What achievements do you choose to show and why did you choose them?

I have Gothic Literature, Fairy Tale Retellings, Romantasy Starter Pack Vol I, Sapphic Across Genres, and Sci-Fi and Sci-Fi with a Side of Romance along with my level badge.

I picked these five because together they show the range of what I actually read: dark atmosphere, fairytale/fantasy roots, romance-heavy genre fiction, queer stories, and speculative worlds.

Gothic Literature I chose this one because gothic atmosphere is one of the clearest through-lines in my taste. I love stories with old houses, secrets, dread, obsession, complicated emotions, and a little bit of beautiful decay.

Fairy Tale Retellings This is for the whimsical, folklore-loving side of my reading. I’m drawn to stories that feel rooted in myth, fables, curses, old magic, and familiar tales being reshaped into something new.

Romantasy Starter Pack Vol I Even when I’m picky about romantasy, it’s still a major part of my reading life. I like fantasy with romance woven into the emotional stakes, especially when the world, tension, and character arcs are doing as much work as the relationship.

Sapphic Across Genres This one matters because I don’t just read sapphic stories in one category. I love seeing sapphic characters and relationships across fantasy, sci-fi, gothic, romance, literary fiction, and everything in between.

Sci-Fi and Sci-Fi with a Side of Romance I picked this because it shows that my taste is not only fantasy/fairytale based. I also love speculative stories with strange futures, technology, social questions, space, dystopia, and romance or emotional tension mixed in.

I wanted my badges to show my actual reader palette of gothic atmosphere, fairytale roots, romantasy feelings, sapphic and queer stories across genres, and a love for speculative worlds beyond just fantasy. It’s dark, romantic, whimsical, queer, and a little bit futuristic, which feels pretty accurate to who I am.

Tjis is going to get very ranty, but I just went to the library and there I saw it: the YA-EDITION OF THE DAVINCI CODE

It‘s important to note that I‘m german and apparently this only exist in german, I also haven‘t read the davinci code (I always tell myself I‘ll read it and never do)

On the back it says that this is an abriged and age appropriate version, which I just find atrocious (this edition has 496 pages, normal german translations of dvc have at least 600 pages and the font of this edition is also fairly big)

And this just pisses me off, firstly it says that this is for everyone starting at age 14.

At age 14 I read Misery, A Song of Ice and Fire and my dad started watching Tarantino with me (I don‘t think any of those thing were age-appropriate but I think 14 yo me could‘ve definetly handled the original dvc)

Also this is just such an obvious cash grab, like what?! Also there are so many ya thrillers out there that are you know made to be ya thrillers and not something else that desperatly being squeezed into a mold it doesn‘t belong in

(Also this is the same publisher that has the rights to the german translation of AGGGTM I think they really need to stop being that greedy)

Hey PageBound fam! Today's my bday, and I want you to send me your highest ranked book (or..books? I'm not picky on how many you send me 😜) in the past year! Because you can never have too many books on your TBR, right??! Thank you in advance, and I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday! 🩷🌼🥰

Hello all, I am thinking about planning out what I'm going to read this summer more carefully than I usually do! I just finished my PhD in botany (woot woot!), I am unemployed (womp womp!), and as you can probably imagine I am exhausted lol. Luckily, the unemployment is giving me more time to read, but the end of the PhD means I still have some paper writing and publishing to do. All of this to say, I'm looking for recommendations that are easy to read (especially if they're science-related) and fun and quick!

Question 1: The topics I'm looking for are 'summerween' (so spooky, but summery vibes!), folklore or folklore-inspired, and science! I want to read at least one book a month from each category. For science, I'm particularly into botany (obviously but nothing cellular as this is too close to my work and I need a BREAK), space, and palaeontology! I'd like a mix of these types of science books so I'm not always just reading in my field if possible! I'm open to anything in the other categories!

I already have three books for June: The Lost Elms by Mandy Haggith (botany), Greenteeth by Molly O'Neil (folklore), and A Penance for Crows by Shannon Morgan (summerween).

Question 2: If you have done the curriculum trend before, how did you do it? Did it work out for you? What advice do you have or what did you like / not like? Please give me any insight you have!!!

Context: I work at a climbing gym as a routesetter, so I and my coworkers put the holds on the walls that people climb. My gym recently adopted the use of this one app where we upload our routes and boulders that we set so people can log their sends in the gym and rate the climbs. A week ago, my coworkers and I were lamenting the app because one customer consistently rates everything 3 stars, and it’s bringing our gym’s rating down. Like, to the point of the higher-ups scratching their heads at it.

It got us on the topic of ratings about books. My boss said 3 stars isn’t a bad rating, it’s average, although most people likely wouldn’t think the same way when looking for a route to climb in the gym. I said when I rate book, 3 stars is generally a decent rating. It may not be a book that I loved or that I would say was for me, but I would still likely recommend a 3-star book to a friend. Another coworker agreed with that sentiment.

This whole conversation got me thinking: at what point do you start to consider a book “bad”? As in, when would you stop recommending a book to someone? Everyone has different metrics they use, and I’m curious to know everyone’s thoughts. For me, I start thinking a book is bad around 2-2.5 stars.