displacedcactus

She/her 🏳️‍🌈 Elder Millennial 👵Niche Non-fiction Enthusiast 📚 I live in Edmonds, WA with my spouse and our corgi. When not reading, I love to craft, dance, and try new food and drinks.

27008 points

0% overlap

My Taste

Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell

Cosmic Love at the Multiverse Hair Salon

Reading...

20%

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries

48%

displacedcactus earned a badge

Level 12

27000 points

displacedcactus made progress on...

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries

Kory Stamper

48%

displacedcactus commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

CasRambles

A Book No One Else Has

What's one book in your PB library that no one you follow has in theirs? I find it's so rare for me to find a book on here that isn't already in the tbr or interested shelf of at least one other person I'm following, unless it's a non-fiction. So, I'm curious about everyone else. Do you have any books like this? Something that feels almost completely undiscovered?

displacedcactus commented on nezuu's update

nezuu finished a book

A Murder Most Camp

Nicolas DiDomizio

The Guncle meets Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies in this fun, twisty mystery following a spoiled nepo baby forced to work at a struggling summer camp who stumbles into a real-life murder mystery he has no choice but to solve. Rustic cabins. Lakefront bonfires. A painfully hot lifeguard. And a murder? Summer has never been this camp. Mikey Hartford IV has coasted through his twenties in a distracted blur of yachts and sex and partying. But when his father discovers his latest million-dollar impulse buy and changes the terms of his trust, the party's finally over. Now, unless Mikey can make a positive contribution to the world before his thirtieth birthday—one that doesn't involve throwing cash at his problems—he'll never see another yacht again. (Or even so much as a canoe.) Camp Lore, a struggling summer camp in upstate New York where Mikey has to work as the oldest, least-qualified staffer to prove that he can "do good" alongside his twelve-year-old aunt. (Yes, aunt.) But Mikey isn't sure he'll be able to survive the camp's ramshackle living conditions, let alone the gaggle of preteens who won't leave his side. And when his campers become obsessed with a local legend set at an abandoned cabin on the grounds, Mikey's chances of not making it through the summer become dangerously real—because it turns out there's a murder hidden beneath Camp Lore. And someone there will stop at nothing to keep it that way. Solving a decade-old cold case will surely be enough "good" for Mikey to earn his inheritance. He just has to stay alive long enough to do it…

displacedcactus commented on a post

Storyteller

Thoughts from 5%

"Scholar standing knee-deep in the primodial soup of early Western bookselling" I love the writing style in this book 😄

displacedcactus made progress on...

How Queer Bookshops Changed the World

A.J. West

displacedcactus started reading...

How Queer Bookshops Changed the World

A.J. West

For over a century, LGBTQ+ bookshops have been the unsung heroes of queer liberation Home not only to books but chaotic community noticeboards, vicious rescue cats and countless meet cutes, queer bookshops have always been more than just bookshops, offering friendship, solidarity and sanctuary. Travelling the world – Shakespeare and Company in Paris, Gay’s the Word in London, the Oscar Wilde Bookshop in New York – A. J. West explores the remarkable history of these bookstores. Tracing their evolution from under-the-counter operations to beloved out-and-proud institutions, West reveals how the queer bookshop stood at the vanguard of LGBTQ+ rights, offering support and vital information through the AIDS crisis and bringing the fight to Section 28 and book bans. A powerful testament not only to bookshops but to the courage of queer booksellers, from Sylvia Beach hiding books from the Nazis in laundry baskets to Craig Rodwell facing off against the police at the Stonewall riots, A. J. West celebrates the shops and booksellers that brought queer literature and lives into the mainstream.

