This somewhat philosophical question has been on my mind since almost the early days of Pagebound, and I have so many thoughts on this topic! I saw an Instagram post today from The Booker Prize account asking a similar question, which inspired me to ask this wonderful community for your reflections, just out of curiosity :) and I may make an insta carousel quoting a few usernames if I feel inspired ✨

My scattered musings: -it magnifies the joy of reading so much--I feel validated, challenged, enlightened. I guffaw involuntarily more from reading your posts than from reading the book itself.

-it improves my reading comprehension when others notice details I missed or when I have a question and am looking for a very targeted answer.

-the text is the book but also now the text is all the posts & comments I'm reading on Pagebound. i'm in conversation with the book but also in conversation with all of you and so...

-does it become harder to differentiate my opinion from the collective's? am I being influenced on what I think?

-how does this affect the "originality" of my takeaways (ofc what is even original anymore/ever)?