2026 Must Reads
These are the Books on my physical TBR that I MUST read in 2026!!! (Or at least the ones I really want to prioritize).
created by lovesagespages
last updated January, 2026
Comments
hey! just thought i’d let you know that the reason you’re receiving downvotes is because this list would be better suited to the shelves function. lists are intended to be public facing, focusing on topics/themes/ideas that others can enjoy (e.g. ‘YA time travel books’ or ‘queer mythological retellings’), whereas shelves are for personal collections (e.g ‘favourites’ or ‘read in 2025’) <3
So you guys downvoted a whole list because I didn’t use your app correctly? That’s fucked up high key. I made the list to track my reading, in case other people wanted to participate/ buddy read books IM reading, so instead of just ignoring it, you downvoted it and made me feel bad. Cool great app guys, I feel so welcomed.
also want to add your feelings here are valid, the downvote system for lists has turned into "backseat modding" where non-guides/non-mods are moderating lists, rather than downvoting on the quality of lists. We're actively combatting this and have scheduled changes in the product + community guidelines to ensure this stops.
this is really great to hear, and i hope i didn’t step on any toes by leaving a comment! i really hate seeing posts get mass downvoted without any kind of explanation, so my intention was to help to give some sort of reasoning - that being said, i think the shift to likes will make lists a much more welcoming space!
It's best to just leave it to the mods, once a list is archived the downvotes reset to 0 and the mods will decide if a comment needs to be left or not. More often than not it's new users getting a hang of things and there's no need to comment. When PageboundGuide comments, no activity is created in the feeds. When users comment, the list + comment get blasted to all your followers, and can result in more downvotes. It also tends makes the list owner feel called out! Since the archival resets the votes to 0, there's no need to point out downvotes to the list owner (and the list owner does not get notifications about downvotes, so could cause unnecessary friction).
copy that, good to know! was not aware that such a feature existed :)
Sorry I came across so harsh at all, mostly my feelings were hurt after the second time logging into the app, and also I’m still confused between Lists vs Shelves because I thought the whole point of the app was to sort of gamify your reading with the community? And even if people don’t want to necessarily read the books on the list, they don’t have to engage with it? Idk maybe that’s just what I thought it was.
hey, no hard feelings at all! i totally get where you’re coming from - and i think that’s why lists are being changed so they’ll no longer have downvotes and it’ll just be a like system! which i think will be a positive experience overall
I had this same experience and just deleted my list. It left a bad taste in my mouth and I'm happy that you're getting an explanation of some sort
That sucks tho, because we should be able to come into the community and participate without feeling judged. I understand that the way this list was created was not how lists are intended to be used, but why am I “wrong” because of that? Idk feels weird.
I agree! I'm glad that they are fixing/had fixed the problem.
I'm really sorry this was your experience, we just added an item to the roadmap today here to turn the upvote/downvote system for lists into likes only, specifically for reasons like this. We really hope you continue to contribute and participate here!
Hi, I understand that downvotes don’t feel great, and I’m sorry that you’re experiencing that feeling. The way that they are used is not such that downvotes are saying “this sucks/you suck,” as much as lists/comments/threads/posts that are upvoted are prioritized higher to show to other users, and so things that are meant to be community-focused but aren’t (usually because someone is new and learning how PB works) will often get down-voted in order to de-prioritize them in how quickly/how high up in searches they are shown. We do recommend pairing a down-vote with an explanation why, if it hasn’t already been provided.
However, my understanding is that up-votes will be converted to likes in the future, per the roadmap, so while that is currently the system (similar to the way Reddit uses up/down-votes if I understand correctly), it will not be in the near future.
I do want to welcome you here, though! There is a little bit of a learning curve for all of us when figuring out how it all works, so if you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them!
Yeah except that’s not how humans work. Like I hear you, but there’s a reason places like Instagram and Youtube hide numbers on likes and it’s because humans DO equate numbers and upvotes to things like this. And again, my point still stands, why not just… not interact with the post, because eventually the algorithm would take over and stop pushing any list or something.
I don’t really disagree with you! I have no skin in this game/only commented to sort of give you a little insight into the intent/norms that had been established, but also that those norms are going to shift with the upcoming change, not to insist that the way it is currently is the best way.
Personally, I think the shift to likes will be great and am looking forward to it. One of the things I like about this app is how they have been making continuous improvements based on user needs and requests, and how transparent they are with those decisions. I do understand feeling kind of turned off at this point, but again, if you have any questions about the app, like where things are or how things work, I’m happy to answer them!
💯💯💯
Down for a buddy read of either Gideon, Mistborn or Daughter of the Moon goddess if you’re interested!
I don’t know if I should delete this list and change it into a shelf or not after all of this lmfaoooooooo thank y’all for the patience
