Hey, I was kind of in the mood to read books about internet friends or internet friends turning lovers but so far I had difficulties finding any. I found Cinder and Ella by Kelly Omran pretty cute which left me wanting to explore these types of relationships a little more. If any books come to mind, I’d love to hear about them☺️

Update: I made a list with all the recommendations

Today is international women’s day or a way it’s said here which I prefer : feministischer Kampftag (feministic fight day)! Unfortunately we still live in a man made world and women and anyone who is not a man really still face systemic problems and there is still a long way to go. This aside, I wanted to ask you all about your favorite female (or even just not male) book characters, be it in fiction or non fiction.

Personally, the character of Elizabeth Zott from Lessons in chemistry made an impression. She is such a strong willed person who faces a lot of misogyny in her field and still always faces them cool and composed and just keeps going! Also Maomao from the apothecary diaries (who is a little unhinged sometimes) another woman with a deep passion for stem shocking man who underestimated her with her vast knowledge.

Joint post with @Babygotbooks ✨

What onion would you be and what does it say about you? If you’re not into that… what vegetable would you be and what does it say about you ?

🧅🥔🍅🥕🥦 you get the idea

morning friends! firstly i promise this comes from a place of curiosity and i’m not intending to farm points or attempt to become a PB celeb 🤡🤡

i was just wondering what personally makes you follow someone? or once followed, what really influences the way you view a user?

for instance i’m a sucker for an insightful, original & creatively written review or comment that captures something about a book that i’ve never been able to put to words.

i also appreciate when users have a clear niche or ‘special interest’ that they’re so passionate & knowledgeable about that it triggers an immediate ✨friend crush✨

i don’t have many IRL friends that read, so i’m sending all my love to the community (and L+J) for making this such a wonderful place to discuss books and learn from each other.

Hi, this is maybe a bit of a rant or just some thoughts I have about book spaces and the book industry in my country (Germany, hi!).

A few months ago, I noticed that fewer diverse books are being published by the big publishing houses here compared to a few years ago. Flipping through the seasonal publishing previews, there seem to be fewer and fewer intersectional and queer books coming out.

When looking for sapphic books, you’ll often find some translations from English and plenty of self-published titles, which I’m grateful for. But even then, most are by white authors, so there’s not much intersectionality.

Especially "mad" makes me one publishing imprint that claims to be really diverse, by women for women and so on. They’re pretty new (two years ish, but they have already published alot of books), but backed by one of the biggest publishing groups. And guess how many books by PoC's or queer literature they have... It’s not zero, yay, but it's not even one hand.

I read a lot in English, which makes me privileged to have so many books to choose from, but when I think about people who aren’t comfortable reading in English or remember my younger self, it just makes me sad.

I feel like there’s definitely a broader range of diverse books being published now, including stories about sexualities that weren’t discussed much years ago. But it often seems like it’s still just one token book in a publishing preview, and that’s it. And don’t get me started on the marketing choices of some publishers. Take a new imprint (again but a different one), for example: they release four books, three with cis/hetero relationships and one with a queer couple. Guess which three get the sprayed edges and are heavily featured on their own Instagram…

And to end on a positive note, the small independent publishers never disappoint! For me, they have become the backbone here in Germany, with many “small” ones truly working to amplify marginalized voices, and I’m grateful for that.

there was a post a while back about how most PB users are based in North America, so those of us around GMT are always waking up to a flurry of activity — so good morning to all my friends nearby who may or may not be on PB at work rn 🤠

what's the highlight of your week been (book-related or otherwise)? how are you celebrating the start of spring and the end of winter blues? are you supposed to be working right now and if so, how do you sneak in PB/reading time?