I used to fold pages to mark my spot, crack the spine, and not cover my books with a plastic cover. Now I kinda regret it because I don’t like how my books look anymore

I’m not blaming anyone who does those things tho. We all have our own ways of loving books. Sooo, what about you? What’s something “illegal” you’ve done to a book that you regret now? Or do you have any book pet peeves?

It’s a very small thing, but I’ve noticed how healing it is to explore this platform for my anxiety regarding algorithmic recommender systems. It’s just so nice to click on book titles, discussions, people’s profiles without having to think about the influence of each click on the content I will see from now on. I haven’t realized how much of my daily social media use was dictated by being cautious of the algorithm. I wasn’t “liking” things because I liked them but because I thought it was important that more people see them. Same with the use emojis. So nice not to be a slave of an algorithm here and to engage in genuine conversations. Just wanted to share this observation of my own use of the platform. Maybe some of you noticed this as well?

Hi everyone! I'm a translator, and I've just taken on a side project to translate two books in a self-published YA fantasy series. I've only read a little of it so far, but it seems like a typical hero's journey adventure, with sword fighting, magic wielding and a lot of world building and inter-world politics going on, with a small twist.

Anyway, I read a lot of fantasy, but not necessarily YA. So, I want to know from those of you who know the genre better: what are your pet peeves, or things that really bother you about the writing you see in these types of novels? Wooden dialogue? Purple prose? Is there something I should be looking out for, or take extra care to avoid?

The writing is mediocre to okay in the source language and my goal is to elevate it, if possible.

Thank you!!

I woke up today thinking about this because I have read and hear comments that say that people won't read certain books or finish them because they felt like the book was "stupid" or that it gives them a headache because the book is "so simple". In my case, I enjoy most books I read and I can even give it a 5 star rating because it either brought out a strong emotion in me (rage, sadness, etc.), or I just enjoyed the story of the book and could appreciate the way it was written and I did not analyze it or thought that the story or narrator was "dumb" or something. In general I do not do the analyzing books thing, specially with fiction, and I would like to hear from people how do they approach reading. Is it something that needs to be like studying, is it for enjoyment, is it for critique? I'm genuinely curious.

Hello lovely Boundlings! 💖🌸

If your week was a novel, what would the critic blurbs on the cover of the book say about it? Have you had a "This book is overflowing with magic and joy" kind of week? Or was it more of a "a gentle exploration into the mundane nature of everyday life" kind of vibe?

I thought this might be a fun, creative way of taking a moment to reflect on the week before we head into a brand new one. We could even do this each Sunday if we enjoy the conversations! 🧚🏻‍♀️

Mine for this week would be: "a quiet novel which speaks tenderly about mental health and the underlying determination required to be well." (Had an anxious week so the novel would likely be some kind of poetic analogy about fear when in reality it was me doing jigsaws and watching a lot of ASMR 😂)

Let me know what yours would be and whether you'd be interested in this being weekly! 💕