Hi Boundlings!

I enjoyed this book and the forum and noticed also quite a lot of posts stating a sense of confusion - I thought it may help to have a post early on in the forum (spoiler free - all of what I am mentioning is introduced in the very first 15 min/first chapter) to help you along the way if you are feeling that way.

The first character introduced (one of the main characters) is Chih: A non-binary cleric from the Singing Hills Abbey who records history.

They are traveling with Almost Brilliant: A talking hoopoe bird with a perfect memory who is Chih’s companion.

At this point of the book, they have now met with Rabbit: The old woman who was once In-Yo's servant and loyal handmaiden, and who tells the story in the later parts of the book. Chih often addresses Rabbit by "grandmother" (likely a translation for what I imagine is a type of honorific and respect for the elder woman).

This book switches between the two narrators (Chih and Rabbit) and two separate time periods.

I hope this helps and that you enjoy this tale!

I've been seeing a lot of dislike for certain authors because of their own personal viewpoints. This is to the point where people are getting upset hearing about books by those authors or choose to absolutely, not read anything by them.

What are your thoughts on this?

Personally even if I disagree with the author's takes, I can separate the book from the author; especially if its a work of fiction.

Even its a work of nonfiction, I would still see a reason to read their book, since how then will you understand their viewpoints, they are trying to present, if you are not willing to read it.

However, the only reason I could see not being able to, is if they are literally pushing their viewpoints down onto you in the book themselves, instead of just presenting their thoughts; fiction or nonfiction wise.

I could also see it coming down to the question is an author able to seperate their own views from their story. And yes, I believe they can for sure. The thing is, do they want to. It is their story so they can do whatever they want. And if they do decide to push their own agenda, in their own works of fiction, and you don't agree with their takes, then that is completely understandable.

do you guys have preferred pillows or seating positions to avoid neck and shoulder strains caused by reading ?

in my time on PB, i’ve noticed that a lot of people here seem to enjoy making crafts in addition to reading (fabric crafts, diamond painting, etc etc). which is super cool! i’d love to know what everybody else here loves to do that isn’t reading :] for me: i love doing anything outside (the activity doesn’t matter, if i could be outdoors all the time i would be), music (listening to it, playing it, and songwriting!) and drawing