Hi boundlings!

Recently done reading the Harry Potter series, now im starting The Hobbit then LOTR trilogy next. Planning to reread Percy Jackson & the Olympians (its been ages & I forgot already!)

Any book recommendation? I prefer trilogy of the same genre above. Thank you so much! Happy Reading!

I really disliked Ai, I hate when I see you tube videos and the whole thing, from the artwork to the content are all created by Ai. The idea of whole books being written by Ai appalls me. It seems the whole point is for us to stop using our own brains and outsource them to a machine.

However recently I attended a lecture on a teaching technique called directed listening, I think this technique is mostly used in the context of music instruction, the lecture I attended was about using it to teach children songs, but it can be used in other areas. This is probably a very oversimplified explanation, but the idea is that before you have them listen to the song you ask them a question about it. The point being to have them engage their minds in searching for the answer to the question. And that way they learn the song faster. The second principle was repetition, after the first question and answer repeat the process over and over again.

Because of how well this technique worked, and it work, during the lecture the instructor was able to teach us about 6 songs. I don't remember the number exactly but it was quite a lot. Anyway because of this I was thinking about how it could be used in other contexts.

And related to this forum if it could be applied to reading. Every once and a while I try and read something that is challenging, because personal growth. Right now I'm trying a book by Nietzsche, and it hasn't happened in a while but I've been contemplating dnfing it because I think it's beyond my reading comprehension.

So I was thinking it would be nice to try this technique directed listening, or in this case directed reading, but of course I would need someone to come up with questions to ask me beforehand, and I don't have a teacher. And now enters Ai which would be perfectly able to create questions for me. So I tried it and it worked I understood the text a lot better by having something to search for and then repeating the process.

So I guess there can be a legitimate use for Ai. I'd like your thoughts on it though. Do you think the few benefits of Ai outweigh the harm it is doing to society?

For any who are interested, I found out why there are no page numbers. My son explained it to me. Graphic novels don't have page numbers because the corners are all kinds of different colors on different pages and so no one color will work for the color of the page numbers. It would have to be different on each page which would be a total headache so they just don't do it.

I am here for the same reason we all might have recently picked up this book after the "please help me find this cover with the butt cleavage" request popped up in the discussion board. 🫣😂 And now I'm fully invested.

Have you ever read the blurb for a book and thought to yourself wow, this sounds pretty great then you get to the end and it says something like for fans of [insert author] or [insert book] meets [insert book], and it dampens your enthusiasm? Do you still read the book and hope for the best, or do you just not bother? Are there any comparisons that you absolutely will judge a book for having?

Obviously, I know problematic authors will probably be mentioned here, but I'd love to hear if anyone has any sillier reasons.

I just TBR'd Steelborn by Taylor J. LaRue -- I've never heard of them before, know nothing about them or the book beyond the blurb -- but the book is listed as 'perfect for fans of Callie Hart' aaaand... I've never read Callie Hart, I've never had any desire to (it's entirely a me thing, I just don't think I'd enjoy her work). I'll probably still read Steelborn, but I feel like I've been set up for disappointment. (Listen before anyone says it, I get that this is entirely irrational and silly, the book might be great, which is why I'll still give it a go.)