Howdy y'all, my name is anitra and i've been browsing through PB but I want to get a little more involved so i though i would post in here! i co-own a small indie bookshop and love trading recommendations and chatting about a good book. Lately i've been in a little reading slump because of this book I had to read for a book club that was a little hard to get through but I have finally finished and am in dire need of recommendations. Pleaseee let me know what I should read next (preferably something with fall or halloween vibes)

I've seen this conversation pop up a lot on Threads recently as people ask for recommendations with really intense yearning. Apparently, I view it slightly differently than others because I'll scroll through, look at the books, and think 'huh that's not yearning, that's just puppy love/infatuation/enemies-to-lovers etc.'

I see yearning in books as two people (or even one person) wanting something so intensely, but it's unattainable for whatever reason. This allows it to also be yearning for a place or an object or another person in an unromantic way.

What I see missing a lot too is that the character(s) knows on some level this yearning can never be satisfied, or at least in the way they want. This means there will always be a touch of tragedy to their story. Think: Homeseeking, In the Mood for Love, The Great Gatsby.

Anyway, how do you define it? Also, any book recs are welcome.

Hello, fellow readers! Does anybody else here play/read Interactive Fiction (IF)? If you don't know what it is, it's exactly what it sounds like. It's a story where you get to control the main character and the events inside the story. Sometimes you can choose things like physical features, love interests, factions, etc. It's a lot like Visual Novels but without the graphics and usually way more reading heavy.

I play almost all of mine on itch.io and they're usually made by 1 person. I wanted to know if anyone had any favorites or recommendations? I have a few if y'all are interested in trying: Sentience by st.sleepy -- It's a horror/fantasy with angels, religion, and magic. Klaus my beloved 🫶🏽 Stygian Sun: Total Eclipse by Fennyth -- Fantasy world with a kingdom war and arranged marriage. This only has a chapter out so beware of that. It's still very good so far. A Tale of Crowns by qeresi -- A high fantasy romance based on the Middle East. This one gets updated fairly regularly. My favorite is Delal 💖 Wayfarer by Idrelle Games -- A dark fantasy reminiscent of games like BG3, DnD, etc. This is one of the most dynamic IFs I've come across.

Fair warning as of 9/14/2025 @ 9:30 PST itch.io is having slow load times. It should be resolved in a couple of hours if you want to check out the games I linked above.

I feel like this book is basically bookish community bait. A girl who loves books, has a talking houseplant and dislikes interacting with people? This is 99% of my online friends (except the talking houseplant part🤣)

Hi, I'm Eileen and I'm new here, I've just discovered this website and I love it. I mainly read thrillers but sometimes also romance. Nice to meet you all!

Went for a day out today and walked around a few independent book shops and found my new fav in blackwells that specialised in manga/sci fi etc. Live in the UK so waterstones is normally my favourite.

When in USA kept hunting target exclusives but never made it into a chain bookshop to know which is best. So got me thinking and wondering what people's favourite shops were and why :)

I would love to somehow see the progress bar on shelves of how many books I've read.

Maybe this is a unique trouble for me but I have a "physical" shelf on here and would love an overview of how many unread books I own.

Or is there any other way to track this on here? A list seems kind of excessive because it would be just for me specifically and my private library and I don't think that's what they are meant for.

does anyone else feel this way😭 I am so excited for the launch (and am jealous of everyone who is a beta tester) that I routinely check the page bound IG for updates HAHA. I know that the estimate is late September to early October but I am so excited!! AHHHH

HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS! (Shout out to sophie.b for telling me to do this in part 1💗)

Why is it that EVERY SINGLE fantasy book I read there is AT LEAST 1 couple that is TOXIC, MANIPULATIVE, or filled with SO MUCH miscommunication that could’ve been solved if the characters just actually talked for FIVE FRICKIN MINUTES?!?🤨

Dont get mr wrong I ABSOLUTELY LOVEEE all the tension, angst and drama but WHERE ARE THE HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS??😭😭 WE NEED THEM AS WELL!! (Im gonna quickly act like I dont eat up every book with this kind of toxicity🫣)

Like I know sooooo many people would ABSOLUTELY DEVOUR a book with 2 characters SUPPORTING EACH OTHER without feeling JEALOUS and/or BETRAYED EVER 3 PAGES😔!! WE DESPERATELY NEEEEED MORE POWER COUPLES who hype each other up and COMMUNICATE!!! It's always “he’s dangerous, but she can fix him” GIRL CALM DOWN🤨 or “she’s broken, but he’ll heal her,” why not both be strong, both flawed, BUT STILL respect each other’s boundaries?🤯🤯

Just imagine in a normal fantasy couple going to therapy with each other... DO YOU KNOW HOW STRESSED THAT THERAPIST IS GOING TO BE🤣?!? They are gonna need to give themselves therapy. It isnt that hard to take 5 minutes of your time every day to just TALK ABOUT FEELINGS😭😭 and maybe tell your lover that you have this evil plan but you need to betray them for it to work?? maybe....🫤

At this point the "true love" in fantasy books equals CONSTANT drama, emotional manipulation, or one person sacrificing everything while the other sulks and gets mad. I want the RIDE OR DIE energy not the "I love you but Im gonna do this behind your back and not tell you until you find out somehow and get mad." NOOOOO!!!😔

I NEED the couples who strategize together/ PLAN THINGS TOGETHER, who banter without cruelty, who are actually FUN TO READ because you can root for them without also screaming into a pillow about red flags.😭😭

GIVE ME MESSY PLOTS NOT RELATIONSHIPS, A COUPLE THAT WORKS TOGETHER and a much better enemies to lovers that isnt glorified emotional abuse with extra eyeliner. (Damn I yapped A LOOTT💔)

I am very very very curious. If you could only read one book until the end of your life - what would it be an why?

For me it would be The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue from V.E. Schwab. I just love the lyrical writing, the emotions and warmth behind it.

What would it be for you? (I will probably be adding a lot of book to my TBR 😂🩵)

I absolutely LOVE doing this - it lets me see all kinds of things people have read, are reading and plan on reading. I get off work in an hour and I finished the book I was reading on shift tonight.

So. What I want to know is everyone's Last - Now - Next! I started another one right after, but I am a mood reader and have no idea what I am going to read next.. so I need ideas from you all with your answers!

Last - Fixiation of the Mind by Kira Stanely Now - Black Ties & White Lies by Kat Singleton Next - IDK lol. Maybe the 2nd in the series for my NOW book.

Hi everyone! I'm in my once every few months reading slump it seems, and I thought who better to help me out than the reading community? Does anyone have advice that helps them get out of a slump or a particular book genre they go to? In the past I've tried romcoms and that's helped but I'm a little rom-commed out. Any other suggestions?

Any advice welcome! With the school year starting I had very little time to read, so I ended up pausing all the books I had started. Now I want to continue, but I feel kind of disconnected and like I may have forgotten some plot details. Should I suck it up and continue and see if the memory comes back, or bite the bullet and restart? I'm over 200 pages into the one book (Priory of the Orange Tree) so I'm hesitant to restart, but I don't want to miss out on anything if I've forgotten a key detail! And because I'm indecisive I end up continuing to not read at all, making the problem worse with more and more time passing!!