hello everyone 💌 I have an oddly specific scenario that is in need of some book recs!

for brief context: my mom recently (re)brought up how she is sad that I spend a lot of time immersed in queer literature, but won’t take the time for the books she recommends me (read: the bible). she also implied that my perspective is being skewed because I engage in so much in queer theory, content, and history. this conversation is always frustrating and usually very circular, but this time I proposed that I will read a passage/book of her choosing if she will read a queer book of my choosing to then discuss with me.

which leads me to my current dilemma: she agreed, and now I have to actually choose a book lmao.

part of me wants to give her the most unapologetically lesbian novel I can find, but I know she’s not in a place to receive that and will simply project her judgements onto it. instead, I want to find something that could in theory challenge her beliefs and offer a new perspective. her knowledge of queerness begins and ends at “love the sinner hate the sin” and that general mindset. i’m leaning towards non fiction (possibly through an affirming christian lens? though I am personally not religious, it would meet her where she is at), but am open to anything that may fit the bill! thank you all sm! <3 🌈🌱📚✨✨

edited to add: or if you can recommend any affirming books written specifically for parents with queer (adult) children that could also work!

I saw this floating around tiktok and thought it would be fun to bring over here! I can’t wait to read your answers 😈

Pride - a book you’re proud to have finished Sloth - a book that’s been on your TBR the longest Gluttony - a book you’ve read multiple times Wrath - a popular book you disliked Envy - a fictional world you wish you could live in Lust - a book you bought for the pretty cover Greed - a book you own multiple copies of

my answers will be in the comments!

I thought it might be nice to make a list of novels whose main characters are artists — painters, musicians, writers, etc. I was wondering if anybody might have any recommendations for such a list. I think it could be a huge list, especially because all sorts of artists would be welcome. The only real rule is that it has to be the main character who is an artist, and that something about the plot has to relate to the fact that they are an artist. In other words, it has to be a story that would not make sense if you took the main character’s love of art out of it.

I tried finding a list like this but couldn’t. It’s a relatively simple idea, so if it’s already been done, I’d love to know! Otherwise, I will make the list myself, and I’d love any and all recommendations for it.

Edit: I’m still taking recommendations for this idea, but I think I’ll split it into two lists: one for middle grade and YA novels, and one for adult novels. It’d be super helpful if you could indicate which age group your recommendation falls into! Thank you!

For the past week, Pagebound Royalty members have submitted nominations for Lists to inspire Quests. Jennifer and I have gone through and ensured all the Lists you'll be voting on meet our Quest guidelines. There are 95 Lists eligible for you to vote on, and you can find them in this spreadsheet.

There will be 3 winning Lists selected. You can vote for up to 3 unique lists (across any genre). Submit your votes via this form through end of day June 30th. Take note of the Quest type when voting (Column C in the spreadsheet)! Many nominated Lists share a theme but vary in length. Preference for a Side vs Main Quest could help you decide which to vote for. Most Lists will be Side Quests, but Lists with many books (~60+) will be Main Quests.

The creators of the winning Lists will be able to accept/reject. If they accept, we will create a Quest inspired by their List, adapting the title & book list as necessary to fit Quest constraints. If they decline, we'll ask the runner-up!

Thanks for voting! Jennifer & Lucy

Hello everyone!! Just popping in here to remind everyone, but especially my fellow european boundlings to take extra care of yourself during this very extreme heat wave rn and the next days ‼️

And i don't mean drinking enough water, and sitting in the shade of a tree. I mean stay inside during the day, don't take the temperatures lightly and push yourself to work out or go for a run, try to reschedule them to the early morning hours or later in the evening if necessary. Cancel appointments or dates if you don't feel well. Try to minimise your daily activity to the bare minimum and only things necessary! Heatwave's should get treated like s snowstorm, bc it's nothing else than an extreme of the other end of the scale.

The temperatures we're currently experiencing are seriously no joke, people DIE bc of heatstrokes every day. People in central europe are not used to this conditions, our daily life is designed for colder temperatures, our buildings don't have integrated cooling systems and most private households don't have AC. These temperatures in central europe feel different from the same temperatures in other usual warm countries and regions.

Take care everyone!! 🫂☀️

Europe is currently getting hit by an extreme weather situation, scientists call "the omega situation". Warm air masses are getting firmly trapped between two cold air masses on each side, which leads to a very stable and long holding heat over central europe atm. These week the temperatures are rising over 40°C (104°F), which is a new heat record documented for these time of the year.

I’ve been wondering if picture books are too juvenile to count them as actual reading—I’m just messing around!

@ramiva has already made a post on it so I’m not gonna rehash what’s been said there about the whole “do x count?” post phenomena.

I wanna talk about the posts that are in similar vein to the aformentioned. People asking what their next reads should be.

Personally, when I’m stuck in a dilemma on what to read, I take time to narrow down what I’m currently in the mood for/what should be my priority right now. You’ve already narrowed five down, why not narrow it down to one?

People’s tastes are so subjective, and I feel like those posts are kinda inconsequential. Read what you like. Don’t like it? Pause and pick up the next book. That’s what I’ve always done.

