Recs if you like A Tale for the Time Being...
Pagebound Readalongs
I couldnt find a list of these yet, so i made one! You may not be able to collect the badges anymore, but if youโre a completionist like me; here are all the books of the pagebound seasonal readalongs and the special event readalongs!
Metafiction & playing with form
Books that play with the "book" as a medium or are otherwise self-reflexive/meta.
My current criteria for this list are (1) does the book highlight its own textuality consistently or (2) do the metafictional elements add significantly to the themes explored or (3) does the book's use of discourse and form (e.g., narrative situation, layout) significantly differ from the norm?
Make sure to comment your suggestions with a small explanation even if you're not 100 % sure if they fit!
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!
That's Not a Fall Out Boy Song??
I've fallen back into my Fall Out Boy era, so was inspired to make a list of books with titles that sound like they could be early Fall Out Boy Songs.
This list is purely subjective and doesn't take into account anything about the book other than the title.
As always, open to suggestions! ๐ค
Canada, eh!
Canadian authors writing books set in Canada.
Sheโs spiraling
Books where the protagonist loses their grip on reality, has strange, unsettling, and/or surreal experiences
Adventures Through Time
Here (and there and then) be time travelers!
Unusual Narrators
Books where the narrating character is... different.
let me tell you my story
audiobooks where the narrator is the author! any book goes, no matter the genre. there may be multiple versions of the audiobook, but at least one version has the author as narrator. please suggest more in the comments!
books for purple readers
book recs for purple readers according to read your color on substack | updated periodically
Asian Authors
An on-going attempt to track Asian authors in my Interested/TBR (and hopefully Finished) categories. Books are generally fiction/lit fic/fantasy with some memoirs. Authors span West to East Asia, the Asian diaspora, and mixed-race folx.
magical realism: the classics & niche
my favorite genre! the grit of the everyday alongside the possibility for something more, a veil thinning, serendipity bending reality to its whimsy and beauty. this is a smaller list due the brittle nature of the genre. it's up to interpretation, but i like my magical realism on the more realistic side with very slight tints of magic/fantastical elements. recommendations are welcome!
Taking Our Precious Time
This house runs on CPTโ๏ธThese books explore subversions of hegemonic time, including queer time, crip time, black time, mad time, and postcolonial time. Suggestions welcome!
I've got a type, and it's messing with time.
books about time slips, loops, travel, and alternate realities
See: footnotes or excerpts (vulpix, 2026)
Fictional books where the author uses footnotes or excerpts to build out the world theyโve created.
nothing here is entirely true
novels where reality bends and distorts, both narrators and memories deceive, and the truth becomes slippery. these stories blur the line between what is real and what is imagined, between fact and fiction, until we are unable to distinguish truth from the authorโs own fabrication. a blend of autofiction, historical fiction, and โnon-fiction fiction.โ
as always welcome to suggestions !
timeless fiction from ESEAsian authors
east & south east asian literary fiction beyond murakami.
timeless modern classics โ 20th century onwards โ exploring universal themes like identity, morality and society.
these books capture elements of the uniquely beautiful symbolism, tones and rhythms that characterise asian languages and culture.
very much open to recs for expansion. (one book per author, typically their most renowned)
this reminds me of someone
Works of fiction that remind of their author's life.
A type of novel among other things called autobiographical fiction as I have learnt.
Recommendations always welcome!
Modern Day Classics
A collection of the next wave of influential Classics of our generation. These books will become staples in homes and schools contain themes that will always be relevant. Inspired by Pagebound Club Post I made.
Survival Fabulation
Love casts a spell; the real monster is oppression. Modern magical realism, urban fantasy, and fabulism: books that use supernatural elements to explore themes of family, desire, history, and society.
ยฉ 2025 Pagebound