Anyone else feel like going to work is getting in the way of their reading?! It's such an inconvenience!

Hello PageBound community,

I'd like to hear about everyone's local libraries. What's your favourite thing about your library? Is there a volunteer who always puts a smile on your face? Is there a lovely corner to grab a few quiet moments? Is there a fun mural that brightens your visits?

Until last month I worked part time in my local library. It was led by volunteers and while some were hard work others were an absolute delight! I don't know what, going forward, my favourite thing will be about being a customer there (as opposed to a member of staff!), so keen to hear what you - the PageBound community - love about your libraries!!

I just found out that apparently Mass Market Paperbacks are going to be discontinued 😥 I love them because of their size and ability to travel well. They're perfect. Just sucks. Anyone else feel that way? https://goodereader.com/blog/digital-publishing/mass-market-paperbacks-are-discontinued

Two notes:

1. if you see this on your feed for a second time, im so sorry. i didn't know how to format my post right, messed it up, panicked, deleted the post and now have to write it all out again. yes, these are tears upon my face thank you for asking.
2. this is my first forum post and i'm nervous and i just want to mention the length. i am aware it's egregious. i am many things but never brief. if there is a pagebound policy against such unorthodox length, someone please tell me.

I like Ham Sandwhich. He's moody, a little sassy, and he's got some valid points (you're right, bro, your weird uncle-dad IS kinda shady.) BUT The way he treats Ophelia. It's rude and it's cruel and I won't have it and I won't excuse it. I also don't understand it...?? I'm of the opinion that Hammy is not actually Mad but is well, you know...hamming it up for the effect. I also think he really did love Ophelia. So to me the whole hallway/nunnery scene seems to come out of nowhere.

If Hambo is in his right mind, and he DOES love Ophelia, why on the Good Green Land does he treat her the way that he does????

Behold, My Half-Baked, None-Peer Reviewed Theory. When Hamsalad meets Ophelia in the hall, it would seem that he has become genuinely distressed. Distressed by what's happened (such as his dad being murdered), by the world in general (Denmark is to him a prison), and by his own person (he considers himself an ass See Act 2, Scene 2). The famous To be or not to be scene-in which he considers whether to, quite literally, be or not be-has just happened. Bro is going through some stuff. He then sees Ophelia, and tells her that he lied to her, he doesn't love her, and he could accuse himself of such things "that it were better if (his) mother had not borne (him)..."

Herein lies my theory: What if Spamlet is acting like he loveth Ophelia not, as a way to protect her? By his letters, and hearsay, I consider it a truth that he loved her, but he is now so involved in sorting out his father's murder, that he has no time nor freedom to be with her. He thinks perhaps that he is not worthy of her (??). He is a miserable man who must pursue this vengeful quest unto whatever bloody end, and that is nothing for Ophelia to be a part of. He thinks he protects her from the situation, and from himself, a self-proclaimed ass, and "arrant knave". So. He acts crazy and Mean and Rude, all in the hopes that he will force her away from himself, damaging their relationship so completely that he will have removed her from harm's way and protected her. It's an Act, a put on show, an attempt to manipulate things the way he wants and needs.

It gives me a level of satisfaction to think to myself that all the while Ham is going a-wall, inside he is crying, and his heart is being ripped to pieces but he has to say it because he's protecting her and I like it because it's really melodramatic and Sad and I love that.

Is my theory sound? I know not. I understand Shakespeare very poorly. There is clearly a lot more going on in this scene than the little bit that I'm building my case off of. I have read precious little of what other, wiser, more learned people have to say on this topic. This is a flying-by-the-seat-of-my-breeches theory.

I would like to add that a lot of Piglet's behavior towards Ophelia could just be good ol' misogyny. Yay! We also know that he seems to have a partiality towards the whole One Woman (My Mom) Bad. All Women Bad. idea, in which case, he probably would have said the same things to any person passing by who happened to be Not A Man, and Ophelia just happened to be in his line of fire. Go eat rocks, Hamlet.

I do not excuse his behavior, I only use this theory to pretend that even while he was going on and on about the nunnery and all that, he had a half-ish ok reason for doing it?? Except he shouldn't have done it, and not to Ophelia, who happens to be one of two persons in this whole story that did not deserve such behavior. Hamleg should be in jail for this.

Does anyone else have any theories as to why Hamlet was so cruel to Ophelia?

for books that i don't own (which is most of them) i switch the cover to the one i think is the prettiest... i'm not the only one who does this, right?

RIGHT?

One thing I don't see people talking about often is the experience of reading a book that is not terrible, but is also definitely not good. I call them mid books and I tend to separate mid readings in two categories: books where I can see the potential in and books that make me feel nothing (which I personally believe are the worst type of readings).

Something that I have observed about how I react to finishing a book and then realizing it has so many points that could have being better utilized is that these stories tends to stay over time in my head. It seems that since the story hinted cool concepts and Ideas that could have led into something amazing, my mind traps me in the book for far much longer and I keep thinking of ways and paths that could have been taken, a book that could have existed but didn't. On one hand, the time I spend reviewing the read, trying to guess what things could have happened in a way that would satisfy me better works as a good imagination exercise and the conversations I have with my friends about it are extensive to say the least and even exiting. But on the other hand, every time I think about these "mid books" I am reminded of what could have been instead of what it is.

I think that It's worth to say that my reaction to mid books is way better when said book is an author first publish, probably because since the potential is there I'm already operating in the certainty that the author will get better and reach the before mentioned potential.

What truly makes me mad is when a book gives me nothing to like or dislike, a book that fumbles everything to the point I can't take anything from it even if it had a base in the beginning. I take the frustration of reading a book believing it's going somewhere and realizing you didn't move a single millimeter, forward or backward, as worse than reading a terrible book.

Don't mind me, I'm just crying from reading a limerick about cats from Kilkenny 😭

There once were two cats from Kilkenny, Each thought there was one cat too many, So they fought and they fit, And they scratched and they bit, Till instead of two cats, there weren't any.

I’ll be the first to say that I’m being quite the downer for pointing this out, but I just can’t get over it and I’m sure there are others out there that feel the same. Simply put, a lot of the books on this list do not take place in “Medieval Times”.

Historical periods are constructs just like any label for anything really, however I feel that when pop culture conflates massively different eras purely based on vibes, misconceptions and incorrect interpretations of narratives can damage the modern social perception of our past. I’m not talking about the books that stray more into myth and fantasy on here - such as The Salt Grows Heavy or The Pilgrim. Instead, sadly so, it’s the more popular and loved books on this list: Hamnet, Year of Wonders, The Other Boleyn Girl, etc. Generally speaking, the Renaissance/Early Modern Period (whatever you’d like to call it, obviously the latter lasts much longer), begins around 1450. So Shakespeare, the Tudors, and a plague in 1666 are decidedly no longer in “Medieval Times”.

With that being said, it would be a shame if I were just a critic and not a contributor, so here are my bids for period accurate additions: The Buried Giant, When Christ and His Saints Slept, The Once and Future King, and Here Be Dragons.

Northanger Abbey proving that men boring marriageable young women with vehicle talk is not a modern phenomenon.