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cloudcactus

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Spring 2026 Readalong
Cherry Blossom Festival 2026
My Taste
Legendborn (The Legendborn Cycle, #1)
The Guest List
The Tattooed Soldier
Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1)
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Dear Committee Members
22%
Razorblade Tears
16%
The Massacre of Mankind
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The Sirens of Titan
2%

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Dear Committee Members

Dear Committee Members

Julie Schumacher

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  • The Bromance Book Club (Bromance Book Club, #1)
    Thoughts from 46%
    spoilers

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  • cloudcactus commented on daniellereads's update

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    The Only Band in the World

    The Only Band in the World

    Ryan Bird

    44%
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    Post from the The Massacre of Mankind forum

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  • The Massacre of Mankind
    Thoughts from 1% (page 12) First page of Chapter 1

    Literally on page 1 and the author goes “The further a world is from the sun, the older it must be, and cooler”. Colder, yes, but that’s not how planets’ age works. I don’t think it would bother me as much if it were a more modern book, but this book is written in the same style as War of the Worlds and Asimov’s books, where the science is meant to be read seriously. Maybe I’m not very familiar with this style anymore (it’s been awhile), am I supposed to read this as exposition/set-up for the story-verse or does this man not know how space works?

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  • A Master of Djinn (Dead Djinn Universe, #1)
    Thoughts from 45% (Chapter Thirteen)
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  • The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
    Thoughts from 15% (page 77)

    Okay i was gonna save my rant for the final review but now that I’m getting to parts where I have knowledge I’m starting to realize maybe he wasn’t being vague earlier he just researched this very very poorly.

    I have a casual interest in religious studies and even I can see how much misinformation there is. I am going to be honest this man is just flat out lying. There is 0 nuance throughout his Christianity chapters and the way he talks about the differences in theology is so vague that it’s obvious he didn’t really understand much of anything. But I am very new to understanding Christian theology myself so I wasn’t sure despite it feeling wrong. But I do know Islamic theology and history and the Islam chapters have so much misinformation that it’s just SILLY at how wrong it is. Like he says Islam preaches that if you follow it you will have plentiful crops and how that gave people an economic incentive. I looked at his source. It’s a verse from the Quran and the context from previous verses is how people are asking how can we possibly be resurrected to which God replies that a is it not a sign how grain is grown from previously dead earth, asking the reader to reflect on the seasons and the cycle of death and life. Completely unrelated to if you believe you get good crops. He then says the treaty of Hudaybiyah helped the Muslims when it is common knowledge that it was notoriously unfair for Muslims with one prominent companion having been recorded as saying “oh Messenger of God, are we not in the right in our belief? Why must we agree to such terms?” There was even a clause where if Mecca had converts and they escaped to Medina, the Muslims in Medina had to return them and could not provide them refuge. He then says on the next page that Islam had the support of the Quraysh and that’s why it spread but that’s just blatantly false. The Quraysh elite did not accept Islam until the conquest of Mecca which is very very late into the Prophet’s life. And all of this was within 3 pages. There were so many other things in the last few pages but I would have to write my own book to refute every piece of misinformation.

    Also I was very annoyed that he skipped over pretty much all of India and the Indian religions, mentioned Zoroastrianism only as it pertains to Christianity and the struggle between Rome and Persia, and Buddhism got the barest of mentions???

    I was promised a different look at history but it’s all just Rome and Persia and occasionally we will talk about China. I am tired of him and I’m not even half way through.

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  • The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
    Thoughts from 3% (page 13)

    I had always thought that visas and the current immigration system was a result of modern colonialism (and it surely is to a certain extent) but even back in the early days of the silk roads, China had a system to keep track of all of the foreign merchants that were coming and going and even had a customs department. Sometimes I forget that globalization is a far older concept than just the modern era of globalization.

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  • cloudcactus commented on cloudcactus's update

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    Razorblade Tears

    Razorblade Tears

    S.A. Cosby

    16%
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    cloudcactus made progress on...

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    Razorblade Tears

    Razorblade Tears

    S.A. Cosby

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    cloudcactus started reading...

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    The Massacre of Mankind

    The Massacre of Mankind

    Stephen Baxter

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    cloudcactus commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

    1d
  • Shout to the void (pt8)🪐

    Well well well.. would you look at what time it is! What’s a complaint (big, small, dramatic, silly, serious) that you need to shout to the void?!💭

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  • cloudcactus made progress on...

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    The Silk Roads: A New History of the World

    The Silk Roads: A New History of the World

    Peter Frankopan

    49%
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  • The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
    Thoughts from 43% (page 549) halfway through chapter 16

    Damn, this man really wants to talk about Europe. He spent 10 chapters on 1500 years of history to really dive into the last 500 years across 14 chapters? (That’s not a question, I’m in disbelief) Sir where was this level of detail earlier? We could have had this the entire time?

    Also in the literal introduction he was talking about how he wanted to disrupt the flow of history he was taught growing up in the West with Britain as inheritor-of-Greece-and-Rome and really focus on the fact that the power in the world was focused on the Mediterranean and Central Asia up until relatively recently. But he’s not actually doing that.

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  • cloudcactus commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

    2d
  • First-Line Friday (Pt. 6) 📚 ✨

    Happy Friday, fellow fiction fans!

    Drop the first line or two of the book you're currently reading, and let fellow Boundlings try to guess the title and author. If no one gets it by the end of the day, come back and reveal the answer!

    A few friendly guidelines: • Keep it to the first line or two only (no spoilers!) • Don’t include the title or author right away • Feel free to add a hint later if people get stuck

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  • cloudcactus commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

    2d
  • Plans for May🏵

    Happy new month my fellow Boundlings! I hope that April was kind to you and that May will be much kinder. What are everyone's plans and goals for the month,book related or not? As for me, I want to finish my Austen marathon this month and then maybe reread some books I read in primary and high school or pick up some mystery books as a self proclaimed mystery fan😂. The last time I read mystery was a while ago which was Hardy boys then before that was Nancy Drew and or Famous five.

    Anyways,let me know what your plans and goals are for the month! I would love to see what you guys are up to and what you guys plan to do☺️!

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  • cloudcactus commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

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  • Wake up! It's the first of the month!

    -Insert dancing cows here-

    Happy May, everyone! Hope everyone has a great month filled with love and happiness!

    What goals or plans do you have for the month? These can be book related or just random goals you have!

    I'll go first - my goals for the month are to read at least 4 books and a non-book related goal is to finish my uni assignment for the summer break!

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