Recs if you like The Woman in the Dunes...

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 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?

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.

I think Pagebound quests should be enjoyed at your own pace, reading whatever piques your interest. That being said, here's a list of books that are included in multiple quests. This list is a work in progress and suggestions are welcome :)

If we are going to do Qwordy's the Hardest Reading Challenge You'll Ever Do 3.0 - we should probably get some Pagebound badges along the way! I'm specifically going to be adding books from Quests and readalongs that I think matches at least one of these cover prompts: craft, food, motion, biomes/landscapes, animals, weather.

books featured in the film Perfect Days (2023) directed by Wim Wenders, a glimpse into the quiet life of toilet cleaner Hirayama —

a life of light filtered through leaves, old cassette tapes, playing shadow tag with strangers, and reading until you can’t keep your eyes open. a life of hidden pain, and fleeting beauty found in unexpected places.

(soundtrack in the comments!)

my list of books on 2+ quests, continued!

: of, relating to, or suggestive of Franz Kafka or his writings especially: having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality

Kafka’s books examine themes of anxiety, alienation, and the powerlessness of the individual. This list includes titles with similar subject matter.

A collection of books about people who are lost inside themselves. Alienated, detached, depressed, searching, unraveling or simply trying to figure out what the hell it means to be alive.

a collection of existential crises, surreal detours, grotesque little creatures, and the occasional philosophical cockroach. somewhere between the absurdity of being alive and the absurdity of trying to understand it.

Not all are horror.

odd books for odd people

Wander through stories that travelled across languages, borders, and cultures to find their way to you.

just some books that left me feeling 🦭

[this list is in progress] !!

Surreal stories for a bizarre summer

the equivalent of when my sister says “maybe santa will bring it for christmas” to my niece

(all the books i picked up at the bookstore but couldn’t let myself buy)