I unfortunately am still really struggling to stay invested in these characters and this world. It's not that things aren't happening, they definitely are, but I don't feel connected enough to anything that's going on and I'm mostly just bored. I'm trying to push to the end of the book anyway, but I'm sort of afraid this series just isn't going to be for me.

I was so delighted to see this newsletter come in, really excited for what's to come from it!! I think from the things listed, I'm by far the most excited for getting the behind the scenes look at how on EARTH Lucy and Jennifer have made all of this happen!

ETA: oh my god this explains why I didn't see any other posts about it, hello who else received this?? It was from pageboundapp@substack.com?? It just said at the top I received the email bc I had created an account on Pagebound web (ages ago)??

Omg I desperately hope I'm not stealing the PB teams thunder I fully believed everyone had received this 😭 it seems it's up to subscribe here https://pageboundapp.substack.com

Heya, a friend of mine just switched over from goodreads but is rather overwhelmed and also somewhat uninterested in the updates from strangers that pop up on the main page.

So my question. Is there any way to remove that and make this whole thing a little more private. Like only seeing updates of the people you follow as an example?

I myself struggle with that and get easily overwhelmed with too much info, so its also something I asked myself but I haven’t found any relating settings so far.

I have been using bookish apps for a while now. Storygraph and then Fable— I thought that was the best that could ever happen in the world of bookish tracking/app. The experience has however always been very individual for me rather than communal. I update my goals , read at my pace, jot down my thoughts and underline my quotes, done. Partly because not many of my irl friends are consistent readers I never found a community to discuss nuances with nor had the urge to post on the other apps much. And, I never knew WHAT I WAS MISSING. Pagebound has completely transformed this, I post my bookish thoughts now and even if nobody sees it it just makes my day better knowing it's out there hanging around in this colourful space. Beautiful ❤️

P. S : THE LONG COMMENTS and DISCUSSIONS ARE GIVING MY BRAIN LIFE AND ENERGY.

Something I'm curious about: do you find it easy or hard to find books that you like? How do you categorize books you've read?

I'm interested because I'm such a non-picky reader it's a bit ridiculous. For example, in my mind I categorize books I've read like this: Books that I could relate to on a very personal level (rare) Books that I hated so much I felt they were a waste of time (rare) Every other book

In the last category there are of course differences to how much I liked the book, but it's very rare for a book to be so bad that I DNF it or put in the hate category. I also often read books I know I wont even enjoy, for example I've read almost all of the Bridgerton books, although they are such garbage I could write multiple essays about it, and I cannot for the life of me understand why I didn't stop reading after the first one!

For this reason I think it's sooo hard to rate books, which I think is also why I never joined other book sites before PG. To me most of the time a book is a book so I don't really know how I should rate it and I think I just enjoy the act of reading, rather than enjoying the actual book if that makes sense??

In a way it's nice though, because I always have something to read since the book doesn't even have to be good!

Have you ever downvoted a post or comment ? I'm curious to see because if I don't like something I will just not upvote it, but I guess if it were really problematic maybe I would downvote...? Anyway, I'm mostly curious to see, what happens, does the user receive a notification like for upvotes ? Do we lose points ? Is the post just almost never shown because it's less liked ?

I guess my conclusion is : would you downvote this please so I can see ? Thanks 😁 Also tell me what you think about downvoting please

[Answer] : no notifications, no point lost, no points gained. A bit anti-climactic, but I think I did not really expect anything else 😏

Public services are lovely beautiful things. There are many public services I take advantage of but one of them that I think the majority of us can appreciate is libraries! We have so many librarians on here (a reminder, infinite forehead kisses to you all) and just people who enjoy going to and being at the library for the books, programs, and resources!!!

I've mentioned VERY briefly before about how Amazon and other capitalistic centered for profit companies have a goal to eliminate most public services but right now Amazon is targeting libraries!!! BOOOO!!! Amazon is taking their physical book store plan a step further to start planning our AMAZON LIBRARIES.

Guys I think we are all smart enough to know it's so that politicians with enough influence and palm greasing from Amazon can say "We no longer require this public service it's not even good! They never have the books and you have to even wait for ebooks!" And then they can GET RID of libraries and use what are actually SUPER small portions of our taxes and instead of funding thousand of libraries there will now be one or MAYBE two "Amazon libraries" in states with low literacy and we will be flooded by large marquees that say AMAZON GROCERY, AMAZON ELEMENTARY, AMAZON LIBRARY, AMAZON MALL, AMAZON CAR DEALER, AMAZON SHIPPING AND POSTAGE, ALL of them requiring a monthly membership that would far outweigh any taxes you pay AND THEN you will still have to pay those same taxes! Because they will now be a former library funnel of revenue that Amazon will argue they need as support from the government and THEY WILL GET IT.

We will still pay the same taxes for all of our public services we will just also have to pay a membership to Amazon on top of it.

I am URGING, BEGGING, PLEADING, all of you who can, PLEASE go and get a library card. Go get your local city, county, state, university, what have you! In the US you are often entitled to a card for where you WORK as well as where you LIVE. People from outside the US please share tips, tricks, advice, or just anecdotes about your library and how you sign up for the library and how to get additional memberships.

Here is a link to an Instagram video where a librarian explains how AMAZON and AUDIBLE are making ebooks, and audiobooks incredibly scarce for libraries!!! https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPWpZVKkcHH/?igsh=MXF6ZjZ0YmozZmM0bQ==

I regret not reading the book(s) sooner omg —

Does anyone else like to listen to music while they read? And if so what do you like to listen to? Does it vary depending on what you’re reading? Or do you find it too distracting?

Personally, I’m super into music that fits the vibe of the book I’m reading. Like while I read Legends and Lattes I listened to some soft tavern ambience and now I’m reading dark gothic books and I’m listening to that type of vibe, like This Mortal Coil and Slowdive. I’d love music as well as reading so I’m curious to hear what you guys are listening to while you read! 😄

It's not even been 24 hrs of joining here. I'm already loving it 🤭😍. Still figuring out a few things tho!!

i want to finish this so bad because i love the lord of the rings and the hobbit but it's just so much information that i find myself zoning out as i listen to the audiobook and having to rewind so often i just like can't get my brain to focus on it. maybe it's because andy serkis's voice is too soothing lol

I’ve always struggled with DNFing books even when I find myself dreading reading them. I just feel so bad because the author put a lot of work into their writing, but sometimes I’m just bored or uninterested and don’t want to keep reading. But at the same time, I don’t want to habitually drop stories a couple pages in because they don’t immediately grab my attention.

How do you guys decide when to DNF a book? How do you balance pushing through and dropping books when you don’t enjoy them?

I’m curious, I always try to have at least 5 books to choose from for my next read but sometimes I don’t know which one to pick, how do you usually pick?

I’m so intrigued by the choice to have the reader “be” Essun in the second person chapters. It seems like it’s going to draw me in in a very unique way. Thoughts on why she chose this perspective? And why not every chapter contains it? (Maybe this will become clear later on, but it’s my early musings…)

Since joining this platform, I have never been part of a community so welcoming! Everyone seems incredibly friendly and supportive, and it never fails to make me smile 🤍🌸 A massive thank you to you all and I hope to be friends with many more of you!

Feel free to drop your favourite ever read below! 🌸🤍