Hello my lovelies 🌸🥰 I learned something very interesting today, and that is the language of flowers, also called floriography, which has been used for centuries to send hidden messages through the choice of flowers in a bouquet. Especially the Victorian period is known for this, but this has existed for way longer and in different parts of the world. And even today we can come across flowers symbolizing something, often in literature, but also some meanings that seem to be almost universal (like roses).

This gave me the idea to propose a small bookish game:

🌸 Think of your favorite flower (without thinking about what it symbolizes, just a flower you love). 🌸 Then look up its symbolism / meaning (if you don’t already know). It can be either a general symbol this flower has, something specific to your country, or from any country or culture or historical time period (in case the meaning changed over time). You can go as broad or specific as you like. The more diverse this game gets, the better ☺️ 🌸 And now compare it to your usual book taste, if there is any parallel whatsoever (this can be something as « obvious » as liking red roses and romance books, or also your favorite flower hinting at smaller tropes or themes you might like to read about. Or maybe there is no parallel at all. Many flowers have multiple associations so you can pick any that fits.)

I hope you find this fun; I just personally love these little getting to know each other games 🫶 Plus, maybe we can learn something new about what different flowers symbolize in different parts of the world.

Perhaps they're bubbling with anticipation, hopeful that you would read the same passage from the same book, at exactly the same time as them. Thus, the story returns to where it began.

what a beautiful way to capture how special it is to read and experience stories with each other. that no matter how much time has passed, what's changed in our lives, certain stories continue to hold a special place in our memory and in our hearts. and the feelings we get to re-experience and reflect on said stories with others, in different ways.

something unexpected, but something i think helps explains why parts of pagebound feel so special. we don't realize how much time affects our memory and perception of the stories we read. sure, rereading can bring back those feelings, those memories, yet here with no timestamps, no warped bubble to control how we engage, remember, reflect, we get to relive that memory again (if we so choose lol) and to share it with others. what a magical thing, to have our own colorful, communal bookshop to read the same passage, the same book, at the same "time" with each other. 🌸🐈

Since this went so well last week…. What is YOUR complaint of the week? No matter how big, small, or insignificant it may feel, shout it to the void!!! (Be supportive and nice✨🙂‍↕️🤍)