displacedcactus commented on displacedcactus's update

displacedcactus finished a book

The Monster's Bones: The Discovery of T. Rex and How It Shook Our World

David K. Randall

A gripping narrative of a fearless paleontologist, the founding of America’s most loved museums, and the race to find the largest dinosaurs on record. In the dust of the Gilded Age Bone Wars, two vastly different men emerge with a mission to fill the empty halls of New York’s struggling American Museum of Natural History: Henry Fairfield Osborn, a privileged socialite whose reputation rests on the museum’s success, and intrepid Kansas-born fossil hunter Barnum Brown. When Brown unearths the first Tyrannosaurus Rex fossils in the Montana wilderness, forever changing the world of paleontology, Osborn sees a path to save his museum from irrelevancy. With four-foot-long jaws capable of crushing the bones of its prey and hips that powered the animal to run at speeds of 25 miles per hour, the T. Rex suggests a prehistoric ecosystem more complex than anyone imagined. As the public turns out in droves to cower before this bone-chilling giant of the past and wonder at the mysteries of its disappearance, Brown and Osborn together turn dinosaurs from a biological oddity into a beloved part of culture. Vivid and engaging, The Monster’s Bones journeys from prehistory to present day, from remote Patagonia to the unforgiving badlands of the American West to the penthouses of Manhattan. With a wide-ranging cast of robber barons, eugenicists, and opportunistic cowboys, New York Times best-selling author David K. Randall reveals how a monster of a bygone era ignited a new understanding of our planet and our place within it.

displacedcactus finished a book

The Monster's Bones: The Discovery of T. Rex and How It Shook Our World

David K. Randall

displacedcactus commented on a post

10h

bandrs

Thoughts from 66% (page 169)

spoilers

View spoiler

displacedcactus commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

10h

vulpix

how has PB changed you as a reader?

I've been on PB for about 6 months now and am noticing that I'm reading SO MUCH MORE and am also much more likely to be critically engaging with texts.

As someone who has been in university for 9 years (with one year break), I used to treat fiction as even more of a brain break. I was reading a lot of the same types of books - i.e. endless amounts of books about lady spies mixed with every available popular linguistics book. I'd also read every single Tudor historical fiction book available when I was in high school. Before joining PB I was just starting to dip my toes into fantasy (shoutout to R.F. Kuang for converting me).

Now, I find myself constantly exercising my literary analysis muscles and also reading a much wider variety of books. I've learned that I absolutely love found family in fantasy (because duh) and definitely don't mind it when authors get a little experimental (please drop recs for this btw!).

I'm curious, how has PB changed the way you approach books or the types of books you read?

displacedcactus commented on OhMyDio's review of A Murder Most Camp

11h

OhMyDio

Jul 23, 2026

A Murder Most Camp

4.0

Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 3.5Characters: 4.0Plot: 4.0

I had a great time! The vibes are campy, over the top, fun, self deprecating, infused with 90s/00's pop culture, and genuinely wholesome.

I was pretty engaged in the mystery, really enjoyed the winding path it took, and most of all enjoyed the progression our characters have.

The common complaints about this book are understandable - it can rough to read about the perceived plights of the mega rich in 2026, the number of pop culture references is staggering, and Mikey IS a lot. These things ultimately didn't bother me, personally, as they all pretty clearly mimic what media was commonly like as I was growing up. It felt very strongly like a call back to 90/00's media, and more specifically it all felt intentional. Mikey doesn't quote movies 24/7 because Didomizio doesn't understand how many is too many; Mikey quotes them constantly because Didomizio does understand that when someone has been isolated for the last twenty years they cling to their comfort outlet like a life raft. And so on and so forth; I think Didomizio did a great job actually encapsulating "camp" and I would totally read more from him.

Shout out to my buddy readers, who pushed this from just a fun read into a great time!! 🤠🍋🥐

displacedcactus wrote a review...

11h

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

displacedcactus

Jul 24, 2026

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

💣

🪦

🇵🇸

It's hard to know how to rate this or what to say about it, which is why I've waited to review it. I can tell how cathartic it was for the author to write this, and I think he's right about what he's saying, but at the same time... it kind of felt like a rant that I was just nodding alongside with. I know everything he's saying. I know why he's saying it. I've read other authors and online commentators share similar feelings. So it didn't feel like there was anything new or different being said. Maybe I would have felt differently if I'd read it right when it came out.

