I have noticed myself drifting away from genres/books I intially loved. Has anyone else dealt with something similar? How did you find it? For me, it feels like I’ve outgrown old friends in a way.

I only just started reading again this past year after many years of not reading at all. As I’ve kept reading and exploring - I have found that the genres and types of books I used to devour, I have no interest in. Even gotten a type of ick for some.

Also, I think I need to break up with booktok/gram - I just feel bamboozled by the hype of some books.

I'm curious — considering a lot of us readers are collectors, have lots of cozy hobbies, and take care of curating a space that feels like our own — what's your aesthetic?

I'm a pink and glitter lover, which means my kindle and Kobo are decorated with pink, and I like pink and glittery things in my cozy gaming and reading space. I think mine matches my fave genres, which is romance.

I'm curious how everyone else is curating or decorating their shelves/reading space/ hobby space.

And does it match what you read?

Hey!! I loved reading seasonal books as it makes me appreciate the year more and stay present. I have a few Christmas books lined up but wondered if people know of any winter themed books not about christmas? So stuff about new years and later I could read in Jan/Feb to help with the cold months? I like romance only really (helps my mental health) and things like pumpkin spice cafe vibes. Both smut and non are fine by me!!

i'm always excited whenever i get my hands on new books and equally just as excited to share them. i didn't see a general thread dedicated to just book hauls so if you're seeing this and recently picked up some books (whether from a bookstore, secondhand, the library, online, a garage sale, literally anywhere) feel free to share what you hauled!

today i stopped by a secondhand bookstore and got the following: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, and The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden.

I hate that I struggle So hard to write reviews of books I loved. When I hate a book, I can write An Whole Essay. Does anyone else have this problem? 😭😭

Why am I just now reading this book? It's so good! The us vs them mindset is still relevant all these years later. This might end up being a book I re-read annually.

I need you guys to save me from the series of disappointing books I've been reading lately🥲 I want to read something gripping and good to help me achieve my reading goal❤️‍🩹

The books I'm considering: 🦂 The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo 🌴 The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak 🤖 Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

If you've read any of these books tell me what you think🌸 and if you've read them all and don't have a positive opinion on any of them pls tell me as well🙏🩷

How do your reads influence you in your creative journey?

I do a lot of creative stuff, and here are all of the things I made, inspired by books!🥰 📚Writing: I am working on a soft scifi/horror novel, and it wad inspired by a lot of things I've read, mainly "Az utolsó emberig" by Zoltán Benyák, "Arc of a Scythe trilogy" by Neil Shusterman, "The Mirror Visitor quartet" by Christelle Dabos and the "Evillious Chronicles light novels" by mothy/Akuno-p. ✏️Poetry: I have to admit, I don't read eough poetry, but I still adore Attila József and Miklós Radnóti and they inspire me a lot! 🎨Art: I mostly draw characters from my stories, but I still make a great deal of fanart for my favourite reads, and also the stuff we read in literature class. My latest fanarts were little character portraits from Anyegin by Puskin. 🧸Crochet and sewing: I love makig little fantasy creatures! I also ended up accidentally sewing a cat that resembles that one button eyes creature from Coraline (never read it lol). 🌄Photgrapy: I only began taking photos not so long ago, but I really wanna take pictures with dystopian vibes! 📔Bookbinding: I printed out the entire fantranslation of the first Evillious book, sewn and binded it! I just really wanted to hold it in my hands. 📿Jewlery making: I made some little fantasy mushroom themed earrings out of air dry putty!

If anyone wants pics of them Ill try to add them in a reply!

Sooo, what kinda creative stuff do you do?

This post is based on some thoughts I had after watching the video "performative readers, ‘book girlies’ & the aesthetification of books", by The Book Leo. It is a great video, I do recommend you to watch it!

But, basically, she gives her thoughts about how nowadays, especially with BookTok and similar, reading is becoming 'a performative act', and an aesthetic created around reading. She also talks about how people judge others based on what they read, like if someone only reads fantasy, then this person is not a true reader, is shallow, and all that blablabla that I believe most of us have already heard one day. And there is also the other extreme of people who follow a certain aesthetic and only read (or at least they appear to read) classics, are intellectuals, and simply put are the contrary of what she called 'book girlies' aesthetic.