I once commented on a post about AI use in book space. I mentioned self-disempowerment (I hope I’m remembering it correctly) in relation to it. It means what it says: people not trusting their own minds once they’ve handed it over to AI. Someone under that comment responded that it’s more or less the same with people coming here asking other people to pick their next reads.

There are definitely people who rely on AI to even pick their clothes, let alone books. PB discourages AI use and algorithms. So I feel people are trying other ways to seek advice/validation in other ways. By asking people to pick their next read or asking if x counts as reading.

I think it is a little alarming that people are unable to make such simple decisions as these, and it’s not me being cynical (I think?). I’ve seen more than two or three posts like this.

While I’m at it, I also wanna talk about the whole mood reading thing. Aren’t we all technically mood readers? Don’t we all pick what we want to read at any given moment as readers? I understand using in academic sense, like if you’re prioritizing studies all the time you can call yourself a mood reader if you don’t enjoy those. But to a person who reads a lot, that just means being a reader lol

Am I wrong? Do I sound very cynical and making a big deal out of a non-issue? I feel it is necessary to address small things like in a landscape where AI dominates (I’ve seen it in multiple trailers for new shows and magazine covers, people using it to draft texts and complete their school assignment. So I hope you understand my frustration).

Very ADHD of me to start two discussions at once, but I didn’t wanna make another post immediately after. I hope the baity title doesn’t backfire.

Hello everyone!! Since taking over this quest a few weeks ago, I've made a number of new additions. Moving forward, I want to be more intentional about how I space out these additions so as not to overwhelm you all with notifications and more books to read. Given the nature of this quest, compared to other main quests, there aren't really "new releases" that I'm gathering to add over time (other main quests are intentionally created with a lower number of books so as to be added to over time and remain relevant and interesting! This doesn't quite apply in the same way to Classics quests since...well...they're focused on classics😅).

Main quests are capped at 100 books and I already have a list of classics to add that will get the quest to this number (special thanks to @mariangello, @CarnuSaga, and other users who made recommendations for helping me curate this---in my opinion---well-rounded list!).

So, what I want to know from you is, how would you like to see new additions to this quest spaced out? From my understanding, other main quests owners typically add a couple new books every couple months or so (but, of course, everyone goes about this slightly differently!). If I were to add 3 or 4 books every other month, I would be making new additions to this quest through August 2028. Alternatively, if I added 3 or 4 books every other week, this quest would be full by the end of the year (that is a lot of books in a relatively short timeframe, but given that I already have a pretty set list of books to add, I wanted to see what y'all would think about this). Another alternative would be to space it out even more, such as ~2 books every other month.

Personally, in the specific context of a Classics quest, I'd rather have a full and set quest than just be waiting years for additions that have been published for 100 years, ya know? That might just be me, though! I don't want to overwhelm you all with additions and notifications, so please let me know what your opinions are on this, if you have any!

[Posted 23 June 2026]

I've been thinking, it's pretty clear different months are for different genres/specific plot elements, aren't they? This is what I associate the different months with, curious to know whether we match or you have different associations. To be honest, I don't follow this to a t, actually, I stray away from it a lot, but if someone asked me to give them associations off the top of my head, this is what I would come up with.

January: Thrillers, especially ya thrillers, I don't have an explanation but the fact that When we were monsters by Jennifer Niven is set in January and that is the first thriller I ever read.

February: Books that make you cry. Angst season. Maybe with a bit of found family for comfort. Or classics. The two things actually don't have to cancel each other out. If you can recommend me a classic with sibling angst for February 2027 I will be very very grateful.

March: Something with a side of romance. Also, possibly comedic books. Especially comedic fantasy/romantacy.

April: Post-apocalyptic setting.

May: Coming of age stories. Also, does light academia exist as a novel setting as well as dark academia? Because in that case I feel it would fit May very well and I'd be definitely down to read something like that.

June: Obviously, books with LGBT+ characters. Any genre.

July/August: Can't decide which one is for high fantasy and which one is for summerween. On one end, July is a bit creepy, on the other August is closer to Halloween, so it feels more in tone with it.

September: Dark academia, back to school is hard enough, let's at least romanticise it a bit.

October: Horror, no explanations needed.

November: Short philosophy/philosophical books.

December: Anything Christmas themed obviously, romance, horror, fantasy. Doesn't matter. The Christmas theme is the constant.

How are you guys in the UK protecting your books in this heatwave?

I'm noticing a couple of my books are becoming curly and sticky. I'm keeping my curtains and windows are closed, but in true UK fashion it's not working 🤣

Ok hello I am starting a new thing, "Whatcha Get?" Weekend (posted Saturday or Sunday, idk), for sharing what books you got in the last week!

• Did you check out a big stack from the library?
• Did you visit a new LFL and find something exciting?
• Did someone give you a book for your birthday?
• Did you go splurge at the bookstore?
• Did you stuff your Kindle?
• Did you find a book in the dumpster?
• ???

IT ALL COUNTS so tell me...whatcha get??? 👀