Hello all! While the age old saying "Don't judge a book by its cover" is a good lesson to live by particularly in reference to people, I think we've all found ourselves buying a book or being offput by one based on the cover once or twice (or many times beyond that). I recently subscribed to a fantasy book subscription box and the covers are absolutely GORGEOUS. I'll be the first to admit that a pretty book has a way of enticing me, even if its just enticing me to read the back cover. So, I thought I'd pose this question to the masses of Pagebound and give myself an oppurtunity to not only get book recommendations (perhaps), but also look at some beautiful covers. So, what are some of your favorite books covers? They don't even have to be books you've read (or even liked), but a cover that captivated or stuck with you. I'd love to hear your top picks, and hopefully they'll inspire even more books on to my TBR. Some of my personal favorites: The "Emily Wilde" series by Heather Fawcett. I haven't read all three yet, but I'm obsessed with the covers. I don't typically buy hard cover copies of books, but the original US "Encyclopaedia of Faeries" cover was so beautiful to me. I haven't yet read "A Study in Drowning" by Ava Reid , but the cover of both the first and second book I love. Another book I haven't read, but love the cover, "Anatomy" by Dana Schwartz. It's simple but so effective! I'm eager to hear your favorites!

Hey, Pagebound readers! I've noticed something about book covers that really bugs me: those featuring real people/photographs. Whether it's a face staring out or a posed figure, I get an instant aversion, and I suspect I'm not alone. I can’t quite explain why... maybe it’s too direct or breaks the imagination’s spell? If you also get this reaction, what’s behind it for you? Do you get through it and read the book anyway? The truth is that I've never ever read a book with a cover like that, even though I understand there are many great books behind those covers... I simply can't get past it. Can you help me unpack why these covers turn some people off? What about them clashes with the reading experience? 📚

I might be shitting on a lot of readers and okay, anyone can read whatever they want to. Who cares. But here's my qualm with it, the question annoys me so so so much whenever I see it below marketing posts and reviews. Why is this question so important? Is that the sole marker of your reading list? Not that there's anything wrong with spice but there are specific genres that are catered to your reading preferences so why would you ask that below random books? Especially IF IT'S YA??? THEY ARE TEENAGERS. WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO READ ABOUT MINORS HAVING SEX??? THAT'S WEIRD. (I'M LOOKING AT YOU SARAH J MASS) It gives this narrative that books need to be spicy to have good romance and that's just not true. It's because of this mindset that so many authors who have genuinely good stories with potential feel to need to have smut addded to them UNNECESSARILY because otherwise a lot of readers won't pick it up. THERE IS A WHOLE GENRE FOR YOU — EROTICA. IT'S CALLED EROTICA. Can you please pick up erotica instead of asking that question under posts about random books. PLEASE. LET ME ENJOY MY NON SMUT ROMANCE/THRILLER/FANTASY/MYTERY IN PEACE. I'M BEGGIN YOU Edit: A good example of this was people asking "does it have smut" under a post about The Last Tiger by The Riew Siblings. They'd clearly mentioned in the post that the book was a fictional retelling of their grandparents' very real story AND on top of that it was YA. And then you ask. Does. It. Have. Smut??? Be for real right now please 😭

I follow this creator on instagram, Steven J. Reese, who is currently reading a book set in each of the 50 U.S. states. I love this project and have been really inspired by it. Personally, I've been trying to expand the scope of what books I read, particularly trying to read from different parts of the world (shoutout to women in translation!) I majored in English in college and the texts we read were largely from the States or Europe, particularly Britain. I've recently read a few books by Korean authors, Tender is the Flesh (Argentinian), amongst others. To keep track of my progress I'm thinking of both creating a few lists on Pagebound and also getting a physical map to check off the places where I've 'read from.' If you have any recommendations or want to follow along let me know!

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Hi! Unfortunately the fall and winter are just hard for me due to losses I have to live with, and I’m hoping to read some books where the characters are going through the same. It has helped me in the past :) I’m also looking to explore more genres but if you got romance with a grief subplot I’d love to hear it too!!

I'm usually reading a book while listening to a different book for times when I'm doing mundane adult shit or hobbies where I can't have a book in my hand but want my mind engaged in a story. Anyone else think it would be cool to have a "listening" status or do you consider listening to audiobooks and reading physical books the same thing?

Video gamers of Pagebound, I'm about to be finished with my current game, and I want to know if any of you have recommendations for games with great storytelling! One that comes to mind for me is Witcher 3, which is based on Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher series. Recs don't have to be based on books, just have to be great at telling its story (and hopefully also good when it comes to gameplay mechanics). Edit: Wow I’m so overwhelmed by all the recommendations (in a good way)! I think I have now wishlisted enough games to last me until I’m 40.

Is there a way to suggest adding books without having to link from the books on Goodreads? I've read 4-5 books that are not even on Goodreads, and they take forever to answer in the Librarians group... I just want them in my library 🥺 Especially books that are not in English are more challenging to find on Goodreads...

do you use custom shelves on pagebound? if you do, how do you organize them? i'm very curious, as i haven't been using ANY this entire time and i kind of think i should... just because i think i want to categorize books better before i amass a ton and it becomes too daunting to sort. right now, i'm sort of thinking i conjure up a "TBR - high priority", then a "TBR- low priority", then "Finished - would recommend/reread", and a "Finished - wouldn't recommend/reread"? i dunno! just looking for ideas from the community :) of course it's all personal preference, but what do you guys do? do you include genres or anything?

I thought it would be kind of fun to see where in the world people are, and then folks can make friends with people from the same countries/ares (if they way, not pressure obviously). I'll go first. I'm Canadian, and more specifically I am in British Columbia (Vancouver Island if you want to get fancy). Try to find your country and join that thread! Everyone else?

This may be a no brainer to some people, but I've always had the habit of buying books when they come out, if it's a book that I've been really looking forward to, or even later when my bookstore has a sale. And I've since realized how common it is for people to pre-order books, sometimes months in advance, and also how important it is to support the author, but also for the author and bookstores to get a sense of how many people are interested in the book. Do you tend to pre-order books or just buy it when it comes out?

Is it just me or do you guys also rate cheap or library borrowed books better? I find myself being harsher to books I paid good money for because if you disappoint me I just wasted 15-25€ - but when it’s cheap I can read without pressure. Usually bought books also have a certain expectation behind them and if I find something second hand/borrow it’s usually more experimental and casual. Slightly different conversation: Not buying books also means for me that there is a delay in when I can read the most popular books in online spaces because my library here (understandably) buys them in german, as I’m in germany, and the translation does and should take a certain amount of time ((Edit: doubting myself rn, don’t I gaslight myself to like the bought books because otherwise I have to live with wasted money ??))

Am I the only one who's starting to get tired of books focusing more on sex and which one is more depraved? I'm a fan of Dark Romance, but most of the books are becoming unreadable, At least for me...I'm not saying I don't do any sex scenes, but nowadays it's the whole damn book....

Hi! Unfortunately the fall and winter are just hard for me due to losses I have to live with, and I’m hoping to read some books where the characters are going through the same. It has helped me in the past :) I’m also looking to explore more genres but if you got romance with a grief subplot I’d love to hear it too!!

I want to read some dystopian fiction, so give me your recommendations, please. I've already read The Hunger Games and its prequels, 1984, and Brave New World, and I have The Handmaid's Tale, though I haven't read it yet, haha. So please recommend me more dystopian novels, especially those that aren't as well-known but that you believe are 5-star books.