Every once in a while I’ll go through some reviews of books I’ve read just to see what other people think. And something I’ve noticed is that there’s a good amount of people who don’t like slice of life moments or detours when they’re reading.

This got me thinking about the shift away from 20+ episode seasons on tv and the cutting of filler episodes.

I, for one, love slice of life moments in books and filler episodes are often some of my favorite episodes in tv. To me, some of the best character moments come from them. Not development, but moments. Something small that tells you these characters have lives beyond what we’re given as an audience. (Please. Some shows need more than 8 episodes, executives.)

So, is there a correlation? If you like little sidetracks in your books, do you also like filler episodes? Do you not like either? One but not the other? (I’m particularly interested in the why on this one)

Hi everyone! With the holiday season coming up, there’ll be more thoughts about books to give and hopefully receive. In my family, we exchange books on Christmas Eve and then likely will receive others on the day, so I’m curious.

When receiving books, would you prefer something you’d know you’d like eg next in a series, by a favourite author, or something new?

When gifting books, do you consider the same, expected vs new, and does your own enjoyment of the book factor in? There’s a ratio of how much I think I’d like the book mixed in with purchasing for family as I read widely and would be able to borrow them later 🤣

Or is it preferred to receive money/gift cards to select your own books?

Why do I picture those stupid game adds with the lady in the abandoned falling down house with a kid. That won’t go away and you have to like merge stuff in the game to fix the house. But instead of a kid it’s a plant.

Larran and Kiela are ridiculous trying to interact with each other.

This makes me think more about chemistry between two characters, like what makes their vibe fire (or flop): the convenience arranged in the story, scarcity (or abundance) that allegedly makes Person A and Person B (or more) the right choice, awkward conversations, attempts at flirting, and so on.

I’m not great at finding words to describe something. Things like this are more “I know it when I see it—or not.” Currently, I’m not seeing it in this story.

I think it’s funny that the author chose to name the two main characters as opposite seasons, Augustus (August - it’s close enough!) and January, considering they’re also opposites in writing styles. Also interesting that January writes the loving, happy endings, despite being named after one of the coldest months of the year, where Augustus apparently kills all of his characters off, but his name reflects the sunny and warmest month of the year (I KNOW it’s Augustus, but it’s close enough!)