I've always been frustrated with open endings in books or movies and my parents always suggested that if I wanted to know how the story ended, I should just make up an ending for myself and that appalled me 💀 I can't just DECIDE for myself that they lived happily ever after, I don't have authority over this story! I don't even want alternative ending fanfics or theories, I want the person who came up with the story to tell me how everything concludes! 🤓 even if all they're doing is making something up on the spot😅 anyone else feel the same?

A big theme in this book is how inhumane farming practices (overcrowding, animals standing in their own waste) leads to multiple viral mutations and eventual spillover into human populations, which obviously is bad, but also makes me feel so sad about how we treat animals and how that’s accepted as “normal” now within factory farming.

And another theme has been how we are encountering new viral diseases as we deforest trees in the rainforest, so again, humans are the agents of their own destruction. People constantly forget that we are part of ✨the circle of life✨ and that what we put into the world will come back to us three-fold.

So all that to say…FUCK AI AND ITS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT. (Along with all other industries that are destroying our Earth.)

Hey boundlings 👋🏻 I used to one of those that had to buy series in full, have the physical books, or else.

However, few years ago, I fell off the reading wagon because I welcomed my daughter into my life and only recently did I get back into reading.

I noticed that on social media, everyone's chasing after the latest e-readers or prettiest edition of the covers and having aesthetically pleasing shelves, which is honestly fine.

Yet, at the same time it feels harmful to the environment with the amount of waste generated and for young viewers, it would make them feel some type of way if they aren't able to attain this lifestyle.

Personally, I purchased an e-reader and I've only been borrowing books from my library. I'm sad that I can't "own" the books. But, it's the best financial decision for me at this point for where I'm at in life.

As an adult, I do feel the "FOMO" factor kicking in because I do not have the prettiest decorated e-reader and I only read borrowed books.

I've been trying to steer away from consuming such content, yet I enjoy watching them at the same time to get recommendations or just for fun!

What do yall think? Have yall experienced this feeling before? Or even, you're in the position to have such a lifestyle which is so great, how do you budget what to spend on?

Curious with what everyone thinks!

I want to hear stories of others who also were touched by reading in this way. I guess I'm looking for some hopeium lol.

Reading opened my mind from a young age and made me less susceptible to manipulation, I think. I was able to leave a controlling religion and I credit that to books and the critical thinking a lot of stuff I read led to. There's a couple of family members of mine who are only now coming into their 20s and are also turning into big bookworms. I find myself comparing our tastes in reading from afar on social media (they post on booktok publicly) as they've shunned me for a few years now. It hurts to be estranged from the family I grew up with but I always hope that their love for literature will help take them away from that abusive place eventually. I like to imagine that maybe someday we can all read booktok slop together and not be kept apart due to religious differences and abusive leaders...

Please share your stories so I don't feel like I'm crazy for thinking this could be a possibility. Thank you. 💔

you guys… the HAM STORY?!???? 😭😭😭😭😭😭 this book gets more and more upsetting omg.

i also JUST realized it was made into a movie!!!! im def gonna watch after i finish reading to see what they include in the film from the book. im very curious to see how much of these heartbreaking scenes they show in the film.

So we all know the "Classics" right? The books everyone knows which were taught in schools. Books like The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, etc. Most books can still be applied to modern day life, but I've always wondered what the next generation of classics would be. Which books do you think/wish will be a staple in schools and homes?