The other day, we laughed a lot with @mom.is.a.geek because she discovered the expression "to bust a nut" while reading Razorblade Tears. And it's true that as a non-native english speaker, I sometimes find myself discovering new expressions while reading, that i can't really translate literally in French. And I find this fascinating! 😌

Expressions and idioms are all uniquely related to each language, culture and history, and it's crazy to think how many different ways we have of describing something abstract using images and concepts, sometimes varying depending in which region of your country you live in. Pagebound is a wonderful international community with Boundlings coming from all around the world. We all have a ton of different idioms we use in various situations.

So tell me, what are your favourite expressions/idioms in your language and how do you use it ? 🤭

For me, French has a loooot of very funny expressions, but one of my favourite would be (sorry it's a little bit vulgar lol) : "il n'y a pas à tortiller du cul pour chier droit" meaning literally "no need to wiggle your ass to shit straight". You basically use this to say that you don't have to do things in a complicated way when there is an easy solution 😅

I want to confess that I've been downloading books since I got access to the internet for the first time. I grew up in a tiny town and we didn't have a lot of new books here even in the closest big city. And if I wanted to read something out of library stock I had to search for .txt files and read it on my mp3-player.

Now, there are so many things available to me: tons of bookshops, online shopping, huge libraries. Still I pirate some books because I don't think it's right to buy them if they aren't available in my local library. I mean mostly the books written by celebrities and rich people (or rather written by ghost writers for them): those people certainly don't need my £20 if they can afford tickets to Met Gala, for instance. I don't want to support them with my scarce money; I'd better support some indie author or charity. Also I buy physical copies of books that I pirated and loved because I want to thank the author.

So my question is: do you think it is ethical to pirate certain books? Textbooks, nonfiction, fiction, whatever?

At the trial of God, we will ask: why did you allow all this? And the answer will be an echo: why did you allow all this?

Then Diana puts too many murders into [her stories]. She says most of the time she doesn't know what to do with the people so she kills them off to get rid of them.

so real

He smiled a smile as thin as a zither string.

i quite like this simile actually. zither strings are often used as garrottes in chinese media, so the image i get is also of a smile that's fine and sharp enough to cut

This book was not what I was expecting…I thought it would follow the story of a free spirited girl, Mary Jane. Instead, it’s so fascinating watching Mary Jane interact with people so different than what she’s used to all while being respectful, open-minded and deliberate.

I also can’t decide if this book is YA or not

I'm waiting for my Libby holds (next one isn't ready for 22 weeks 😭) and I dont have any other books to read, at least ones I'm in the mood for.

Just wondering how any other Libby users deal with long waits between book holds and how to find readily available books you actually want to read and not just picking something up just because.