A pet peeve of mine in romance books is when the author gives scent descriptors that most people would be completely unable to identify.

Like I’m sorry, who could identify the smell of a daisy? Flowers in general, sure - but I feel like no man would smell something and be able to label it as being daisy scented.

I’m pretty sure daisies only smell slightly floral and mostly grassy, a scent that applies to a lot of flora..

I think I feel like the insta-love is a bit overkill so it’s making me more critical lol

I personally never had an issue with DNFing a book that I don't like, and recently I've seen people who struggle to do so and even force themselves to finish a book they don't like, so I would like to understand your perspective: ¿Why don't you DNF books?

So, for example, I'm currently reading Bulgakov's 'Master and Margarita', but since I don't know Russian, I chose an edition in my native German. But if I look at Lists or Quests like the Russian Lit Starter Pack, it doesn't mark the book, because the version there is English. Now, I could, of course, log the English version instead but what if, at some point, to read the book in English (or any other language) as well? I mean, I have read some books in more than one language and I like being able to track that as well... Does anybody have the same "problem" (it's a little ridiculous to frame this as an actual problem, it's barely even an inconvenience, lol)? Have you found any workarounds or ideas? Thanks ♥️

It was my birthday this week. I've been working a lot this week so didn't get a chance to do this when it was relevant. But it's always relevant and I don't think it's too late.

I would like to ask this community for a birthday present. Will you read a book by a black author in whatever your favorite genre is? Then next time you start a new book, make it one by a black author. Read a book with a black main character. Borrow it from your library. Buy it. I don't care. But don't put it in the TBR to languish. Actually read it. I have so many lists to help you choose one. If you need recommendations, I have plenty. Tell me what you like and I will find you something.

If you choose to participate, let me know what book you picked! And if you've read one recently, especially if you're not due to start a new book for a while (series readers, I see you), recommend a book by your favorite black author in the comments! Put it in the recommendations of a similar book by a white author! Check the book recommendations for the books by white authors you're currently reading and look for black authors. If you don't see them there, add them! Upvote them! Or at the very least, don't downvote them? (I came across this again when I was adding recommendations on A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking. Whomever downvoted This Poison Heart, I hope you stub your toe.)

I dream of a day when books by black authors get the same respect and attention that books by white authors do. I dream of a day when reading isn't segregated anymore. I dream of a future different from the trajectory we're currently on. That's the birthday gift I'm giving myself.

Let's dream of that together.

Growing up with a reading specialist mother, a retired librarian aunt, and cousins who semi-frequently attend author events, I've acquired a small collection of signed/personalized books over the years. Some personal highlights include:

• Six of Crows and The Familiar signed by Leigh Bardugo
• The Fragile Threads of Power signed by V.E. Schwab
• Shatter Me signed by Tahereh Mafi
• Divine Rivals signed by Rebecca Ross
• Legend and Red City signed by Marie Lu
• Daughter of No Worlds signed by Carissa Broadbent
• Trials of Apollo: The Burning Maze signed by Rick Riordan
• Land of Stories signed by Chris Colfer
• Artemis Fowl signed by Eoin Colfer
• The Wild Robot signed by Peter Brown

Do you have any signed copies that you're excited about or proud of? Any signings you've attended where your interactions with the author made a memorable impact on you?

Is there a book that made the way you read your favorite genre change. Where a fundamental shift happened in what you thought of as great or entertaining. I actually can look back at my life and see some clear delineations of before and after.

In Fantasy it was really a two parter. As a 14 year old in 1981 I stumbled across Lord Foul’s Bane by Stephen Donaldson. It blew my mind. It made all the things I was enjoying at the time seem less. Foamfollower was my damn spirit animal. I consider Donaldson the beginning of Grim Dark. The problem is no one else was writing anything like it. It was a decade and a half later when A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin came out and the shift was complete. I still liked traditional fantasy but I loved the morally complicated characters that exploded into existence after A Game of Thrones.

In Science Fiction the answer is easy and short. There was before Dune and after Dune. I will give an honorable mention to the anthology Dangerous Visions which I read shortly after Dune.

The first small novel I ever completed was A View From The Cherry Tree by Willow Davis Roberts. I read it in 4th grade. Up until then I had been a very reluctant reader. That changed after that book. I dove into Hardy Boys and then Nancy Drew. Quickly moved onto Sherlock Holmes and Doc Savage. Honestly as I grew up I didn’t stray too far from that formula. Then I read the Black Echo by Michael Connelly and my mystery reading was never the same. I began to seek out mystery novels that were steeped in social commentary. Who used the mystery novel to talk about the world we lived with all its faults. I will give an honorable mention to Mystic River by Dennis Lehane which I still think is one of the best pieces of fiction I have ever read.

I would love to hear yours if you are willing to share.