What are some books and/or book series you are interested but can't get yourself to read? I've been meaning to read Les Misérables for years now, but it's so long. I did start, and loved what I read, but dropped it, and never had the courage to pick it up again. 🥲 Babel and Poppy War are very daunting for me. I keep seeing people talking about PW here, and so I get reminded that I'm curious about it. I also want to read Malazan, but I'm convincing myself that I'll wait a few years until starting it, but I definitely will! 🤣

What is your go to genre, and why? Also, what is a genre you don't actually read super often, but when you do, you always wonder why you don't read it all the time?

I’m seeing loooaaadds people on TikTok doing a bunch of reading to “prepare” for this book… is that actually necessary or are they just excited? Because if it is I’ll never get round to it. I loved babel and managed to get through it going in blind? I just want to make sure

What is your true "hidden-gem" book this year? Book/s that you stumbled upon (it could be your go-to genre or not) and randomly read, but surprisingly so good that it left a mark. And please tell me why 😆 (I'm going to use this discussion as a rec 🤭🤪)

So I did a post about classics you couldn't get through, and I remembered that a couple of classics that I read when I was younger, I read the abridged version for English class (English as a second language, so we read graded, abridged novels depending on the level, that's how I read A Tale of Two Cities and Wuthering Heights!). So that got me wondering, have you tried with the abridged version of a classic you couldn't finish? Did it help you finish it, or was it just as hard? What are your thoughts on abridged versions in general? Yes, no? Why?

I already know that this book is going to consume me. Reading R.F. Kuang's New Yorker article is what drew me to this book. I decided to read Babel first because I am deep into my examination period and reading academia books is what drives me to study. Not just study but immerse myself into the worlds of my subjects.

I’ve definitely read some that I didn’t like at all, but there are also a few that I’ve really connected with. I don’t see them as something that’s going to fix my life, but I do like having them around for when I need a little perspective or motivation. Sometimes I see TikToks making fun of these books and it makes me wonder if it’s weird that I actually enjoy some of them. Like I know it's not for everyone but it kinda makes me feel that these books are a "scam" by the way they're reacting.

Does anyone else feel like they're a way harsher critic when listening to audiobooks vs reading physical copies? Not that I'm picking them apart more, but that I know I would've been way more invested if I'd been reading instead of listening. There are some audiobooks that grab me and I don't want to do anything else, but I feel like those are rare. I just get bummed out sometimes when I finish listening to a book I'd been looking forward to for so long and I'm just like "meh," when I know I probably would've liked the book so much more if I'd been reading a physical copy. This just happened to me with The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst. Alllll the 5 star reviews and I felt like it was cute but I never fell head over heels with it. My sub-par listening skills are probably to blame..I'm having audiobook regret and wondering if that's a thing other people experience too.😬

Anyone been through those moments when you're just gunning book after book after book in a week, 5 to 7 books in a week, and then the next week it's just....meh....barely pushing through one book in 2 weeks. It's not a competition, I know. But having had a 10 year reading slump three years ago, I'm sometimes surprised to see that I'm actually free to read, but somehow just rather sit and scroll through Tiktok. Trying to change that. But wow. Just....something to share. *chuckle*

Does anyone else feel like they're a way harsher critic when listening to audiobooks vs reading physical copies? Not that I'm picking them apart more, but that I know I would've been way more invested if I'd been reading instead of listening. There are some audiobooks that grab me and I don't want to do anything else, but I feel like those are rare. I just get bummed out sometimes when I finish listening to a book I'd been looking forward to for so long and I'm just like "meh," when I know I probably would've liked the book so much more if I'd been reading a physical copy. This just happened to me with The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst. Alllll the 5 star reviews and I felt like it was cute but I never fell head over heels with it. My sub-par listening skills are probably to blame..I'm having audiobook regret and wondering if that's a thing other people experience too.😬

hi! i've been trying to find something close to that gory-like genre!! and women being psychopaths and so, lol. i can't fit in the title, but if you have some recommendations for chinese history books, i would love heart about them!! the rape of nanking is one of my favorite books and it is very difficult to find chinese history books in europe :(

Title is pretty self-explanatory! Did you ever read a book while you were going through a hard time in your life that helped or changed your perspective in any way? I'd love to know! Working on compiling a list of books like these for a project, and so I would also like to read them. Thanks in advance!

Idk if it's just me but I find non standalone books very intimidating. I just recently came out of a reading slump and as someone who used to only read long fantasy series it seems super strange to me that I dont even wanna look at them atm I do miss the feeling of exploring a new intricate world, and I understand why that's difficult to do in one book, but even thinking about searching for each book and reading all of them feels so exhausting! I can't even comprehend how I got through hp and five kingdoms, anything more than 500 pages makes me physically tired to think about