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Esther

@thefatgingerreader

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Fantasy reader 📖📚 Tea drinker ☕️🫖
CR 📖 - Blue Sisters and Tempest
Goal for 2026 - 63/50 🎉
StoryGraph and Fable ⬇️

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With some new faces around here I thought it was time for a reintroduction!

Hi! I’m Esther!
I’ve been on bookstagram since December 2024 and I have so much fun sharing my love of books and stories with this gorgeous community.
I currently live in Oxfordshire, UK but I’m going to be moving to North West Wales later this year, which I’m wildly excited about.
I’m 31 and dog mum of (currently) one rescue Pomsky who absolutely rules the house! 🐕 this dog emoji looks exactly like her.
I’m disabled and so can’t work full time but I do bits of administration to pay bills and art and painting for the love of it.
I’m a musician and adore singing.
My brain is a bit spicy and I have adhd and ocd though I thankfully consider myself about 99% recovered from the depression I had for most of my teens and twenties.
If you’re into personalities I’m an Enneagram 4w3 and INFP. If you’re into astrology I’m a Leo sun, Cancer moon, Scorpio rising.
I’m a christian and my faith directs my life.
Fun fact - I once trained as a nail technician and worked as a nail artist and I still have over 300 nail polishes even though I barely ever paint my nails anymore 😂

I adored reading when I was a child, then as I got older I told myself that reading only counted if it’s nonfiction so that for years and years tried to make myself read nonfiction but really struggled with it. Then in 2023 I read a fantasy series that changed my life and brought me back into reading fiction and specifically fantasy again and I haven’t stopped since!!

❓tell me a fun fact about yourself!! by @thefatgingerreader

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a year ago

🖤🌸Dark Floral Spredges🌸🖤

A loooong time ago @avirgoreadsbooks tagged me for a dark floral edges stack and as I’m catching up with challenges I thought this would be a nice one for the turn of the seasons!
Tagging a few to join in if you fancy it, but no pressure :)

My library is soooo close to being finished! We’re working on the last finishing touches and I’m organising my books on shelves today then I should be able to share it with you all!
I’m so excited for it to be done - it’s been a very long and slow process!

We have one of our best friends from Oxford coming to stay with us for the next week which I’m super excited for.

❓ what are you up to this weekend?

#spredges #saturdaystack #sprayededges #bookstack #bookstagram by @thefatgingerreader

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7 days ago

⚔️Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher⚔️

3.75/5🌟

Daggerbound (sequel to Swordheart) took me a lot longer to feel connected to than Swordheart did. For the first 150 pages or so I just wasn’t gripped or wanting to pick it up. But then something clicked and the relationships and characters started to make sense and it was just as compelling as every other T. Kingfisher book I’ve read.
I loved the sweet nature of the relationship between Edmund and The Dervish and it was lovely seeing that blossom, however I would’ve loved it to properly begin a little earlier in the story.
One of the highlights for me was seeing returning characters from other books and the reconnection between two people in particular.
Gnoles continue to be one of my favourite magical creatures and Dog Violet was no exception.

I’m very excited for the third book in the series to come out later this year and to continue to learn more of the sword magic and to see these characters again. by @thefatgingerreader

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7 days ago

🍂 Autumn Woods Stack 🍂

The lovely @aliciathebookdragon tagged me in an autumn woods stack and it seemed perfect for today as it’s the equinox.
I’m not a fan of autumn as my seasonal depression really kicks in, but autumn colours are my fave! I love the deep rich tones and there’s a cozy atmosphere!

Tagging a few to join in with this challenge if you fancy it!

❓ do you have a favourite season? by @thefatgingerreader

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10 days ago

✨Tolkien Tuesday✨

Happy Hobbit day!! I’m an idiot and planned a Tolkien Tuesday post forgetting Hobbit day would fall on the same day so I don’t have a Hobbit day post! Alas and alack!

What I do have is this gorgeous set of all of Tolkien’s poetry with commentary and editing by Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond. These are such gorgeous books and I’ve wanted them for a while but snagged them half price in @harpercollinsuk summer sale which I was pretty chuffed about!!

❓ what are you reading at the moment?

I’m nearly finished with Daggerbound and then I’m torn as to whether I read Stephanie Garber’s new book or an ARC I’ve been sent! by @thefatgingerreader

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11 days ago

🗡️Swordheart by T. Kingfisher🗡️

4.5/5🌟

For the first half of this book it was an easy 5 stars.
Immersive world building, delightful characters, intriguing magic, and swoon-worthy yearning and tension!
As with many T. Kingfisher books, it’s 10% an amazing concept, 85% phenomenal characters, and 5% plot. And I’m absolutely here for that, I adore the characters she writes. However I do have to take away half a star for perhaps 100 pages of plotless filler that the story could easily have done without.
That being said, I still had a fantastic time. I haven’t been so gripped or kicked my feet and giggled so much in a while and I loved it!
Halla gets a special shoutout for being a hilarious, empathetic, beautiful character and I always live for T. Kingfisher’s plus size representation, but Halla be explicitly fat was such a gorgeous thing to read. I don’t know I’ve ever physically seen myself in a character as much as with Halla.