Well, all that said, the video got me thinking about my own position as a reader, and what reading actually means to me:

A little background: I am graduated in language and literature, Portuguese and Ancient Greek in Brazil, and now I'm getting my PhD, in Classical Literature. So reading is a part of my job, and a big one. Not only that, but also reading the classics. Iliad, Odyssey, tragedies... and it is tiring. To the point that I took a break from reading as a hobby, and just now I'm getting back at it. And as a hobby, I only read the fantasy romance stuff. Am I less of a reader for it? Comparing to someone that read classical literature for fun? No. My point is: I don't think we should consider less of a reader someone that only read fantasy, romance, or fiction in general. Or think that a person is more intelligent than another because they've read classics only. Coming from a country where the latest researches show that the number of readers is decreasing fast, if you read, YOU ARE A READER. The type of literature doesn't matter. Just read what you like, and think, criticize, take notes, interact with the book you're reading.

Thank you for reading this long post! What are your thoughts on it?

When you DNF’d a book, do you mark it as a read book? I usually marked as a read book but i never added them to my yearly challenge/goal

So I've been reading through the reviews written by people I follow (love being able to filter the feed on profiles!) because I'm nosy and looking for recs - and to help me learn to write better reviews.

It got me thinking about what type of reviews I like to read and are helpful to me, and I just know that everyone has different 'requirements' for what makes a review good for them. It's making it really fun to look through them, knowing that what doesn't quite work for me will work for someone else.

For example, I prefer an almost negative amount of 'spoilers' (this is probably just my disinterest in hearing/reading premise recaps - if I wanted to read the blurb I would have, and I generally don't), an overview of the vibe (including tone, setting/time, genre/sub-genre), and a couple of reasons why the book worked (or didn't work) for the reader.

What about you? What do you prefer to see, and write, in reviews?

For members of any and all marginalized groups, what books have made you feel seen and/or are books you consider "the most" accurate representation? I've come across a lot of books that, while touted as representation, feel a little flat or stereotypical. Not all members of marginalized groups are going to be the best spokespeople through the written word, and everyone has a different experience, so not every book is going to be great representation for every person.

So which books really resonated with you and your experience, fiction or nonfiction, hopeful or devastating, overtly about marginalization or not?

For the horror books, I usually follow people on insta that recommend books. But before that, I used to go to bookstores and takes pictures for my TBR. Do you get a feeling that it’s “the right book” without even knowing reviews or do u need reviews to be persuaded?

Tbh… I’m not a fan of the percentage update while reading. I don’t get the hype 🤷🏼‍♀️ I think it’s more work than necessary. I totally get the reading list updates, or reading goal updates. What does everyone else think?? What am I missing??

I’m curious why it was important enough to be added

I've got a question for you all: Why you show the badges you currently have? (I mean the three on your profile) Like why then and not the others?

Happy Friday Everyone! I would like to consider myself as a lover not a hater, but there are just some books I read that I can't stand. And it just irks me when I see so many people love them. So, what is a book that just gets on your specific nerves that no one else seems to understand. For me it's The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, Alchemised by SenLinYu and Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros. Ok I just had to get that off my chest. Also, I will say this is my personal preference, and I have chosen to die on this hill.

I'm sure most of us had our book spines broken by others that borrowed from us right? It's usually friends or neighbours or maybe even family. Regardless of who they are, it's as if they don't even care 😭 like wdym breaking the spine makes it easier for you to read?? Sybau 🥀

Wish I could say that to my professor 😔

A few weeks ago she saw me with The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. (I brought it to class so I could show my friends how thick it was, so they can decide if they wanted to read it or not) My professor asked me if I finished reading it and said yes, then she asked if she could borrow it. She said she'd been wanting to read it but couldn't find a second hand copy, and the college library's only copy was already borrowed by someone. So I agreed and gave it to her.

This morning the book is back in my hands but with a severely broken spine that the pages are falling apart 😭 A couple pages are even missing!! She even tried to use her toddler daughter (that I had no idea existed) as an excuse for the broken book!

The Head of the Department saw the sad excuse of a book being handed back to me by that professor, and so she got scolded on the spot lol

I can get another copy but this one's been with me for years 😓

I don't know what happened but I just don't care about the characters. None of them. Not the main character, nor the cousin, nor the disgusting males nor the horror elements. The atmosphere is very Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe; yes it's creepy and it's mysterious but I just don't find myself caring enough about what happens to the characters. Maybe I'm just not in the mood for it right now, maybe it's the writing style, maybe it feels too similar to other stuff I've read... It's just...boring? It's probably an unpopular opinion but it's exactly how I feel about it right now. I'd love to hear your takes on the book, maybe they will reignite my interest in it!