Alright, hypothetical time:

If you were suddenly forced (no prep, no notes, no emotional support water bottle) to give a 30-minute speech on a bookish topic, what would you pick, and how unhinged would it get?

Are you calmly delivering a thoughtful analysis, or are you 12 minutes in yelling about morally grey characters and pacing in trilogies?

I’m deeply curious what everyone's "I could talk about this for way too long" subject is 👀

There's nothing like the 'cringe' of a dated 2006 reference to pull you out of a story - but is 'fixing' it even worse? Kindle is officially "modernizing" older titles, and the result is a bizarre time-warp where 2006 characters are obsessed with TikTok and Billie Eilish.

I came across this article detailing how the Pretty Little Liars (PLL) series (originally published in 2006) is being "modernized" both on Kindle (and apparently in the recent printings), but it's something I have been ruminating about since the story broke. I believe the initial person to raise these concerns was @coastalsoftgirl on X, who spotted the changes within the first few pages of the book.

I thought about posting this on the PLL forum since this specific case is about PLL , but the implications are global and I wanted more people's perspectives on this. I'm sure this is happening in other books, they just haven't been caught yet.

The Changes are.... a Choice Some of the examples of the "modernization" changes include

1. Instead of inviting the girls over to watch Fear Factor reruns, the text how says they're coming over to watch a "TikTok Challenge"
2. Gwen Stefani references have been swapped with Adele.
3. Green Day's American Idiot has been replaced with Billie Eilish's Bad Guy
4. Characters who originally used Sidekicks (RIP) are now using iPhones.

Paradox of Immersion On one hand, I get the logic. I often get pulled out of a story when a reference hasn't aged well or feels otherwise jarring. It reminds me of how Kesha recently change her TiK ToK lyrics from "feeling like P. Diddy" because that reference carries a very different, darker weight now than it did in 2009. Sometimes, an update feels like a necessary "fix" for the vibe. But on the other hand, books are historical capsule. Swapping Fear Factor for Tiktok feels almost like an "uncanny valley" experience because the characters are technically in 2006 but using 2020's tech. If we start "live-patching" literature like it's a video, do we lose the context of when it was written?

So, I bring my questions to you, Boundlings!

1. Does a dated reference ruin your immersion, or do you prefer the "time capsule" feeling, or land somewhere in between?
2. Do you think "modernizing" is helpful for new generations/the authors and publishers, or is it a more a form of digital revisionism?
3. Most importantly: If we buy a digital book, should the publisher have the right to change the "art" inside our device years later without us opting in?

Quests, created by Top Contributors, are such a labor of love, and there's so much time and effort put into research and curation. 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.

How this will work:

1. Royalty members can nominate a List (their own or any community List) that would make a great starting point for a Quest. Royalty members will receive a notification tomorrow + an email with a link to a form to fill out by EOD March 31st to nominate. The form will include context about what makes for a great Quest.
2. The entire Pagebound community will then vote on which nominated List will inspire a Quest. Everyone will receive a notification on April 1st with a link to vote.
3. The creator of the winning List will be able to accept/reject.
4. If they accept, we will create a Quest inspired by their List, adapting the title & book list if necessary to fit Quest guidelines (for example, if a List has 20 books, we will reduce it to 15 for a Side Quest; if a List includes all 7 books of a series, we would put book 1; all books from the Quest would come from the original List curation). In the Quest description, the List creator will be credited and their List linked. The resulting Quest could be either a Main or Side Quest, but it 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).

We hope this idea will encourage quality List-making, give the entire community a voice in Quest creation in a sustainable way, acknowledge our Royalty supporters, and result in more diverse Quests. We think it can be a fun community-building activity! That said, we will see if this trial achieves those goals before deciding if and how often we'll repeat it.

Thanks for helping us trial and your open-minded participation! Jennifer & Lucy