hi friends, i feel like there can sometimes be a lack of appreciation and exploration of platonic love in favour of romantic love in literary fiction (both classic and contemporary). romantic relationships are often foregrounded as the central or highest-stakes, but platonic relationships can be equally interesting and complex. sometimes platonic love can also be seen as just a precursor to romance or interpreted as implicit romance.

one of my favourite parts of Dostoevsky’s The Idiot was the psychologically intense platonic relationship between Myshkin and Rogozhin, which was given as much attention and detail as the romantic relationships.

keen to hear any thoughts on this + any recs for litfic that focuses on platonic love and depicts it in an interesting/complex way :)

Hello, all! Trying to find both fictional and non-fiction recommendations to learn more about West Asia and North Africa. I have read plenty about Palestine, some about Syria, and a little about Egypt. Trying to find if there are any lists already created but of course, I'm not even sure the best term to call the region ( Middle East, West Asia, Southwest Asia?), but basically looking for books centered around the arab countries. Would love a full history but also more specific fictional stories (I loved "As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow"). I know "A History of the Modern Middle East" as I studied it in university but not sure if that was even written by people from the region.

My sister asked me for recs and I couldn't help her so I said I'd ask my friends (aka boundlings lol). Let me know if there are any great lists already created! Thank you!

I see a lot of discussions being done about "fast fashion" in books and how they're graded as 5 stars even though some "aren't the level of great literature".

It got me thinking, everyone must have different rubric gradings for the books they read right? I dunno about you, but I don't think I compare things I read to what's "the best". So here's mine, just to share:

5-stars: I really enjoyed it. Had no qualms or resistance finishing the book. Enjoyed the story. Probably laughed a lot or found it super meaningful. Left the book smiling and aching for the next one probably.

4-stars: Mostly enjoyed it. Saw some bits where I wish it was a bit different. Maybe there were parts where I felt if it was different I would have read easier. Not in the "best" category for me but still a good book. Generally most books, so long I enjoyed it for the most part, it would be here.

3-stars: Ick-ed at a few notable places. Really could have been better. Maybe needed more editing or two. But decent enough for me to finish the story at least, but definitely won't recommend to most.

2-stars: Really bad icks at many places. Can't believe I read this book. Thinking that 1 star would be too mean so I landed here.

1-star: Probably so bad I DNF-ed.

There would probably be some who would be very different in how they grade books. It's what I love about the diversity of book ratings. What's yours? :) I'm super curious. 🍵