emeraldeclipse

30–she/her—One time library assistant, all time book lover

722 points

0% overlap

My Taste

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

Reading...

38%

43%

emeraldeclipse is interested in reading...

What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

Randall Munroe

Randall Munroe left NASA in 2005 to start up his hugely popular site XKCD 'a web comic of romance, sarcasm, math and language' which offers a witty take on the world of science and geeks. It now has 600,000 to a million page hits daily. Every now and then, Munroe would get emails asking him to arbitrate a science debate. 'My friend and I were arguing about what would happen if a bullet got struck by lightning, and we agreed that you should resolve it . . . ' He liked these questions so much that he started up What If. If your cells suddenly lost the power to divide, how long would you survive? How dangerous is it, really, to be in a swimming pool in a thunderstorm? If we hooked turbines to people exercising in gyms, how much power could we produce? What if everyone only had one soulmate? When (if ever) did the sun go down on the British empire? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? What would happen if the moon went away? In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, studded with memorable cartoons and infographics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion. Far more than a book for geeks, WHAT IF: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much the smarter for having read.

emeraldeclipse made progress on...

Project Hail Mary

Andy Weir

38%

emeraldeclipse wrote a review...

emeraldeclipse

Aug 11, 2026

A Caribbean Mystery

4.0

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

🔍️

🌴

🏖️

Miss Marple finds herself in the Caribbean, and as it often does, murder has followed her. This is my first Miss Marple book in a long time, and I had forgotten how funny she can be! The mystery had me guessing until the very end, but once it was revealed, it seemed so obvious, which is a testament to Agatha Christie’s writing.

emeraldeclipse finished a book

A Caribbean Mystery

Agatha Christie

There is no rest or relaxation for Miss Marple. Agatha Christie's most appealing sleuth returns in this classic baffler of a vacation-turned-deadly. Nephew Raymond West has given his favourite aunt a vacation at a beautiful resort in the Caribbean. While there she encounters an old wind-bag. One of his stories is about meeting a murderer. He has a snapshot. Suddenly he hesitates, and gets flustered. By the next morning he is dead, seemingly of natural causes. Miss Marple has doubts. And well she should.

emeraldeclipse made progress on...

A Caribbean Mystery

Agatha Christie

73%

emeraldeclipse made progress on...

A Caribbean Mystery

Agatha Christie

68%

emeraldeclipse commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

redeyedzhaan

Edited

Assigned reading: blessing or curse?

I was an English major, and had an extended reading slump after graduation due to burnout from the sheer volume of assigned reading I'd had to do. But there were definitely some gems in there I might never have read otherwise.

What is a loved and/or hated book that you were obligated to read, whether for school, work, or whatever reason?

For me, Loved: North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell Hated: Moby Dick by Melville

emeraldeclipse is interested in reading...

The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth

Beth Allison Barr

Biblical womanhood--the belief that God designed women to be submissive wives, virtuous mothers, and joyful homemakers--pervades North American Christianity. From choices about careers to roles in local churches to relationship dynamics, this belief shapes the everyday lives of evangelical women. Yet biblical womanhood isn't biblical, says Baylor University historian Beth Allison Barr. It arose from a series of clearly definable historical moments. This book moves the conversation about biblical womanhood beyond Greek grammar and into the realm of church history--ancient, medieval, and modern--to show that this belief is not divinely ordained but a product of human civilization that continues to creep into the church. Barr's historical insights provide context for contemporary teachings about women's roles in the church and help move the conversation forward. Interweaving her story as a Baptist pastor's wife, Barr sheds light on the #ChurchToo movement and abuse scandals in Southern Baptist circles and the broader evangelical world, helping readers understand why biblical womanhood is more about human power structures than the message of Christ.

emeraldeclipse commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

vulpecula

Fall Readalong Books Discussion

Now that the fall 2026 PB Readalong books have been announced (🔗here), how many new books did y'all end up adding to your TBR/Interested? One? Two? All of them? Which are you interested in or not interested in?

I already have one that I've read (The Incandescent), but depending on how my reading goes in the fall and how much time I have, I might read Death of the Author and The Ornithologist's Field Guild to Love as well, since I've heard good enough about them before!

emeraldeclipse is interested in reading...

