I grew up reading fantasy romance, it was the main thing I used to read. I actively liked it and would recommend the books I read as believing they were good and enjoyable books.

I should like romantasy. I love fantasy. I like romance. But over and over again the books I am being recommended I find range from meh to not understanding why they are read.

I am in a romantasy bookclub, that is run by my personal friends so I joined to be closer to them and to get myself out there. But every month I am left baffled and wondering if there is something wrong with me. I cried last night because I am truly worried I am maybe being a pick me about this. But I don't know who I am being a pick me towards? Myself? Can you be aa personal pick me?

But yesterday my book club voted with overwhelming votes that Rites of the Starling was better than The Everlasting, and I was honestly taken back. I consider The Everlasting a 5 star read, a book that feels like art. Rites of the Starling was....fine. Not bad, but not good. Its predictable, it doubles back on thins that I thought made the first one decent, I find Rancid an uninteresting love interest, and there are so many thing I find inconsistent. Its not bad, but I would never even recommended it to someone. But bookclub loved it. Loved it, loved it.

And now I worry there is just something broken about me. Because I don't know why I don't like this genre! I should like it! And I feel like an asshole with my friends when I talk about books. I am honestly thinking about just not anymore because it makes me so sad each time.

I just keep being told that books like The Everlasting and Rites of the Starling just can't be compared. I got told by one of my friends that The Everlasting is like going to an art museum while Rites of the Starling is like watching a TV show. But honestly I find that is exactly what I feel. With TV shows I do other things, like read to use social media while watching, because the show is fine, but not fully engrossing. But a museum or art exhibit takes your full attention. It makes you stop and reflect. I truly don't understand why that is not the preferable situation. If the book is equivalent of a TV show that I would put on while doing other things, I am not going to say its a great book. I am not going to say that it is more enjoyable.

Its not just Rites of the Starling. Silver elite, fourth wing, Mate & Bride, Tusk love, Brimestone, I just don't understand why. I just find them meh....well most are meh, Silver Elite and Fourth wing are just bad, and I stand by that. Bad world building, bad dialog, inconsistent character choices.

I don't know what changed, if it was me or the genera. Because I like fantasy with romance! It is my most read genera! So I don't understand what the disconnect for me is!

The Everlasting, Legendborn, Radience, The sharking knife, night circus, The Cruel prince, Juliet Marillier, Robin Hobb, and Robin McKinley are all things I currently like, and I used to love C.L. Wilson and P.C. Cast.

Am I alone in this? Am I a pick me? Is there something I am missing?

I want to like the same books as my friends. I don't want to go to book club each month feeling like an outcast. I don't want to feel like I don't understand my friends. I don't want to feel like a miserable personal who can't just enjoy a book for the vibes.

I just don't know. I don't understand. And I want to. I want to be friends with these great kind and fun women in bookclub. But I feel like there is an ever growing wall that I don't want to be there. I want to know what maybe I am missing so I can work on it.

I hope this makes sense.

Hello everyone! I’m working on a list inspired by my current read (the Iron Widow follow-up) of morally grey female characters. I already have Gone Girl, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, Gideon the Ninth, Faebound, and the Poppy War. As per usual, as soon as I tried to brainstorm books that fit this category I forgot every book I’ve ever read.

Please make your cases for other female characters that fit the bill! Think characters who are motivated at least partly selfishly to help to save the world OR who will stop at nothing (even harming others) to achieve their (mostly) altruistic ends.

I’m wondering if Katniss fits this list and would love to hear thoughts!

Bonus points for characters from marginalized groups (especially those not yet represented on the list). As you can see, I definitely began from an already diverse group, but don’t want the remainder of the list to be white and cishet.

Edit: here is the link for the list!

So today I was talking with a bookclub I was going to join, but decided against it because unfortunately I was very very different from them and they just wouldn't have a good time since I don't fit in at all. (Womp womp for me. Maybe next time!!)

For a moment, we actually almost started an argument. They brought up the last book they read, and I meantioned that I also read it and unfortunately didn't like it... I know I shouldn't have said this, I was just nervous and blurted it out!! But the conversation basically turned into an argument that hate-reviews and/or overly negative reviews should not be public if they aren't constructive because the author spent a lot of time on their book and it won't change now that it's published, that if you aren't an editor or author yourself you don't have the credentials to offer such criticism, and that all reviews should offer some kind of constructive criticism to help the author grow for their next work...

And more, but... I didn't really feel like retelling how a group of people yelled at me... 😭

So. I write pretty negative things about a lot of books. Unfortunately I am very fussy and picky with books most of the time, and I have definitely written a hate-review(?) or two before. But I NEVER tag authors or insult them as a person. I always thought that if you buy a product, you are open to criticize and dislike it, because reviews aren't for the one that made the product... but for people looking to buy said product.

The whole thing made me feel some type of way, and I'm not sure if I'm just being sensitive because they called me out but I just wanted to know what other people think and how you guys write your reviews! Do you think authors belong in reader/review spaces? How do you go about writing your reviews? I'm very curious and I want to do better with my own reviews.. 🦭

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?

New ick is the word “balls” when referring to male anatomy. Really took me out of the scene. Will be reporting back soon for a more detailed review. I have some things to say. edit: i had NO IDEA that this would blow up. thank you guys lol pls do not start a war. i didn’t mean to abandon you guys 🥺 i should been more detailed in my stance lol. i just dont think anything regarding draining, refilling, or slapping or like anything to do with balls should be in the scene 😭😭😭 cause i’m like 🤨 whenever im really into something and it’s like “yeah i can feel my balls slapping” LIKE EW NO BAD NO squirt bottle.

So something I noticed is that a lot of people whose careers are focused on book reviews and discussion don't end up getting high recognition for the books they've written themselves

The most recent example is Cindy Pham whose debut got a mostly negative response

Which I find really interesting considering Cindy's videos do a decent job at dissecting bad writing (even though to me at least Cindy focuses too much on line to line critiques than the full book overall, but I only watch their videos time to time)

And then I remembered book/writing creators like Jenna Moreci (I found one channel that dissed her book in like 6 seperate hour long videos) and others also get mostly mid receptions of their own books

In my opinion, I think that while the skill of dissecting someone's writing is still connected to the act of writing itself, it is still a seperate skill, and doesn't mean one is automatically good at both, but people think it does so they write a book regardless of their skill level

And I'm not trying to say that "content creators can't write books" because xjz wrote iron widow and is a youtuber and I've seen a lot of love for iron widow

I just think that people who percieve themselves as skilled in a thing don't always know how weak their skills are

What do you all think?