My husband - bless his heart (and yes, I am from the DEEP South, so I meant it THAT way lol) - asked me today, "How is your TBR coming?"

NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS that's how... but out loud I was like - it's coming, why?!

AND HE GOES -- Cuz I see you have someone Amazon packages on the porch... as he stares at my bookshelves along the wall by the front door. Welllllll. Mind the business that pays you sir. I'ma just sneak right by you to set these on the shelf lol. I know someone on here can relate.

ive been struggling a bit with giving each of my books a fair rating and wanted to put my thoughts in words. i know ratings are inherently subjective, but how do you personally decide how many stars a book deserved? i try to be consistent, but its not always so straightforward when my standards change depending on the genre. anyway, i thought id share my rating system which has been flexible enough to help me grade everything from self-help to sci-fi:

⭐️ – on my shit list (will never read anything by this author again) ⭐️⭐️ – not my cup of tea; wouldnt recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️ – decent; had good parts but overall im neutral about it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – really good! id happily recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – left a positive imprint on my brain; ill be forever obsessed (and maybe even annoying about it)

i find my reads usually fall between 3 and 4 stars so thank goodness for pagebounds half-star feature! id love to hear how others approach this. do you rate based on literary quality or how much you personally enjoyed it? are you an instinctive rater or do you refer back to a system or set of guidelines?

really though, why is it so long?

Hey, beautiful people 💫 After that post I made in the forum I felt so surprised to see so many people relate to my situation, and it was overwhelming (in the best way) to feel everyone's support and understanding. So I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who took the time to give me a little uplifting, it really made a difference.

This made me think that we really are a community of dear anonymous friends, who support each other through the love of books. Which led me to this thought: There are so many beautiful and original usernames... What's the story behind each one? (except for one_crazy_eliott, I think I understand the reason behind Mr. Crazy's username 🤭🤭🤭)

So, if you feel comfortable, share the story behind it. I think it will help bring us closer and keep everyone's anonymity anyway.

I'll start: The OGs know I started PB as fantasy.betareader but decided later to change my username to Pipsy to help me feel more connected here. This is a nickname my sister gave me when I was 3 or 4 years old, and it stuck until today. My whole family calls me by it, my friends, my teachers, my bosses, etc. Even on my passport, my signature says Pipsy. So that's basically my name 😊

hey everyone, i was curious about y'all's favorite couples in lit (but other kinds of media are welcome). they don't have to be canon yet!

mine are katsa and po from graceling; jaime and brienne from asoiaf; galen and piper from paladin's grace; anne and wentworth from persuasion; magnus and abigail from the locked tomb; and usagi and mamoru from sailor moon

please share yours 💖

Non-native English speaker here: How do I pronounce Eilidh's name? I keep calling her Eyelid in my head and I'm pretty sure I'm wrong, lmao.