AllieBee
Chronic reader of many books at the same time 🤓
508 points
October 2026
3.63 average · 119 reviews
Click a segment to filter
Babel
R.F. Kuang
Babel by R.F. Kuang is a book that illustrates the viscous subtleties in the wide impact of colonisation and oppression, how they infiltrate society and systemic ideas, and become engrained into our everyday. I think this book is an important read for anyone not living in an independently governed democracy or who's democracy or freedom is threatened. Which is to say, this book is important for everyone in today's world.
AllieBee commented...
My very beat up copy of The Midnight Library as I’ve annotated and sticky noted that thing to bits! Then earlier this year I went to the Hay Book Festival in Wales where Matt Haig was doing a talk and I got to meet him. When I handed over my copy for him to sign, him and his editor were really happy to see how I’d dissected it and asked if they could take pictures of it to send to the team because “They’ll love it!”. They were lovely and that interaction just reiterated the real world value of connecting with fictional stories.
I'm curious—what's everyone's favorite book copy that they own? Not necessarily your favorite story, but a specific edition or physical book that means something to you.
For me, it's my ARC of Babel. I snagged it while working at Barnes & Noble—a coworker had claimed it first, but when I got excited about it, they graciously handed it over. I actually own a nice finished copy now, but I always reach for the ARC instead. It's the perfect level of floppiness for a 500+ page book, and it just feels right in my hands. It also has the full original subtitle which I understand why the completed editions don't have it but there's something about it that just feels right for the overall message of the book.
What about you guys? What beat-up paperbacks, signed first editions, or surprise thrift-store finds do you cherish 😅?
