expectations, those are still pretty awesome games I highly recommend.

Did we have similar experiences? Did you like a game on my did not meet list? What games are you looking forward to trying? by @books.boardgames

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6 months ago

This month’s #boardsandbooks prompt is “When the sun goes down” -- pulled from Boardtober 2026 by @getintogames and hosted by @nane_spielt_in_ffm . I was a little stumped by this one at first. I wanted to lean into the Halloween theme but those didn't seem to and then I remembered two favorites already sitting in my boardgame and book collection and got immediately excited to share them.

OLIVER TWIST 2-4P👥 45 🕛 Set Collection🃏
SHADOW AND BONE 416 pages 📖 9h 21min🕛

For the boardgame, I picked Oliver Twist. I bought it on a whim because of the low price point and I already had a soft spot for Oliver! after being in a production when I was younger. I expected a cheap game based on the price. What I got was a well-produced, cute filler that makes it to the table time and time again because it requires almost no preparation.

The game has a double-sided board: day on one side and night on the other. During the day you’re picking pockets, and once night falls, the rules shift and you start breaking into houses. You’re set collecting stolen goods to bring back to Fagin for the most money, aka victory points. It plays 2–4 players in about 45 minutes, and it’s an easy teach that works really well with both newer and experienced players.

For the book, I paired it with Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. Ravka is divided by the Shadow Fold, a vast stretch of supernatural darkness filled with monsters, and Alina Starkov discovers a power that could be the key to destroying it and reconnecting the country.

I also have the collector’s edition, which makes this one feel a little extra special. My copy is signed for me and it’s one of those editions that just feels great in your hands while you’re reading.

The theme one is waiting for nightfall so you can burgle houses and the other has an entire country desperately trying to get rid of the darkness.

Both are just darlings in my collection.

#boardsandbooks #Boardgames #Books #OliverTwist ShadowAndBone by @books.boardgames

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14 hours ago

I need to phone 📞 a friend here because we’re getting into the last hours of these campaigns and I still haven’t decided what to do. 😅

I got to play Arctica, and I genuinely did not expect to like it as much as I did. It clicked with me immediately, and the earth/nature theme is probably a better fit for my group too.

Then there’s Excursions. I already love Galactic Cruise, so I really want to like this one. I tried to get into demos at both Gen Con and Origins, but the slots were always full, so I still haven’t actually played it. Being able to play with more than four people is also a real advantage for my group.
The problem is that the two feel similar enough mechanically that backing both may be hard for me to justify.

If you’ve played both, do they feel different enough that you’d want both in your collection?

#Boardgames #BoardGameCommunity #BoardGameCrowdfunding #Arctica #Excursions

Which do I back? by @books.boardgames

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3 days ago

🐉 Happy Threshing Week!

Rebecca Yarros gave us Threshing Day yesterday, a collection of short stories set in the Fourth Wing universe. And now she's counting down to actual Threshing Day, Oct 1.

So, while we wait, I've put together some book recommendations based on what you loved most about Fourth Wing.

🐉 Here for the dragons, deadly politics, and epic fantasy? I've got you.

🌶️ Here for the romantic tension and spice? Oh, I've got you too.

Swipe through and pick your next obsession.

What book would you recommend to someone who loved Fourth Wing?

#FourthWing #ThreshingDay #Romantasy #FantasyBooks #BookRecommendations by @books.boardgames

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16 days ago

📚 My remaining 2026 reading plans have encountered a scheduling problem: publishers keep releasing books I want.

These are the books I’ve been waiting very impatiently for, and somehow the list just keeps getting longer.

I still haven’t gotten to the early September releases yet, so I’m officially behind before fall reading has even really gotten going.

Where should I start? 👀
And what am I missing from your fall release list? 📝 by @books.boardgames

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22 days ago

This month’s #boardsandbooks theme is SURVIVAL, chosen by @nane_spielt_in_ffm, and this one was a ton of fun for me. 📚🎲

🎲 For the Boardgame, I went all the way back to HeroQuest, my gateway game into loving Boardgames. I found my copy in the clearance aisle when I was a kid, and it was my first real taste of dungeon crawling: exploring rooms, fighting monsters, collecting loot, and trying to survive long enough to finish the quest.

I’ve recently bought The Crypt of Perpetual Darkness, an expansion designed by actor Joe Manganiello, so apparently HeroQuest is mainstream and cool now. Sure sure. I was just ahead of the curve. 😂

📚 And obviously I had to pair it with my favorite dungeon-crawling duo: Carl and Princess Donut from Dungeon Crawler Carl. Carl is a Coast Guard vet, and Donut is his ex-girlfriend’s cat who very much knows she is a princess. Together, they’re dumped into a deadly, ridiculous dungeon and have to keep surviving level after level.

