I figured I would post this to help others who, like me, had no real context for the title in the way it was apparently intended, because I never would have known anything about it!

The most obvious reference is the biblical verse, which I was puzzled about through the whole book and I couldn’t quite make it fully fit: immediately after Jesus is resurrected, he says this to Mary Magdalene. “Noli me tangere” is Latin and means “touch me not”. In this context, he is telling her not to touch him because he’s no longer of this world; their relationship now only exists in the spiritual sense.

Okay, I thought, perhaps the title is referencing Ibarra’s journey and transition from a bourgeois man who is rather blind to the problems in the Philippines to another perspective? Or perhaps the transition of his relationship with María Clara?

Possibly, but I discovered something much more on the nose and fitting: apparently at the time and place Rizal wrote this, “Noli me tangere” was a euphemistic way of referring to cancers of the face, particularly eye cancers. These cancers are especially painful when touched.

In this book, Rizal is purposefully probing areas that are painful for his fellow Filipinos and citizens of the Spanish empire. He’s poking at these sores that people tried to avoid because they needed to be addressed, despite the discomfort.

The first English translation of the book was “The Social Cancer”, referencing this idea as well.

I hope this helps someone!

Context: As Pagebound grows, we have been brainstorming sustainable ways to create more Quests that the community is eager to see. We're trialing a new idea for a community-voted Quest, inspired by a List. More info in the last post I made in Founder's Announcements.

For the past week, Pagebound Royalty members have submitted nominations for Lists to inspire Quests. Jennifer and I have gone through and ensured all the Lists you'll be voting on meet our Quest guidelines. There are 86 Lists eligible for you to vote on, and you can find them in this spreadsheet.

There will be 3 winning Lists selected from different genre categories. You can vote for up to 3 lists from different genres. Submit your votes via this form through end of day April 8th. Take note of the Quest type when voting (Column C in the spreadsheet)! Many nominated Lists share a theme but vary in length. Preference for a Side vs Main Quest could help you decide which to vote for. Most Lists will be Side Quests, but Lists with many books (~60+) will be Main Quests.

The creators of the winning Lists will be able to accept/reject. If they accept, we will create a Quest inspired by their List, adapting the title & book list as necessary to fit Quest constraints. If they decline, we'll ask the runner-up! The resulting Quest will not be open to book additions since there will not be anyone actively maintaining the book list (similar to when a Main Quest hits its 100 book cap and is closed to further additions).

If this is a good experience for the community, we plan to run this List nomination + voting process quarterly. Our goals here are to encourage quality List-making, give the entire community a voice in Quest creation in a sustainable way, acknowledge our Royalty supporters, and create some exciting, diverse Quests!

Thanks for voting! Jennifer & Lucy

”Ideas of things, feelings of things, are becoming the things themselves … Every metaphor presents itself as what was there all along. I might have described the feeling in my chest as a crow. Now the feeling is the thing. A furled, feathered thing rotting into my unrotting flesh.”

i really like this delineation between past and present being defined by the metaphorical vs the literal. to me this reads as the death of imagination and emotion, replaced by empty hunger (for ideas, feelings, substance).

where people used to invoke an image or conjure the surreal to make sense of their interiority or abstract concepts, in this new world they lack the original substance that metaphors are made of. there’s no feeling, only a crow – a poor, rotting placeholder for a feeling.

I personally don't like readers who judge others on what they read? Like what do others reading has with you, once i saw guy who reads non fiction saying how romance books don't count as reading and how you aint reader, like buddy, if you read you are reader, or a person who judges how much person read in a month or a year, i recently started counting books i read last year i didn't, i don't even know how much i read until i realized people actually count and make goals how much they wanna read, i never understand those readers, so share what you think :)

Hi all, happy April! For all who participated in last month’s buddy read of The Milkweed Lands: An Epic Story of One Plant by Eric Lee-Mäder, I hope you had a good time! It was great seeing so many folks in the forum - and personally, I really love seeing active nonfiction forums!

Most importantly, a big thank you to everyone who has joined the quest so far!!! There’s over 550 of you guys, can you believe it?! By the end of this month, I’ll no longer be working as an entomologist, so having this quest is going to feel extra meaningful to me as a way to stay connected to the critters I love. I’m glad there are so many of you here with me! It makes my little bug nerd heart happy to see people reading these books 💚

Are there any books in the quest you’ve particularly enjoyed? Any that you can’t wait to get to? If you weren’t a bug nerd already, have any of these books inspired you to take a closer look when you’re out and about? I’d love to hear about any little stories or tidbits on ways any of these books might have impacted your perspective!

Posted April 1, 2026