I made a post last night stating that, if you play video games that are extremely lore heavy and story-driven, it should count as reading. EDIT: I stated that they should count towards your reading goal here and I feel I should've explained what I meant better (sorry about that). I don't mean that in the sense that it should count like a physical book does (I'm not going to put the FFVII game in my Pagebound reading list), but in the sense that it should count that you have indeed read something this year. You have actively read something that forms a story and a plot. Sorry if this doesn't make sense, I'm having a hard time trying to form the words to properly explain. This got people in a tizzy, saying it's not reading because it's not an actual book, or that "if that's the case, the movie I'm watching should count as reading if I use subtitles" (which... I mean you do READ subtitles but that's not what I meant). One person even went as far to say "reading only counts if it's words unhindered by pictures or motion and allows you to have analytical thoughts." How pretentious!! That's like saying reading comics or manga isn't reading (or that children don't actually read because their books have pictures). I think lore, story heavy, READING HEAVY video games should count as reading. I read more while playing Final Fantasy and Assassin's Creed last year than I did reading physical books. There are some games that required over 45 hours of just reading (that isn't the dialogue in cutscenes or tutorials). I believe it should count as reading. What do you all think? EDIT (2): I'm not saying spaces like Pagebound or Goodreads or anything like that should have a space for people to mark these things as "read" like you would a physical book. I'm more so saying that when we discuss people reading, I think we should allow writing-heavy, story-heavy games that have you read a big chunk in them be a part of the discussion of reading. Video games are not books, I know that, but if you are actively reading in order to take in the story of the game, should it not be counted that you read something? (Some people don't like reading novels, but we shouldn't say they don't read just because it isn't the conventional way we think of reading). I don't know if this is making any sense, it made better sense in my head, but it's hard for me to properly convey it in writing this way.

We had a tie between Carmilla and House of Hunger, so I added my own tiebreaking vote for Carmilla :) Carmilla is a quick 108 pages, and is the foundational Sapphic Vampire novel that most other stories in this quest draw inspiration from. Excited to read with everyone this fall! Quick reminders: - Readalong will happen during the Pagebound-wide Fall Seasonal Readalong (Sept-Nov) - There is no additional badge for participating, but you will of course make progress towards the quest badge! - Discussion will still be on the Carmilla book forum, not in the Quest forum

meenaslib asked the great question if you read one star reviews for your fav books, but what about books you haven't read? Because I absolutely do! When I first got back into reading as an adult, I took recommendations and marketing kind of at face value. If a book was marketed as cozy (cover, blurbs, synopsis), I thought it would be. If someone said it was a sapphic romance, I thought it would be...then I started reading and realized how bamboozled I often felt. My cozy books were violent and my sapphic books were heteronormative. It was so so bizarre, and now even if I get spoilers, I can't help but check the bad reviews for stuff that would turn me off in the book up front. Do you risk the spoilers to save yourself from heartache?

Hello hello! I need some help finding books that are 200 pages or less to read in between my big chonkers so I can still hit my reading goal! I don’t mind if they’re novellas as long as I can read them without having to read the series ! I love any fantasy/romantasy/sci-fi/dark academia !! Thank you so much ☺️

Hello! I'm curious about how others see readalongs here. I found myself really wanting to read all of the books, but then I know some of them are not my cup of tea, plus there's other books I want to read much more. My problem being that I'm a sort of a collectioner and I'm a sucker for limited and FREE stuff. 😭 Do you focus on them when choosing a book to read? Or maybe you prioritize your tbr and for how long a book has been waiting there? Or just your general mood? I definitely am more of a mood reader, but it makes my reading a little inconsistent 😅

Everyone has a favourite genre but what is your niche in that genre. For me my favouite genre is crime but within that i have a whole shelf of Japanese crime novels. Anyone has a very specifc group of books you will always buy?

I've been looking to follow more people, so curious about how everyone else does it! Do you have friends irl that you've invited here? Do you use the "% overlap"? Do you find folks you vibe with in the discussions and just add them? I've tried the "readers with similar taste" list in the Discover page, but because it suggests people based on them having at least one book similar to mine in the "My Taste" section, I think it works better for people who have fairly uniform taste in books (e.g. typically reading from one or two genres, which I don't) and also leans towards matching based on books that have been widely read by the Pagebound community.

I've mostly used percentages instead of page numbers in forum posts because I wasn’t sure if ebook pages match the physical book. Now I’m confused because even the percentages don’t line up. I spoiled myself by reading a post from a chapter I hadn’t reached, even though we were at the same percentage. I’m wondering what most people use when posting in the forum. Do you go by what your ereader/physical book says, or do you figure it out another way? It also seems helpful to say whether you’re using a physical book, ebook, or audiobook.

I can't stand them. I genuinely can't. I have The Reformatory by Tananarive Due and I can't fucking stand the stupid ass printed on sticker that's slapped on the fucking cover. I don't care if it's on a list or picked by Oprah/Reese Witherspoon. We all know they didn't actually read it. STOP PERMANENTLY STICKING THOSE ON. IF IT DOESNT HAVE A COPY WITHOUT THE STICKER, IM GOING TO LOSE MY SHIT. This is a fucking beautiful cover and that ugly ass symbol is just plastered on. I feel bad for people who like Last Night at The Telegraph Club. Because why tf does it have so many stickers? Why don't you just write all the accomplishments on the inside? Someone needs to tell the publishers and printers that we hate that. Enough

August is Women in Translation Month, which was started by Meytal Radzinski in 2014 as a response to the underrepresentation of female authors in translated fiction! What is your favorite translated work (or works) of fiction by a female author? Are there any translated works of fiction you hope to get to this month? I would also love some recommendations for translated speculative fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, spec-fic horror, etc.) by women to add to my list <3

When you rate a book, do you rate it based on how you liked it, or how good you think the book actually is by literary standards? One of the things I love most about Pagebound is the ability to break down the rating into separate categories. I particularly like the 'quality' and 'enjoyment' ratings. A lot of times, I dislike a book, but can also acknowledge that the book is very well written, I just didn't click with it. I tend to give books I dislike a bog standard 3 star, as to say i didn't like it but it wasn't a bad book. tbh I feel bad rating any book low because of how much work goes into writing a book and how creative authors are. Do you do the same? Or are y'all more brutal?