I DNF'd at 80%... I couldn't do it 😅

Curious to know what the first book of the month is for everyone! For me, it's Winterlight by Kristen Britain. The end of my reread is nigh!

Hi everyone! It is my favourite time of the year here in Scotland, because it is the Book Festival in the capital, Edinburgh (pronounced Ed--in--bruh). There is a slew of online events, talks which are filmed and put on the website, which can be watched FOR FREE (they do not have to be watched live, for those of you with time zone concerns). You just need to reserve your spot (i'm not sure if you need an account, but you can also make one for free.) There are lots of authors and other speakers (mostly british) covering a range of topics and genres, both book related and life related. A couple of big names there! V E Schwab and R F Kuang to name a few, talking about Bury Our Bones and Katabasis respectively!! And I am going to Samantha Shannon's talk on 'The Art of Fantasy'. You can view the whole list of speakers here. Click here to view the online program! Plus, plenty of last years talks are on the video player :) (and if you feel extra cool you can donate to support events like these!)

Everyone has a favourite genre but what is your niche in that genre. For me my favouite genre is crime but within that i have a whole shelf of Japanese crime novels. Anyone has a very specifc group of books you will always buy?

When you rate a book, do you rate it based on how you liked it, or how good you think the book actually is by literary standards? One of the things I love most about Pagebound is the ability to break down the rating into separate categories. I particularly like the 'quality' and 'enjoyment' ratings. A lot of times, I dislike a book, but can also acknowledge that the book is very well written, I just didn't click with it. I tend to give books I dislike a bog standard 3 star, as to say i didn't like it but it wasn't a bad book. tbh I feel bad rating any book low because of how much work goes into writing a book and how creative authors are. Do you do the same? Or are y'all more brutal?

I just opened a book that I got from a used book sale last year and it had a leaflet about some weird medicine in it? So random, why would someone use that as a bookmark? And to then give the book away too?? I'm baffled. One library book I read a few years back had a sticky note message on the back cover and whoever wrote it seemed to have left the rest of the sticky note pad in the book as well. I've also seen my fair share of random bookmarks. A few weeks ago I found one that was covered in Olivia Roderigo stickers lol 😂 I'd love to hear from y'all tho. What's the weirdest thing you've ever found in a book?

Are any of y'all fellow writers? I'm struggling to write my manuscript and even though I'm doing better than before (I've implemented a realistic goal forum to track milestones) I still find myself absolutely dragging sometimes when I'm faced with a blank page. Is there any advice you can give about how to get more comfortable with the intimidation of a blank page? And how to write without feeling like you're just rambling on? Its a first draft so I know its going to be messy but I just feel like Im not happy with any of the progress I've made.

When you rate a book, do you rate it based on how you liked it, or how good you think the book actually is by literary standards? One of the things I love most about Pagebound is the ability to break down the rating into separate categories. I particularly like the 'quality' and 'enjoyment' ratings. A lot of times, I dislike a book, but can also acknowledge that the book is very well written, I just didn't click with it. I tend to give books I dislike a bog standard 3 star, as to say i didn't like it but it wasn't a bad book. tbh I feel bad rating any book low because of how much work goes into writing a book and how creative authors are. Do you do the same? Or are y'all more brutal?

Hi! I really want to read some sci-fi books this month because all I've been reading so far were romance books. I wanted to change pace and try reading a sci-fi book. I was hoping any recommendations to a sci-fi newbie like me 🫶

I used to only focus on one book at a time but lately I feel like I'm always reading 2/3 books at the same time and depending on the mood it's the book I'll read that day. But then once I'm half-way down one book, I usually just focus on that one until I finish it. Right now I'm reading The Hunting Wives, Trunk Music and Bitten. I got about 1/3 on each but now I'll full focused on The Hunting Wives, probably gonna continue with the others once I finish this one.

Hi! I really want to read some sci-fi books this month because all I've been reading so far were romance books. I wanted to change pace and try reading a sci-fi book. I was hoping any recommendations to a sci-fi newbie like me 🫶