I think the biggest problem with this sort of book is that the people who need to hear the message will never read it. Only those of us who already agree with the author will read it. I wish we could instead put this book in the hands of the politicians who continue to side with Israel.

I am glad this book was published, at least. It shows there are people in publishing who give a damn about what is happening.

displacedcactus commented on kimikat's update

kimikat TBR'd a book

13h

The Girl With A Thousand Faces

Sunyi Dean

From the USA Today bestselling author of The Book Eaters comes The Girl with a Thousand Faces, a Gothic tale set in a historical Hong Kong that meshes ancient myths and local legends into a haunting story of ghosts, grief, and women who will not forgive. When Mercy Chan washed up on the shores of Hong Kong with no family, no money, and no memories, she was thrust into the horrors of World War II. She only survived by hiding in Kowloon Walled City, an infamous, ghost-infested slum full of lost and traumatized civilians. Since the end of the war, she has rebuilt her life and found work with the local triad as a ghost-talker, dealing with the angry and bitter spirits who haunt this place. These days, the filthy gutters and cramped alleyways of Kowloon feel like home. But the past she can’t remember won’t let her go. An unusually powerful ghost has infested Kowloon’s waterways, drowning innocents and threatening the district. Unnervingly, it claims to know Mercy―and her forgotten childhood. As Mercy is drawn into a deadly cat-and-mouse game with this malignant spirit, she begins to realize that the monster she fights within these walls may well be one of her own making. 33 years before, mere days ahead of the Japanese invasion, Sung Siu Yin and her mother flee Hong Kong, intending to hide out on her mother's ancestral island home. It’s beautiful, tranquil, and remote. . . but also inhabited by ghosts ever since the entire village drowned in a storm many years ago. Still, it’s better than living under occupation. But as the war drags on and isolation sets in, Siu Yin is increasingly drawn into the island's grim past―a past that may still have a hold on the present. There is a darkness lurking beneath that idyllic ocean, and it has been waiting many years for someone to return. "The Girl With a Thousand Faces confirms Sunyi Dean as one of the most interesting voices in genre fiction.”―Gareth Brown, USA Today bestselling author of The Book of Doors

Post from the The Monster's Bones: The Discovery of T. Rex and How It Shook Our World forum

13h

displacedcactus

Thoughts from 70%

"His nibs, old boney" as a nickname for a dinosaur is sending me. I'm gonna have to remember for the next time there's a lich villain in a game 😂

Post from the The Monster's Bones: The Discovery of T. Rex and How It Shook Our World forum

14h

displacedcactus

Thoughts from 66%

2/3 of the way into this book about discovering t-rex and FINALLY we have a t-rex. This book needs less whiny white guys and more dinosaurs. Riley Black has spoiled me.

Post from the The Monster's Bones: The Discovery of T. Rex and How It Shook Our World forum

15h

displacedcactus

Thoughts from 61%

We should have stuck with "automobile stable" instead of "parking garage".

displacedcactus commented on a post

15h

TheAfterwords

Edited

Help me choose my next read for the quest? 👀

I am one book away from my bronze badge, but I'd love your recs on which of the quest books I own I should prioritize for bronze, since I own a bunch from the quest! So... of this list, which one is the favorite you've read?:

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea (1 for audio!) The Binding (1) A Forgery of Fate The Drowned Woods Ink Blood Sister Scribe (1) The Darkest Part of the Forest Blood Over Bright Haven (4) Spinning Silver (2) An Enchantment of Ravens Babel (2) Katabasis (1) The Spear Cuts Through Water (5) A Sorceress Comes to Call (2) Gallant (4)

Thanks for your help! 🙇

Edit: I've added the number of people who recc-ed a book hehe

displacedcactus is interested in reading...

16h