Recs if you like Mad Sisters of Esi...
Pagebound Pyramid Scheme
Keep tracking of PB lore one TBR train book at a time. List of books that have unexpectedly + delightfully affected our PB experience. (PB pyramid scheme name approved by our queen of clownery @ayzrules + the book that led the scheme by our pink queen @crybabybea)
Finally some good fucking worldbuilding
SFF with worldbuilding that informs the plot, prose, characters, and underlying narrative in deeply meaningful, intentional, and complex ways, so much so that changing the world means changing the shape of the story itself. Or: worldbuilding that goes beyond simple set dressing and becomes a vehicle for the story and narrative. Always open to recs and suggestions! ❤️
Eldest daughter syndrome
Fiction of all genres that explore what it means to cannibalize the self in service of others; the invisible labor, the elusive rewards, and the smothering of all else. Books do not need to feature actual eldest daughters. Always open to suggestions!
Literary Lasagna - Give Them Time to Cook
These are books that don't rush to impress you. They simmer while the author adds in the layers. They may confuse you or bore you at first - but if you give them time to cook you'll end up with a delicious meal of a book!
Always taking recommendations! If you are recommending a series - the layers need to come together by the end of the first book (not half way through the series).
Hopecore books
For when things seem hopeless. We can always try again and again ❤️
This list is a community project, I asked in the club and received multiple suggestions which I then added onto a list: fiction and nonfiction, fantasy, contemporary, sci-fi, the main theme is just hope. Some people said their recommendation might not fit very well but I added it anyways.
Also, in the og post, I mentioned The Good Place and if people have recommendations tending to that, so some books are related to that.
Pagebound User Book Cameos
For when your PB friends share the same name(s) as a book character! (See pinned comment for master list! Please feel free to chime in if you want to be added and/or if you want a different book assigned to you; I didn’t want to step on toes and add people I haven’t really talked to without their permission ❤️ also my brain is smooth and I forget book character names all the time lol)
Pagebound-coded books
A list of books that embody the kindness, joy, and community, along with the curiosity for radical justice, deep analysis, and deconstruction of systems of oppression that I see on this platform. In honor of PB’s birthday (Aug 13, I've been told)! I welcome everyone to leave a book + their explanation for why they feel it embodies PB energy in the comments; there’s no right or wrong answer, I would love to see everyone's perspectives!
Circular storytelling
"The end is already written. Your actions are up to you, you can choose to get off this ride whenever. We both know you won't do it." Books with this vibe
The Extra-Planetary Majority
sci-fi visions of BIPOC cultures on other planets or in space. recommendations always welcome!
Madness Decolonized
books that approach the topic of (in)sanity from a non-Western or decolonial perspective. suggestions (or corrections, if I’m mistaken about any of the current books) always welcome!
Fantastical Memory
Books where memories are lost, gained, preserved, encountered, or otherwise altered through means that are not of this world. Work in progress, suggestions always welcome!
Indian books to decentralize the literature canon
A list with (your!) recs ✍🏻 📚, because i am tired of searching on social media and finding nothing. We have to solve that.
Post-colonial Fever Dreams
tangled narratives and re-formed genres sprouting from the toxic ground of colonialism
Books that feel like couture pieces
(See pinned comment for book/look pairings). For those books that are lush, esoteric, perhaps a bit encrusted, convoluted, dense and/or lyrical; books that Commit To The Bit. Anything with something to say and a strong aesthetic sense that reinforces it; anything that's perhaps a bit weird and not afraid to take literary/artistic risks. Bonus if you can't figure out what it's supposed to mean 🙂↕️. Suggestions always welcome - feel free to give me a book to find a look for, or post a book/look pairing you came up with yourself! ❣️
Sister Sister
Fiction featuring sisters, because sisters are the best. (Note that not all sister relationships are easy, they are complex and layered and sometimes difficult.)
Please leave your additions in the comments!
Footnoted SciFi & Fantasy*
*SFF novels which use footnotes as a secondary narrative, paratext, or metacommentary on events in the main narrative.
dreams that don’t leave
dreamy, surreal, reflective texts 🤍 composed of fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and memoirs
Mixed Perspectives Books
These books utilize first person, second person, and third person perspective- ideally all three but books with some combination of the three are also included.
One Book Many Quests
Books in this list are in at least two quests. Thus helping to earn more badges. Books will span different genres. Once I scan through all the quests, I plan to further organize the list. I am thinking of creating a seperate list and moving the books with three or more quests to the new list and keeping the two badge books in this list. Are there other ways you would organize a list this big?
Incredible Fantasy You've Probably Never Heard Of
Do you feel like you've read everything there is to read? Or get annoyed that the same books are on all the rec lists? Well, here are some more obscure masterpieces!
Some of the covers are terrible - especially among the older or self-pubbed books; there's a few YA in here; and some that are science fantasy rather than 'pure' fantasy. But trust me: they're all EXCELLENT. (And if you already love a bunch of these, let's be friends!)
