since pb is anti-ai, i wanted to highlight this. i found out about it today from a bookseller friend.

in a recent interview, tokarczuk (drive your plow over the bones of the dead, the empusium, etc) stated that she used AI to help write her most recent novel. here is an article about it on lithub.

it seems to be a recent interview and therefore new information, so there isn’t too much on it yet besides some horrified reactions on insta/threads. i’m planning to look into it more when i’m home from work and update with more links as necessary!

one of my friends is an undergrad in the lab I work is also a reader. she brought a hardcover copy of psycho with her to work and recently asked if I use bookmarks.

I use bookmarks if I'm reading a paperback or a hardcover that doesn't have a dust jacket; if my hardcover has a dust jacket, the inside flap is my bookmark.

she, on the other hand, dog ears her books.

so I ask you, the wider boundling community, how are we holding space in our books? are you like her and dog earing your books or are you like me and finding some other way to hold your place?

I've been writing reviews for books I have read recently. But when writing I feel like I'm doing it all wrong, (ps. I'm not good at writing book reviews).

Like what do people even look for when reading reviews? What should I been talking about when writing them? How do I become better at writing book reviews?

What are your thoughts on people cutting a book slack for bad craft, storytelling, writing, etc. just because a book is YA.

I often see it in reviews (i.e. “The book is YA so I can forgive it for the choppy sentences, but…”) and it lowkey bothers me. To be transparent, I’m not the intended audience for YA (my frontal lobe is actually almost fully developed ☝️😌), but I feel like we shouldn’t forgive/accept issues in a book JUST because it’s for a younger audience?? Like, 12 to 18 year olds deserve good writing too?

I’m not saying that criticism or forgiveness about certain things because of the age range isn’t valid. Sometimes you want something to go deeper or darker but you forgive that the book doesn’t do those things because it’s YA. But when it comes to actual craft/writing and general storytelling, I feel that YA audiences should get quality books.

But maybe I just don’t understand something or am not aware of something? Idk 😅