So if you’re like me and are intensely motivated by ✨shiny things✨, all the Quest badges are so cute and beautiful and fun! And you want to collect them all because not only do they represent achieving a certain reading goal, but they also make your profile the most aesthetically pleasing one on the block!

I’ve joked about collecting a bunch simply because they look good together before, but with the most recent batch of Quests and avatar images that dropped, I thought there were enough options to try to make little themed sets of them as a way to procrastinate all my responsibilities. I’ve come up with a few just-for-fun “badge packs” below (solely based on the badge designs) that I think would look cool if I collected them all, but i would love to see what other people come up with! Go forth and mix and match!

Fairy Glen

For when you want your profile to resemble an enchanted meadow of sunlight and flowers and the shiniest lil critters you have ever laid eyes on

Quest badges featured: Plants, fungi, and trees - oh my!, Majestic Minibeasts, Intro to Poetry Possible avatar pairings: Fairy, elf, unicorn, satyr

Once Upon a Dream

For when you want to pretend you live in a castle in the clouds with a rainbow outside your bedroom window. And heaps of books littering the place, of course

Quest badges featured: Fairy Tale Retellings, Historical Fiction Starter Pack Vol II, LGBTQ+ Middle Grade Possible avatar pairings: Angel, princess, genie, witch

Valley of Monsters

For when you’re grinding a fantasy RPG and they throw you into a training arc. Scales and fangs and claws abound!

Quest badges featured: Those Who Lurk Among Us: Monster Manga, Flights of Fire, Mermaids After Dark Possible avatar pairings: Devil, goblin, monster, western dragon

Abducted by Aliens (but make it a grainy 1980s TV program)

For the classic sci-fi vibe. Lil green martians and flying saucers and questionable CGI (may or may not feature an “alien planet” that was filmed in some random area outside of LA)

Quest badges featured: LGBTQ+ Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi Charcuterie, Operation Epic Scope Possible avatar pairings: Alien, superhero, robot, astronaut

Queen of Hearts

For when you’re in the mood to plant a rose garden atop the beheaded corpses of your enemies. Beware the flesh-eating flowers!

Quest badges featured: Tragic Love: Queer Edition, Fantasy and Sci-Fi with a Side of Romance, Botanical Horror Possible avatar pairings: Vampire, Fabio, emo girl, Victorian Gothic

Museum Display

For when the vibe is walking into a collection of priceless artifacts and restored antiques, ready to learn about history!

Quest badges featured: Mythological World Tour, Classics Starter Pack Vol II, Greek Myth Retellings Possible avatar pairings: Detective, audiobook (you’re taking the guided audio tour)

Medieval Quest

For when you need everyone to know that you’re AOL on a quest for glory at the behest of the local monarch

Quest badges featured: Medieval Times, Gothic Literature, Universe Quest: The Cosmere + Cytoverse Possible avatar pairings: Knight, wizard, dragon, prince

Back From The Dead For The Purpose of Murdering Shitty Men

What it says on the tin

Quest badges featured: Blood Suckers, Supporting Women’s Wrongs, Sapphic Vampires Possible avatar pairings: Emo girl, vampire girl, punk

’Twas a Dark and Stormy Night

For those classic haunted house vibes. It’s a horror movie, and you’re for sure going to investigate the strange bump coming from the basement!

Quest badges featured: Whispers in the Walls, Queer Horror, The Macleaniverse Possible avatar pairings: Emo boy, ghost, Binx

Some other possible ones I thought of: The Vampire Lord’s Crusty Old Castle (Gothic Literature, Dark Academia, Blood Suckers), I’m A Magical Girl But I Love Cannibalism (Fairy Tale Retellings, Gothic Literature, Tragic Queers), A Bite To Eat (British & Irish Classic Literature, Classic Literature From the United States, Love, but Also Food), Serving Cunt in a Brutalist Hellscape (Feminine Rage, Fictional(?) Dystopian Societies, Every Villain is a Hero in Their Own Eyes), Day In the Life (Quiet Novels, Cozy Fantasy, punctuation: optional)

This is cute, and I am usually an enthusiastic cozy fantasy reader (I'm a big fan of Legends and Lattes), but for some reason I am just not getting super into this one. It is taking me a while to read because I just don't feel compelled to see where the story is going. Maybe it's because there is an established relationship and the getting together is what previously hooked me on lower-stakes fantasy with romance books.

Hi everyone! After a bit of consideration, I thought it was time for a readalong. 😎 The book for this round will be Eli Over Easy by Phil Stamper! :D

Some ground rules/reminders:

• Joining this readalong will not give you an additional badge, but it will help you get closer to earning a badge in this quest (LGBTQ+ MG)
• This will run from February 1st until March 31st 2026. Sorry, I didn't give extra heads up to account for library trips, but I hope that it won't be difficult to get and read it within two months. 😅
• Have fun! And feel free to share spoiler-free thoughts here or go to the book forum! If this one goes well, there will likely be more in the future. 👀 (The books for any potential future ones would be up to a vote, this was purely out of convenience cause I just got it from the library lol 😂😭)

Today's question is fairly simple but could provide some fun. Open the book nearest to you, flick to a random page. What is the first full sentence?

"You're not gonna make any friends with the staff this way," from The Glass Gate by Hanna Sandvig