We're very excited to announce our next Special Event Readalong, Mardi Gras + Carnival! This will run from January 15 - February 15.

This round's selections center stories from Afro-Caribbean + Black New Orleans culture. Check out the Special Events page (in the More tab on the app, or click the purple banner on the Discuss page on web).

The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings: An imaginative New Orleans Urban Fantasy exploring the music and magic of NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana).

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson: A touching Caribbean-American contemporary fiction exploring family secrets and the weight of the past. Series adaptation on Hulu!

You Made A Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi: An funny + tender upmarket romance (warning: explicit 🌶️) exploring Afro-Carribean culture and healing trauma though love.

The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom: A lyrical + politically sharp memoir chronicling 100 years of love, resilience, and class in NOLA. A clear-eyed account of Black New Orleans, up through the devastating events of Hurricane Katrina.

What's a Special Event? Each quarter, we run a short 1 month readalong showcasing diverse voices in literature. Read one of the selections and comment or post in the forum during the Readalong to earn a special badge. Unlike the Seasonal Readalongs, you do not earn a special badge for reading all the selections.

Excited to see the discussions for this event!

Happy Reading, Jennifer & Lucy

This question is inspired by a disagreement I had with my kid this morning. I have set myself a yearly reading goal each year for well over a decade. For the first time in a long time, I’m going to struggle to hit this year’s goal, but I’m sure I will get there. My kid doesn’t set a reading goal for the year, and I couldn’t properly articulate why I do, or why it’s important to me. I do like reading a lot of books, and I do like having a bit of pressure to do that - but not enough to make reading feel like a chore or unenjoyable. Which has led me to wonder:

Why do you set a yearly reading goal? (Or not set a reading goal?)

This question is inspired by a disagreement I had with my kid this morning. I have set myself a yearly reading goal each year for well over a decade. For the first time in a long time, I’m going to struggle to hit this year’s goal, but I’m sure I will get there. My kid doesn’t set a reading goal for the year, and I couldn’t properly articulate why I do, or why it’s important to me. I do like reading a lot of books, and I do like having a bit of pressure to do that - but not enough to make reading feel like a chore or unenjoyable. Which has led me to wonder:

Why do you set a yearly reading goal? (Or not set a reading goal?)

We have some product updates to share - please make sure you're on the latest app version to see them! Quick summary here, with more info below:

• Set your 2026 reading goal! See past/future goals in the app.
• Save on Pagebound Royalty with an annual subscription
• New way to support PB: Gift Royalty to any PB user for 3, 6, or 12 months (link in footer or visit https://support.pagebound.co/gift)
• New OP tag on comments when the Original Poster comments
• New ways to filter forum posts (see both posts + comments from people you follow)
• See badge names when editing the badges displayed on your profile

2026 Reading Challenge You can now set your goals for next year, and continue to edit and add to your 2025 yearly goal as normal. You can now view your past and future goals in the app by visiting the Reading Challenge screen and clicking the blue "All Challenges" link on the right below the progress bar.

PB Royalty Gifting + Annual Subscription In the Serviceberry spirit, we're offering a new way to support Pagebound and spread community love through gifting a Royalty subscription to a fellow Pagebound user. You can specify which user you'd like to gift a subscription to for 3, 6, or 12 months (or, send this link to loved ones asking what you want for the holidays!). 6 months includes 1 month free and 12 months includes 2 months free. For those considering joining Pagebound Royalty, we're excited to share an option to become a yearly supporter (at a discounted price of $100 for 12 months, so 2 months free)! This option is available through our payment provider Stripe to everyone on the web, and to iOS app users in the US. If you’re an iOS app user outside of the US, visit us on the web instead of signing up in-app to see this option (Apple requires us to use Apple in-app payments outside the US).

A huge thank you to all our Royalty members who make Pagebound possible; it's not cheap running the servers + software required to keep Pagebound going and our Royalty members ensure PB continues to exist for everyone.

Another huge thank you to all our readers here on Pagebound; 2025 was an incredible year, from public launching the Website in January after 4 months of beta testing, to releasing the app in October, to growing to 70k readers and seeing this community flourish and thrive - it has been SUCH a great year, and we couldn't be more grateful and proud of the Pagebound community. You all do so much to ensure PB stays the welcoming, diverse, discussion-centered, interesting place that it is. Cheers to you all!

Happy reading, Jennifer + Lucy