Recs if you like Piranesi...
One and Done Fantasy
Standalone fantasy books that won't make you invest your life in a dozen installments
Listening Is Reading
When the narrator(s) makes the book even better. For new listeners and audiobook elites, here is a range of different genres and narrators that excel at audio perfection.
Quest Thirst ๐ฆ (150+ Books under multiple quests)
Books that are part of 3 or more quests โจfor easier planning! Initially thought of making this on my shelf, hope the members of pb find this helpful!! (The list is incomplete, I'm working on checking & adding new quest books๐๐ป thanks for the love โค๏ธ๐ฅน)
SCP Containment Breach
The SCP is an organization that Secures, Contains, and Protects our world against anomalous objects, entities, and phenomena. Be advised: these books contain such SCPs that have escaped confinement and have caused havoc and destruction. Read at your own peril. And remember to document your findings.
never the same river twice
books that are so changed by the end that they're entirely different books on the re-read. books best entered blind, with a twist or gradual reveal that is not just surprising, but retroactively rewrites everything you've already read โ the meaning, tone, genre, or intention of every page before it.
"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man."
recs so so welcome!
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).
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 didnโt want to step on toes and add people I havenโt really talked to without their permission โค๏ธ also my brain is smooth and I forget book character names all the time lol)
Books that feel like an A24 film
Books that are atmospheric, emotionally unsettling, beautifully written, a little weird, and linger long after you finish them.
apart / a part
literary (or literary-leaning) fiction focused specifically on isolation, disconnection, loneliness โ and what they teach us about life and humanity.
ft. recs from the community!
The Curio Cabinet: The Symbolic, Strange & Surreal
Not all collections hold things you can touch. This one holds worlds that breathe, selves that dissolve, and realities that refuse to hold their shape. These are the fictions that live on the edge of what language can contain - and sometimes just beyond. Admission is free, through entry requires a signed waiver: the curator cannot be held responsible for any transformations that occur upon your exit. We welcome specimen recommendations!
books your pretentious friend has heard of
in the zone: an introduction to zonal lit
coined by phil ford and jf martel, co-hosts of โweird studies,โ zonal literature is a term that refers to narratives set in reality-bent spaces. in these liminal zones, ordinary life is suspended, altered, other. the rules here are different, even if things may look the same.
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 PBโs 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; thereโs no right or wrong answer, I would love to see everyone's perspectives!
Fantasy Academia
Many of these are the beginning of series, but all of them are about academics in fantasy settings. All cross genres are welcome.
in which nothing is as it seems
books that fracture, remake, and defy the rules of time, space, memory, and idea.
Lucy Dacus Recommendations ๐
Books recommended by musician Lucy Dacus, a solo artist and member of the band boygenius. Pulled from her goodreads list.
Whimsical Fantasy But Dark
Have you ever wanted a fantasy book with whimsy, but dark? More gothic and twisted and creepy? Then you've come to the right place! Open to recs.
Liminal Horror
Recs are from r horrorlit. I have not read them, but thought it would be a fun concept for you and me.
(let me know if any suggestions are egregious)
#backrooms #dreamy #weird #strange #surreal
disability pride - invisible or undiagnosed
in honor of disability pride month, here is a series on the colours of the flag! our third colour on this flag is white, which highlights invisible or undiagnosed disabilities. examples of some of these are ehlers danlos syndrome, chronic illnesses, MECFS, long covid, fibromyalgia, POTS, ulcerative colitis, IBS, and more. books within this list will be fiction and non-fiction. as always, feel free to recommend books which you feel should be added to this list.
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!
ยฉ 2025 Pagebound