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Xalaila

1470 points

0% overlap
Level 4Pagebound Royalty
Spring 2026 Readalong
My Taste
The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0)
Pride and Prejudice
Death in Her Hands
The Illiad
Under the Volcano
Reading...
The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture
27%
A Tiny Universe: Astrology and The Thema Mundi Chart
20%
The Islamic Enlightenment: The Struggle Between Faith and Reason, 1798 to Modern Times
0%
Katabasis
63%

Xalaila commented on Xalaila's update

Xalaila made progress on...

7h
Katabasis

Katabasis

R.F. Kuang

63%
1
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Xalaila made progress on...

7h
Katabasis

Katabasis

R.F. Kuang

63%
1
1
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Xalaila commented on a post

10h
  • Goddess of the River
    Thoughts from chapter 6
    spoilers

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    13
    comments 6
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  • Xalaila made progress on...

    1d
    The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture

    The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture

    Gabor Maté

    27%
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    Xalaila commented on a post

    5d
  • Goddess of the River
    Thoughts from 35%
    spoilers

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    4
    comments 8
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  • The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture
    Thoughts from 23% (page 112)

    I like that he quotes and references so many women, researchers, artists, patients, creatives… It shouldn’t be surprising but somehow it still is, for an author and a book of this nature to recognize the work and breakthroughs of women.

    5
    comments 1
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  • Xalaila made progress on...

    1w
    The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture

    The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture

    Gabor Maté

    22%
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    0
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    Xalaila commented on a post

    1w
  • Katabasis
    Disjointed thoughts from about halfway through

    The bone chalk animals remind me so much of the bone dog from Nettle & Bone…

    I also keep thinking that there was some recent controversy around the author and that’s bugging me but I can’t remember what it was about.

    I kind of like Alice, except for all the overthinking -but that’s starting to make sense. I don’t trust Peter. I really like to not be reading about teenage heroines again, which I was kind of expecting for some reason.

    Mostly I’m enjoying the journey into the underworld, the coming together of different theories (religious, metaphysical, philosophical). It’s an interesting and different setting for a fantasy book.

    4
    comments 2
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  • Post from the Katabasis forum

    1w
  • Katabasis
    Disjointed thoughts from about halfway through

    The bone chalk animals remind me so much of the bone dog from Nettle & Bone…

    I also keep thinking that there was some recent controversy around the author and that’s bugging me but I can’t remember what it was about.

    I kind of like Alice, except for all the overthinking -but that’s starting to make sense. I don’t trust Peter. I really like to not be reading about teenage heroines again, which I was kind of expecting for some reason.

    Mostly I’m enjoying the journey into the underworld, the coming together of different theories (religious, metaphysical, philosophical). It’s an interesting and different setting for a fantasy book.

    4
    comments 2
    Reply
  • Xalaila made progress on...

    1w
    Katabasis

    Katabasis

    R.F. Kuang

    42%
    1
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    Xalaila wrote a review...

    2w
  • The Wedding People
    Xalaila
    Feb 20, 2026
    4.5
    Enjoyment: 4.5Quality: 4.5Characters: 4.5Plot: 4.5
    💔
    👰
    🌊

    Phoebe checks into a hotel and, pretty much against her will, becomes involved in the wedding taking place there. This is an extremely limiting summary, but I fear that saying anything else will spoil the story.

    Life, death, love, friendship, family… are all important parts of the book, making the read subtly think about what it means to really be alive, what we devote our time to, the masks we wear, the quiet courage to fully live.

    I enjoyed the writing style, the low stakes that nevertheless drove quite poignant pints home, making me think about my own life. The characters are well written, likable even at their worst, and I particularly enjoyed the perspective of a 40 year old childfree woman -doesn’t happen very often that I can identify with a character these days, which was pretty nice.

    Now I’m kind of hoping for a sequel in the mansion she will be caretaking. And I also want to know what happens with Lila.

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    comments 0
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  • Xalaila started reading...

    2w
    The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture

    The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture

    Gabor Maté

    0
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    Xalaila made progress on...

    2w
    The Wedding People

    The Wedding People

    Alison Espach

    75%
    1
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    Xalaila commented on a post

    2w
  • The Wedding People
    Thoughts from 25%
    spoilers

    View spoiler

    13
    comments 2
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  • Post from the The Wedding People forum

    2w
  • The Wedding People
    Thoughts from 25%
    spoilers

    View spoiler

    13
    comments 2
    Reply
  • Xalaila commented on a post

    2w
  • The Wedding People
    Thoughts from 20%
    spoilers

    View spoiler

    5
    comments 3
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  • Xalaila commented on a post

    2w
  • The Wedding People
    Thoughts from 11%

    I love this writing style so much.

    12
    comments 2
    Reply