vellichor ventures

Shawn Berry

Jun 27

One of the scariest collections of short stories I’ve ever read

I just finished Never Whistle at Night 2 and I can’t recommend it highly enough! Spooky books for spooky times. If you’re wishing Halloween could come sooner, go check these collections out #booktyube #bookish #booknerd #bookshelf #reading

May 17

Palaces of the Crow is another masterpiece from Ray Nayler

Palaces of the Crow by Ray Nayler is an incredible speculative historical fiction book that has stuck with me since I finished it. It is beautiful and tragic and absolutely jaw dropping at times. If you are looking for your next read, I highly recommend adding this to your TBR #booktube #bookish #booknerd #bookshelf #reading

May 10

Sometimes as a book reviewer, your eyes get a little bigger than your metaphorical book-digesting stomach, and you sign yourself up for an unwieldy amount of ARCs. Sometimes that person is me. I have signed up to read too many books. ALAS! I will prevail, but it does mean that my reading schedule for the next six months or so is fairly set.

Some of those books I need to get to are published by the lovely people who run this website, and I am very excited for those, but it also means that there are many a book on my physical shelf that need to be on the back burner for a while. I will try to sprinkle them in between these review copies, but I imagine the big-boy fantasy books on my list are going to be late 2026 projects at best. (With that said, my wife and I are trying to figure out how we can go to Dragonsteel Nexus this year, and I would like to finish up The Stormlight Archive before/if we go).

Anyway, here are some books I would love to get to sometime soon, and some that I will definitely get to before the end of the year.

Speaking Bones by Ken Liu: I maintain that Ken Liu is operating at a level so much higher than other authors that reading him feels like eating caviar or some other food that you only bring out for special occasions. I suggest you get on them as soon as possible.
Children of Dune by Frank Herbert: I have been making my way through the novels that have inspired the films.
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller: I know almost nothing about this book, BUT, the guy who wrote it lives in my general vicinity and one of my coworkers has raved about it so I have it on a suspended hold at the library.

May 3

I’m in the middle of reading Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab for our book club (join our Discord to participate!) and I can't help but notice the similarities it has with her previous novel, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

Bury Our Bones deals with three lesbian vampires, living their lives across three separate times and places: 1530s Spain, 1827 London, and 2019 Boston. Schwab has a real fascination with eternity.

If I may recommend another book about immortality, I highly encourage you to seek out The Past Through Tomorrow by Robert A. Heinlein, specifically the story Methuselah's Children.

Apr 27

Shadow of the Leviathan is my new favorite series

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennet is one of the best books I’ve read this year. It is funny, suspenseful, and full of some of the coolest magic I’ve read in a book in years. #bookish #booktube #booknerd #bookshelf #reading

Apr 26

Oathbringer is the Best Stormlight Archive Book so Far

I finally finished Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. It took me quite a while to make my way through it but I’m glad I finally did, because it was excellent! Really looking forward to getting to Rhythm of War, and hopefully Wind and Truth before Dragonsteel Nexus later this year. #booktube #bookish #booknerd #bookshelf #reading