I’m planning on diving straight into Daggerbound and I’m excited to read more of the World of the White Rat and more of these characters. Though I’ll definitely miss Halla and Sarkis. by @thefatgingerreader

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12 days ago

🍳🥞🥣Books For Breakfast🥣🥞🍳

I’m gonna be catching up on all the challenges I’ve been tagged in since November so brace yourselves!!
This is the books for breakfast challenge I was tagged in by the lovely @tbrchronicles and it’s so fun! Tagging a few to join in if you’d like!

🥞 Short Stack - Standalone - Jane Eyre
☕️ Coffee - Comfort Read - The Hobbit
🧇 Waffles - Book with a Good Twist - Piranesi
🍳 Eggs and Bacon - Characters I’d Like to Hang Out With - Swordheart
🍊Orange Juice - Underrated Favourite - A Thousand Ships

This was a fun challenge to dive back into book stacks with - I’ve missed this a lot!

❓ what are you up to today? Are you enjoying the weekend? by @thefatgingerreader

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13 days ago

🐉 A Natural History of Dragons🐉

I was given the first three books of this series by Marie Brennan for my birthday and have read the first two (and bought the rest of the series!) and am loving it so far.
Book one blew me away and I had such a good time enjoying the fantasy elements but in a Victorian inspired world. The first person voice of Isabella is hilarious, witty, and interesting, the cast of characters is diverse and charming, and the world building is so immersive. I also adore that there are illustrations throughout and they’re so stunning!
Having the books set in different parts of the world is such a good way of really diving into that location and getting to know it thoroughly.
Whilst I enjoyed book two less than book one, I’m definitely keen to continue the series and in a year where I’ve had a bit of fantasy book burn out, it’s scratched the itch for historical fiction with speckling of fantasy which has been perfect.

Have you read this series? If so, does it get better after book two?!

❓ if you could bring one fantasy creature into a historical setting, what would it be?
I love the idea of dragons being a mainstream part of history! by @thefatgingerreader

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14 days ago

✨Friday Flatlay✨

The last few months I’ve been collecting mass market paperbacks of a few series and I’m honestly obsessed with their covers. Why are modern fantasy covers so boring compared to 20-50 years ago?!
While I’ve not started any of these series yet I felt they needed some space on the grid!

Has anyone read any of these?
❓ do you enjoy retro covers and mass market sized books or do you prefer modern covers? by @thefatgingerreader

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14 days ago

💚The Unselected Journals of Emma. M. Lion💚

One of the reading highlights for me this year has been this glorious series.
You’ll have seen it in my stories even while I haven’t been posting much on here because I’m that obsessed with it. I started the series in March and have already started a re-read! I’m using my newly published second copies to re-read and annotate which is incredibly fun and I’m noticing so much more whilst doing that!

The wit and charm of Austen, the loveable and relatable characters of your favourite cozy fiction, and the yearning and romantic tension of the slowest slow burn you’ve ever read! Emma M Lion is the full package and I’ve been forcing everyone I know to read it (and everyone has loved it so far!).

I can’t recommend this series highly enough. AND to make it even more enticing, volume 9 was announced just today and will be released in February which is wildly exciting!!

#emmamlion #theunselectedjournalsofemmamlion #bethbrower #historicalfiction by @thefatgingerreader

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15 days ago

💛Assassin’s Fate💛

‘Kettricken smiled.’

I finished this in December and haven’t stopped thinking about it for the last 9 months.
Assassin’s Fate is the final book of the 16 book The Realm of the Elderlings by the one and only @therealrobinhobb

This series honestly changed what I look for in books, set the bar higher than any other for quality writing, and quite frankly changed the way I view the world.
It is a piece of gold in the world. A masterpiece. A true study of beauty and darkness, humanity and honesty.
There wasn’t one word wasted. Not one page unnecessary.
And whereas when I’m loving a series I’m typically nervous for the end in case it’s a flop at the last minute, I didn’t even feel nervous with this series. Because I trusted Robin Hobb with my whole heart that she would do justice to these characters and stories and I was completely right. This was the perfect ending.
The day I finished it, I sat on the sofa for about 2 hours crying.
I tried to explain to my housemate what happened and started sobbing again. And to this day if I think about it for more than a few minutes the tears start to come.

I already cannot wait to do a re-read and I think I may succumb to that desire before the year is out!!

But thank you, Robin Hobb for creating characters we could all adore and sharing them with us so beautifully and generously. I’m genuinely forever grateful. 💛💙 by @thefatgingerreader

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17 days ago

✨Books you couldn’t pay me to…✨

I’ve been loving seeing this trend so thought I’d jump on board. I have a feeling some of mine might be a touch controversial 🫣😬

#booksyoucouldntpaymeto #booktrend #booksta #bookstagram #bookish by @thefatgingerreader

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a month ago