Where are my fellow rereaders at? 😆

How often do you reread and what’s your most reread book?

I sometimes find myself randomly missing certain characters or a fantasy world and that prompts me to pick the book (or even the entire series) back up. Honestly, I sometimes feel guilty for rereading cause I can’t help but think I could’ve spent that time reading something new. I can’t help myself tho! There’s just something so comforting about revisiting a favorite.

I reread some books or book series at least once a year. Not always the same ones tho

Hello boundlings! I'd LOVE to know whether you prefer romance as a main genre in books, or romance in other genres as a subplot.

Not sure if I'm the only one who feels this way, but I find most (contemporary) romance books to be sort of predictable (especially since they MUST end in a happy ending), hence why I tend to not pick them up as often. Not hating on them or people who read them, tho! It's just not my typical things, unless I have a reading slump 🫶🏼

HOWEVER I love romance in other genres. Idk why, but the romance tend to feel more fleshed out and interesting despite being a subplot. Like it's woven into the main plot really well without overshadowing it, get me? Fantasy with romance is definitely my favorite! I also read a lot of mystery with a romance subplot.

There are also some types of books where the romance overshadows the main genre, which I HEAVILY dislike in books, especially if the romance is marketed as a subplot only.

Hii to whoever is reading this! The books I've been reading lately have been kind of a flop, which is why I wanted to read a romance book that would have me giggling and kicking my feet. For reference, I absolutely ADORED the Boys of Tommen series, and hated the first Mile High book (which is why I have not continued with the series). I also love the friends to lovers and childhood friends to strangers to lovers tropes, but any suggestion is welcome!! Thanks!!

I don't change mine frequently because I tend to pick ones related to my favorite genres. Even if I do swap something, I'm still cycling through a specific selection.

...But for some reason I'm feeling an urge to change them in a couple months for the spooky season if I can scrounge up enough badges 🎃🦇⚰️. (Yes, I know we're still deep in summer. I yearn for crunchy leaves, spiked apple cider, and weather where I can scurry about without melting into a moist meat sack of sweat).

How many of you change your showcased badges for seasonal vibes? For observations (like Pride Month)? Or just because you think your new badge or its color combo is cute?

Heyy so I recently watched a lot of youtube videos about book overconsumption and now I'm curious about your opinions. 🙂‍↕️ At what point do you think a person is overconsuming books? Do you judge people who buy a lot of books/make big haul content?

Here is my take on the situation: I bought too many books for a long time period and kind of regret it. In like 2020 I started to read more books than mangas again, because finally more queer books got released. I watched a lot of book content and read a lot of booktok books that were available in my library. I bought a lot of cheap books second hand, even ones I was only a little bit interested in, because I was still defining my taste and didn't think enough about this. This was also around the first time I had a real job and more than enough money to buy anything I wanted, so I bought A LOT new queer books, because me and queer books are like a child in a candy store ig. 😂 Also I have my own bookstagram account and got a lot of free books from publishers and authors. This lead to a HUGE tbr. Now a few years later I kind of regret buying that many books, because I don't have that much space and should have saved some of that money. Now I'm deliberately trying to make my tbr much smaller and only buy books that I think could become 5 star reads, because everything else is not worth taking my space and money. (For books I'm not sure I'll like I use the library, but when they don't have it, I just don't read it.) So my point is that people may have their reasons for getting carried away, buying too many books and make haul content. For some people reading is their only hobby and it makes sense they have a big budget. Some people will regret buying too much and learn from that. (I personally define overconsumption in this context as buying more than you can read or more than you have space/budget for.) In a lot of youtube videos the criticism is very harsh and I partly agree, because some people only buy that amount of books for content and views and make crazy unhaul videos a few months later, in which they unhaul like 100 books they recently bought and didn't read, because they didn't think a second before buying.  🫪 But I think we shouldn't forget that a lot of book influencers are just young people with first time adult money in a bad economic situation (will never be able to afford big purchases like house, so companies encourage spending all your money on smaller things like subscribtions/skincare/fast fashion). I just get the feeling that some people are a little bit too much outraged/scandalized by people who overconsume books. It's worth critisizing it and asking if someone really should buy that many books, but at least on youtube this discussion got a bit too judgy for me personally. 😅 Like "omg how can she buy that much, that's crazy, this kind of consumption makes me sick, it's ridiculous". Often you don't even know how much that person really reads and not everyone has access to libraries. Also books don't expire like skincare, so it doesn't matter if you read it now or in ten years. If you have the space and money and are confident you'll like a book, buy as many as you think are acceptable. Critisizing consumption and talking about more mindful consumption is great, but shaming people who buy a lot of books in general? Srsly nah. Reminds me of the discussion about people who "read too much, don't they have a life?".

It's Wednesday again, which means I'm back to ask my three W questions:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What have you recently finished reading?
3. What are you planning to read next?

Feel free to go into as much or as little detail as you want, and I encourage y'all to look at what other folks are reading - you may find like-minded readers among them!

(sorry I missed last week, I had surgery and as I feared there was just no way I could brain getting a post up.)

Yesterday, I went hunting for books that capture what it’s like to live in New Mexico because I’ve never been there, and I stumbled across a Reddit post from someone asking for the same thing. Their ask was because they were homesick. They wanted to read some things to bring them back to where they missed the most.

It got me thinking about how important place and atmosphere is to me in a book, and how a book that can lend itself to making a person feel just a little closer to home can also help give other people a taste of what that place is like.

So! I figured I’d ask my fellow Boundlings! Where is “home” for you, and what books have you read that captured what that place feels like?

I was recently thinking about how we all have different reading taste - not just in the books we read or even the formats we read them in, but also the way we like to experience reading. Are your best reading moments first thing in the morning or right before bed? Do you cuddle up with a hot mug of tea? Read while driving (AUDIOBOOKS that is!!!)? What is the most quintessential you way of reading, both in book and in reading environment? How can I read like you?

My “read like me” experience would be recreating one of my most visceral reading moments with one of my favorite books. Pick up a paperback (it’s my favorite, I’m sorry other formats I promise I love you too) copy of Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield and head to a cottage on/near a beach, but wait for the sun to go down and the wind to whip up so the waves are crashing loudly. Sit up in bed with a window cracked open so you can hear the lake (or ocean or whatever you’ve got) and read for as long as you can with just a small lamp on. Because I think the most “me” reading is an atmospheric book and an atmospheric reading setting. Enjoy!!

Okay now your turn 🫣 if you want but like no pressure 🫣🫣 AHH hi pals.

That one quote that’s stuck with you. Whether because it was tuff, because it was profound, because it gave you an epiphany, because it was that funny, etc. What’s that one book quote that’s stuck with you? Recently or way back in the past. I’m kinda asking this out of boredom, and maybe looking for new books. Or I can put them on some bookmarks.

(I’m very bad at remembering exact quotes lol. I remember that one line in Remarkably Bright Creatures where Marcellus goes like “Day insert number here, oh let’s just cut the crap”. See? Very bad at remembering. One I kinda remember is from Lies My Teacher Told Me, “If this country is so great, then why must we lie?”. So I guess I’m not that bad at remembering).