Since I was 21 or so, I've always been iffy on social media for the same reasons everyone else is.

This platform, on the other hand, is so pure in it's focus on a shared passion, and the shared experience of reading specific books, that I'm actually finding myself interacting with strangers online in a positive, fun way.

Just wanted to share my experience and say thank you to the creators. May this oasis outlast us all.

In NZ 🇳🇿, books range from $30-$50 😢 Hardcovers cost even more (worst I’ve seen is $80 for a memoir) When I travelled overseas, I was overwhelmed by how cheap everything was!

As a queer person I always feel so happy when I see people of the community represented (well represented). I be like: "Oh my god, people like me!" The feeling is weird is more than being happy, almos like acknowledging that there are really people who can be their MC in their story and when they have a happy ending is also like I can get mine too. 🫠 Does anybody else feel like this when they see someone like themselves represented in the book/series/movie they're reading/watching? And have you come across some bad representation of your community?

I found it really striking when I realized that in the World Cup practically all the other countries were supporting Spain (ngl, the argentinians behaved...questionably). Anyway, we are winners! ☺️🫶🏻💗 How many of you, my dear readers, watched the match?? You had to give up reading a book that night, if that's what it was, which one?

hi folks! here’s a little rundown of the books that have just been added to the quest:

• rebecca by daphne du maurier. feels glaringly obvious now as a seminal interrogation of a monstrous feminine figure; a deconstruction of ghosts and haunting. what is monstrous in memory?
• we have always lived in the castle by shirley jackson. once again, a title that should have made the list the first time around. an excavation of othering by a master of the genre.
• trad wife by saratoga schaefer. a new look at the monstrous womb framework, via exploration of a tradwife!
• rottenheart by kat dunn. a sapphic, shakespeare-inspired gothic from the author of hungerstone? immediately sold, in every universe.

Good afternoon Bookaholics!

My question for you all today is... 🥁

If books had theme songs, what would introduce your current read? 🤔

I’ve been thinking a lot about how the books I read as a child shaped my taste in books now. My childhood favorite series was The Spiderwick Chronicles, (whimsical but dark, horror/fantasy,) and I can clearly see how that’s influenced my current taste in books (Root Rot and Don’t Let the Forest In for example.) My other favorite book series was How to Train Your Dragon, and again I can directly see how that’s impacted my taste (Liveship Traders and the rest of Robin Hobb’s work.) So I was wondering if anyone else had a similar experience with the books they read as a kid shaping their current taste in books. Or I guess not even just books, it could be shows, movies or other types of media. Edit to add: another childhood favorite of mine was The Mistmantle Chronicles, which is basically Redwall. Criminally, I’ve never read Redwall, but it’s also anthropomorphic animals with swords, and it’s basically the kid equivalent of political intrigue fantasy.

So I’m reading a thriller by a well known author. The protagonist gets a train to a station then a bus then walks to a house. She recognises someone at the house then the book says “It’s not until I get back in the the car…”. What car?! You were never in a car! I find this lack of good editing appalling, especially in a book by a bestselling author. It takes me out of the story. I’ve seen similar things a few times recently but this is the worst so far.

I know it’s expensive to edit a book but this seems really basic to me. 😢

A question for y'all inspired by the book I'm reading: if your life was turned into a movie or a multi-part limited series what wpuld be the soundtrack? Are there any songs that remind you of specific points in your life?

(For anyone curious the book is Soundtrack of Silence by Matt Hay)