Hi all!

I've been wanting to make a list about books with art class motifs, but so far I only have three and I was curious if anyone else has read books like this!

Basically what I want is books where the main plot is paralled by a subplot within the art class; the main character works out their difficulties/emotions during class, or the art that they make contrast their struggles. For example, a character's art work becomes more monstrous after going through trauma, or the character discusses topics that seem to be about art but really are about the experience that they are trying to understand.

The ones I have so far:

• Again Again by E. Lockhart
• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Clay by David Almond

In Again Again and Speak the characters are working on art projects throughout the book and are only able to complete them after they deal with their trauma/struggles. In Clay the main character discusses topics with the art teacher to understand the things that are happening in his life.

I'd appreciate any recommendations or any thoughts about this topic! The ones I have are YA but any examples are welcome.

If I can I'd be interested to write a paper about this topic (if there will be a suitable assignment before I graduate) so any related books/articles/theories would also be appreciated!

I love reading audiobooks, because the books I read usually have words I don't know- trade jargon, scientific nomenclature, conlangs- and when I hear them, I'm able to confidently pronounce them. I feel like this helps me understand things better. But I PREFER reading paperbacks. I like to feel connected to the physical thing of it, the portal-opening, the ritual etc. And the audio processing problems. I can't always hear so good. I read faster than most narrators, so it also feels more efficient to "do it myself." So Every Author, if u could do me a quick favor, and write + record a "dramatis personae" of all ur character and location names, and if applicable also a little "dictionary" of introduced vocabulary terms, then I could enjoy my paperbacks and pronounce them too, and that would be SOOO COOL. Maybe you can attatch it to your book descriptions on PageBound someday. Thanks ily 💌

If you haven't pronounced a name or word wrong from only seeing it, or spelled one wrong from only hearing it, PageBesties, read more, idk what to tell u. But if you have and it was funny I wanna know what it waaaas 😁

(I had a really hard time googling a question I had about 🎧 Name of the Wind because I couldn't spell a fella's name, and idr who it was but the MC is called Kvothe. KVOTHE. Imagine how that might sound...and then imagine how many ways you could spell it wrong... and that's just the main guy...this is why ppl make fun of us fantasy writers lol)

Do you have any strong opinions on YA novels?? Like what should/should not be included theme-wise?? Anything you can think of will help :)

When you pick up a new book, how many chapters do you read before considering it for a DNF?

For example, I like to sample the prologues or first few chapters of tons of books which I'd TBRed, and if I didn't click with them, I don't move forward with the books. But I do not officially put them in the DNF shelf.

So what is your criteria of picking up brand new books and requirements to consider them DNFed?

How do you normally decide or pick on books to read/buy? Example, do you randomly walk to a book store and just pick random books and read their synopsis? Or do you have a list ready and just stick on that? 🤔

How do you guys feel when you're reading the book and you're the first one to post in a forum about it? Do you get discuraged by it or excited that you're the first? I myself just feel lonely😅 i still post in hopes of more people reading the book and joining the conversation🙈 Also do you often find books with 0 forum posts?

Could devs update the FAQ question on points and how they function/points behavior? or is there an app wiki I missed? because the FAQ essentially just says what gets you points is subject to change. I really appreciate all app developers explaining things through announcements but there is no central place that I have been able to find through searching the club forum or the FAQ or online that explains what activities qualify for points.

Idc about points hunting (and separately, not sure why some users are upset that other users do this if this is a feature) but if an app is going to have a ranking/points feature to differentiate power users and [sociologically] encourage users to follow people with higher points badges, then it shouldn't be opaque and confusing. For example, I recently came across a comment that said you don't get points on reviews if you have already rated a book? I am pretty tech savvy so understand coding limits causes some behavior on front-end to feel wonky, but if I hadn't happened across that post, I would have had no idea and despite having read announcements and FAQ, which kind of sucks. Most users are not neck deep in every app they use and that shouldn't be the expectation because I really like this space but ingroup/outgroup stuff like this feels alienating.

Anyway, if any community member could clarify a summary of points here or if devs could publish documentation on the FAQ, it would be deeply appreciated. Apologies in advance if there has been a complete guide available and I have not been able to find it!