I love this series because underneath all the ridiculousness, violence, and laugh-out-loud chaos is a surprisingly powerful story about friendship and survival. Carl and Donut becoming best friends through all of it is easily one of my favorite parts. Somehow a man and a cat fighting their way through the apocalypse has made me laugh, cheer, and care way more than I expected. 😂❤️

Have you played HeroQuest or read Dungeon Crawler Carl? Which dungeon would you rather try to survive? 🎲📚

#dungroncrawler
#booksandboardgames
#youwillnotbreakme
#HeroQuest by @books.boardgames

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2 months ago

TRESS OF THE EMERALD SEA
When someone asks where to start with reading author Brandon Sanderson, I always recommend Tress. It's a standalone book the author wrote for his wife. For those who love retellings this is a re-envisioning of PRINCESS BRIDE

It is about a strong female lead who navigates the Cosmere to save the man she loves. The story is a bit slow to start but showcases the Sanderson humor, world building, favorite character Wit gets a large cameo... It's just a fun standalone to start and dip your toes into. No commitment needed.

I personally am a big fan of the Stormlight Archive and recommend jumping into that if you do like Tress.

❓Have you read this book?
❓Do you like Sanderson? What is your favorite?
❓Do you recommend a Sanderson book to start with?

#brandonsanderson #fantasyreader #bestquotes #starthere #bookquotes by @books.boardgames

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2 months ago

More Gen Con recommendations 🎲📚
There are a ton of games on this year's preview list. And it's hard to just pick a few. So I'm sharing a few more games worth checking out.

I don’t usually play many solo games, but a quiet Sunday with no screens, a cozy drink, and a game spread across the table is sounding more appealing by the week. Maybe this is growth. Maybe I’m just tired of notifications.

This batch includes:
🎲 Solo games that might convert me
They look clever, relaxing, and ideal for an afternoon when I want my brain occupied but no other humans involved.

📚 Book-themed games
Put a game near a book, author, or fictional world I already love, and my objectivity leaves the building.

💛 Games I already own or have played and recommend
These came home with me from Essen or arrived through fulfilled Kickstarters, so I can confirm they are more than pretty boxes tempting me from across the Exhibit Hall.

Some are new discoveries, some are already favorites, and all of them earned a place on my Gen Con radar.
Which one would you stop for first?

#GenCon #GenCon2026 #Boardgames #SoloBoardgames #BookishGames by @books.boardgames

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3 months ago

🍩 If Dungeon Crawler Carl was your jam, these are five books I’d put on your next TBR!

DCC is a hard act to follow because it is such a fun and immersive read. It does so many things well: snarky humor, endearing found-family moments, action, and some of my favorite characters of all time! Also, the audiobook is just masterfully narrated--I live for hearing Jeff Hayes say New Achievement!

I'm not someone who is a big Lit RPG reader so this list isn't other lit RPG reads but rather recommendations that have the same vibe as DCC. These are books that hit pieces of the same laugh level, enduring plots and characters, or itched the reader-brain in the same way:
📚 Ready Player One — for game-like challenges, pop-culture chaos, and high-energy quest vibes. This has a party of explorers that have a found family energy.
📚 Off to Be the Wizard — for snarky humor, absurd fantasy and nerd plot lines, and that questing vibe.
📚 Legend — for fast-paced action, high-stakes survival, and underdog hero vibes. I loved these characters almost as much as I do Carl and Donut.
📚 We Are Legion (We Are Bob) — for smart sci-fi fun; the book has that same snarky humor. If you are here for the laughs this might be for you.
📚 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow — for video game obsession, this book gives you the feeling of your youth and has some really enduring moments between the characters that are typically awkward and stand-offish.

🎙️Pro tip for DCC specifically, get the audiobook. Jeff Hays did not narrate that book so much as created the world and we came along to explore it. Off to Be the Wizard is also a particularly well narrated audiobook.

Have you read any of these? Which one would you start with after DCC?

#dungeoncrawlercarl #bookstagram #audiobooks #scifibooks #bookrecommendations by @books.boardgames

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3 months ago

GenCon is close enough that I’ve officially entered map and planning mode. 🎲🗺️

These are the eight games I am most excited to see! Plus two bonus stops I am absolutely making time for:
✨ Entropy
🎸 Rock Hard 1977: Ear Candy
🌊 Prague Unseen
🕯️ The Secrets of Warden Keene
☕ Killing With Kindness
🎨 Pop Art
⚔️ Mistborn: The Well of Ascension
👻 Spooky Bar
I’m also hoping to visit M.L. Wang in Authors Avenue and pick up The Sword of Kaigen and Blood Over Bright Haven. I loved Sword of Kaigen and want a physical book trophy. And her autograph. Here is hoping.

Then I’ll be hunting down the Dungeon Crawler Carl photo opportunities and badge ribbons at Renegade’s booth and game room.

Some of these are demos, some are expansions, and all of them are strong threats to my budget.

Are any of these on your Gen Con list too? What is your number-one game or booth stop? And have you already placed any preorders? 👀

#gencon #boardgames #mlwang #dungeoncrawlercarl #boardgameconventions by @books.boardgames

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3 months ago