Hello everyone! I hope this post does not come off as rude or nit-picky, please bear with me. I started using Pagebound a few weeks before the app was released, but then stopped for a bit because life got busy. I've finally started using it frequently again (so many new and awesome users!) and have noticed that forum etiquette seems to be...lacking (I make these comments based on the pinned club post that details forum etiquette). I find my feed full of forum posts saying things like "no way" or "from 0%...so excited to finally start this!" I find this to be the opposite of what Pagebound is meant to be --- ENGAGING. I understand forums to be a space for conversation, analysis, and sharing impactful excerpts, but that doesn't seem to be how they're used by a lot of people. Sometimes I see posts on books that I read a few months or a few years ago and I'd love to connect with people that are currently reading them, but I just have nothing to comment on their posts because they are so vague.

I know it does not make sense for forums to be "monitored" (for lack of a better word), so I'm just wondering...are these short comments becoming the new normal for forums? I understand that as an app grows and more users join it becomes hard (impossible) to regulate things like this. What are your thoughts on forums and forum etiquette?

Edit: Thank you to everyone commenting their thoughts on this! I love reading everyone's opinions, even if I don't have the energy to reply to all of them. There seems to be a consensus of not engaging, which I understand; it is a nuanced situation. I also appreciate the love for memes, haha. I'm glad this was able to stimulate some discussion and hopefully other users find the thoughts here helpful (I know I did😄). Edit 2: Going from reading all of these replies back to my feed and seeing exactly the kinds of two-word posts we're talking about is....I can't think of a good word but it sure is something!😅

reading slumps are actually so rude. like my brain knows i love reading. i WANT to read. i sit there with a book in my hands, fully prepared, and suddenly my attention span evaporates. i read the same sentence five times and absorb nothing. is it boring? no. is it badly written? also no. it’s literally just me. i start questioning everything. do i even like books anymore. am i a fake reader. i’m like lwk crashing out on what to do. meanwhile i’ll spend forty minutes choosing a book, open it, read two pages, then close it like “yeah not right now.” and the worst part is i know the second the slump ends i’ll inhale ltr like three books in a row and act like this never happened😭. reading slumps aren’t real they’re just my brain being dramatic. anyway if anyone has tips that aren’t “just read” pls lmk.🙏

i really liked this book! i feel sad to learn the author isn’t romanian but its not the end of the world. i had felt really connected to the story as an american romanian (born in romania but moved to america at age 2) and i think that connection feels a little severed now, but the quality of the book remains. i really liked the ending. if this is on your TBR, prioritize it! i want to read nonfiction or memoirs about the 1989 revolution now!

For those of you who like to write (or have to do a lot of it even if you don't like it), or like to annotate books, what are your favorite writing instruments?

For general writing, I like fountain pens (and my dozens of bottles of ink). Day to day, I use the Lamy Safari, but I have a handful of cheap Japanese "Preppy" fountain pens that write well and I have some other fountain pens of various quality/price.

I also recently got a brass pen with a Japanese made felt tip that also takes fountain pen ink and writes wonderfully. I have a dip pen and some acrylic inks somewhere but I rarely use that one.

All of the above require paper that will take the ink, so they're not ideal for annotating. I typically use a mechanical pencil when annotating, rather than ink. Unless I am annotating in my Kobo Libra Colour.

But for general writing I do lik pens and I try to pick up a variety of different or unusual pens when I can!

Have you ever been so into a book that the language, or perhaps character traits, start becoming part of your life? The book I'm currently reading is set in 1640s England, and I've found myself replicating the linguistics in my journal writing (wholly unintentional and far too posh!).

So...does anyone else do this when they're obsessed with a story? (Tell me I'm not the only one!) I'd love to hear any funny examples, if you have them.