We Are Okay

Nina LaCour

You go through life thinking there’s so much you need… Until you leave with only your phone, your wallet, and a picture of your mother. Marin hasn’t spoken to anyone from her old life since the day she left everything behind. No one knows the truth about those final weeks. Not even her best friend, Mabel. But even thousands of miles away from the California coast, at college in New York, Marin still feels the pull of the life and tragedy she’s tried to outrun. Now, months later, alone in an emptied dorm for winter break, Marin waits. Mabel is coming to visit, and Marin will be forced to face everything that’s been left unsaid and finally confront the loneliness that has made a home in her heart.

emeraldeclipse is interested in reading...

The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love

India Holton

Rival ornithologists hunt through England for a rare magical bird in this historical-fantasy rom-com reminiscent of Indiana Jones but with manners, tea, and helicopter parasols. Beth Pickering is on the verge of finally capturing the rare deathwhistler bird when Professor Devon Lockley swoops in, capturing both her bird and her imagination like a villain. Albeit a handsome and charming villain, but that's beside the point. As someone highly educated in the ruthless discipline of ornithology, Beth knows trouble when she sees it, and she is determined to keep her distance from Devon. For his part, Devon has never been more smitten than when he first set eyes on Professor Beth Pickering. She's so pretty, so polite, so capable of bringing down a fiery, deadly bird using only her wits. In other words, an angel. Devon understands he must not get close to her, however, since they're professional rivals. When a competition to become Birder of the Year by capturing an endangered caladrius bird is announced, Beth and Devon are forced to team up to have any chance of winning. Now keeping their distance becomes a question of one bed or two. But they must take the risk, because fowl play is afoot, and they can't trust anyone else—for all may be fair in love and war, but this is ornithology.

emeraldeclipse is interested in reading...

Death of the Author

Nnedi Okorafor

The future of storytelling is here. Life has thrown Zelu some curveballs over the years, but when she's suddenly dropped from her university job and her latest novel is rejected, all in the middle of her sister's wedding, her life is upended. Disabled, unemployed and from a nosy, high-achieving, judgmental family, she's not sure what comes next. In her hotel room that night, she takes the risk that will define her life - she decides to write a book VERY unlike her others. A science fiction drama about androids and AI after the extinction of humanity. And everything changes. What follows is a tale of love and loss, fame and infamy, of extraordinary events in one world, and another. And as Zelu's life evolves, the lines between fiction and reality begin to blur. Because sometimes a story really does have the power to reshape the world.

emeraldeclipse made progress on...

A Caribbean Mystery

Agatha Christie

30%

emeraldeclipse is interested in reading...

A Short Stay in Hell

Steven L. Peck

An ordinary family man, geologist, and Mormon, Soren Johansson has always believed he’ll be reunited with his loved ones after death in an eternal hereafter. Then, he dies. Soren wakes to find himself cast by a God he has never heard of into a Hell whose dimensions he can barely grasp: a vast library he can only escape from by finding the book that contains the story of his life. In this haunting existential novella, author, philosopher, and ecologist Steven L. Peck explores a subversive vision of eternity, taking the reader on a journey through the afterlife of a world where everything everyone believed in turns out to be wrong.

emeraldeclipse made progress on...

A Caribbean Mystery

Agatha Christie

18%

emeraldeclipse commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

FairyPeriapt

Edited

Nostalgia: What do you miss about reading when you were a kid?

So I was literally just thinking about how different my reading is from when I was younger to now and I was thinking about all the things that I kind of missed so I'm just curious about how everyone else feels

Like is there a difference for you between like when you read as a kid or not?

Personally, I miss how easily I picked my next reads. Like I did not face the indecision that I do know and I really miss the like lack of decision issues. However I also really makes this one very specific thing, possibly maybe to just England although I don't know, but I really miss library buses because that's what introduced me to reading as a kid, and it would just be so nostalgic just to even see one again. It is literally just as its name suggests, a little mini library on wheels and it was so amazing when it would like come onto the street and you would like walk past the lamp post and see when it would next show up on the street and get so excited over it like I want that excitement again I miss it.

So, ramble over, is there a reading thing specifically as a kid that's like pure nostalgia. Or just anything that gives you like nostalgia, I'm really curious and nosy.

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