i think it's not surprising for a lot of people to be really angry at the world right now and i have been feeling that way the past few days, but especially today. i just hate going through job applications and being replied to by a bot and not being treated like a human being. this is on top of so many other issues that have been really gnawing at me and i just really need to read something very hopeful. i am open to both nonfiction and fiction, but for recent heartbreak reasons, no romance please.

what are some books that have made you feel very hopeful in humanity/in general or feel relieved from a weight of anger after finishing it?

Thank you for reading ❤️

I have a friend who was raised with masculine expectations. They are not sure if they are trans or if they just want to be someone else. I want to read up on the trans femme experience and like gender and stuff. I really want to help my friend. Heck this is just good knowledge in general, I should have known how to be more supportive.

I have been transphobic in the past so that worries me. Please give me some books to help me be the best support I can.

Specifically, what book has made you feel like this lately? 😂

(The link goes to a short video featuring woman crying. In between sniffles and tears, she says, "Hey everyone, I'd really recommend reading for pleasure. I love reading, it's so magical. Pick up a book, you never know what awaits between the pages.")

For me, I've been feeling this way about Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins and The Book of M by Peng Shepherd 🤧🤧 I recommend these books to everyone, saying that they're the best books ever but warning my friends about the irreparable emotional pain 😭

Babe, wake up! There are new quests on the Discover tab!

I've been thinking about this after looking at my ratings for a few years and seeing that I give very, very few 5 star ratings.

I know what the reason is. Books that have a significant impact on me, on how I think about life, literature, art, and the like...books that I am still thinking about long after I turn the last page...those get 5 stars from me. They're at the top. It makes a certain sense, then, that books that don't reach that level of impact but that I nevertheless enjoyed (sometimes a great deal) can only be 4 or 4.5 (depending on whether the site allows half stars) or lower.

Of course, not every book is meant to impact me in the way described above. Some books are meant just to entertain, to be light, and I enjoy those books a lot. I've thought about adjusting my rating system such that each book is rated in the context of what that book is trying to achieve. But star ratings don't allow for any granularity, so I still lean more toward the system I've been using (where 3 and above is a good rating).

What do you all do? If a life-changing work of art gets a 5 from you, does something that falls short of that automatically come in below 5 stars or might a gripping thriller that you loved but won't remember in a year also qualify for a 5 based on the fun you had?

Hi guys! I’m feeling nostalgic today and am curious what everyone’s first experience with queer books was! What was the first queer book you read? How did it make you feel? Scared? Seen?

I personally don’t remember the first queer book I read but i would love to hear everyone’s answers!

On that note, does anyone have queer middle grade recommendations? Books that make you wish you had them when you were younger ☺️

Hi everyone, I would love to know what your favourite “classic” is and why. Like what made you love the book and why should we read it or what did it move and stir inside you that you cannot forget about it. ✨ I love reading classics and I love finding out what people associate with them. Because the human condition is a pretty interesting thing.

Basically this wonderful old woman somehow discovered/got hooked on the youtube AI romance videos (specifically Lily's Romance Library) and I'm trying to get her into some Non-AI, Non-omegaverse (she doesn't know what the hell is going on in this regard lol she just likes the romance) youtube alternatives as well as actual physical book options as she's mentioned wanting to read again but nothing hooks her anymore. Her old favorite genre's were often adapted from real life, very philosophical, etc. But I know in her heart she just needs some mindless romance to enjoy. She specifically mentioned werewolves and dragons, but I suspect anything paranormal or just generally fantasy coded romance would do (god I love this woman and now I know where I get it from)

I'm already planning to buy her Ice planet Barbarian's as a mainstream sci-fi romance intro and Dragon's Bride by Katee Roberts. Other contenders are the Muscles&Monsters Series but I need them to be short, sweet, and easy for an older returning-reader, and any level of smut will do tbh it's probably preferred. My own monster romance tendencies tend to lean a little heavier into world building and tbh she doesn't need a whole lotta that, so it's a bit outside my own monster purview, so here I am!

Would love help with:

• NON-omega verse/no ai Youtube alternatives if anyone happens to be familiar with the topic as I am not.
• Easy breezy uncomplicated monster/paranomral romance AGAIN NON-OMEGA this girl doesn't know what an omega even is
• Maybe some older titles? Bodice rippers?
• Anything you think a 70+ moderately woke freaky lil lady would like tbh

I was having a scroll on TikTok today and came across the most beautiful poem, which reminded me of why poetry is so cathartic. When you read something that names your exact feeling, only someone else wrote it, at first you experience the emotional overload of seeing what you feel named and projected onto a format that intensifies the sensation. But secondary to that you feel, in a comforting sense, that you are not alone, because someone, somewhere in the world has felt the same way, and felt it so intensely that they wrote it down, and now it's reached you.

I would like to properly get into poetry. I would call myself a rookie but I actually feel that it's the one field where the only criteria to participate is being human. Nonetheless, I don't know many poets, collections or websites where I can continue to explore. I would love to hear suggestions.