over the past few months I've been a little obsessed with collecting awful book covers because i find them infinitely amusing. the main culprits tend to be older classics (the public domain is a wild lawless place, apparently), but i've definitely encountered some questionable design choices in the contemporary world as well. so, if you've got any terrible candidates to share, i'd love to add them to my collection! 😌

to start, here are 3 of my personal favourites out of everything I've come across so far:

(the wordsworth classics master and margarita also deserves a shoutout!)

Inspired by a few videos I’ve seen on BookTok.

I’ll go first with my pick: Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant.

This was soooo hyped everywhere I looked. Reddit, Tiktok, Instagram… The plot looked promising and I was told to expect building tension and full-blown horror! Instead I got bad prose, rushed plot, too many characters with boring backstories, and no horror. I’m still bitter tbh and although other reviews say Grant’s other works are better, I’m unsure whether to even try. I just wanted scary mermaids. 🥲

hi all <3

i’ve been experiencing some intense anxiety basically nonstop for the last week or so, and it has disrupted my will to read. (my poor streak is broken 💔) i was wondering for any other peeps that deal with anxiety, has this ever happened to you? feeling almost a reading block because of your anxiety? how do you push through it/around it? thank u in advance <3

Yeaaah I'm sorry if this is a weird one or TMI. I recently got diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, and when I tried to find relevant books to my liking it only showed me factual non-fiction, which is fair, but I'm not ready to bombard myself with all that info juuuust yet. One day maybe, but right now I simply want something to relate to.

Does anyone happen to know of either fictional novels where the main character has pretty severe bowel issues, or any memoirs that follow along a journey of diagnosis etc? I can understand why it isn't a popular diagnosis for characters because... well. But maybe there are at least memoirs out there?

P.S. my neurodivergant butt is worried this comes across as me looking for pity but it's not that ahhah, I'm okay, happy for answers to my medical issues but it would just be nice to have some reading comfort!

Yeaaah I'm sorry if this is a weird one or TMI. I recently got diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, and when I tried to find relevant books to my liking it only showed me factual non-fiction, which is fair, but I'm not ready to bombard myself with all that info juuuust yet. One day maybe, but right now I simply want something to relate to.

Does anyone happen to know of either fictional novels where the main character has pretty severe bowel issues, or any memoirs that follow along a journey of diagnosis etc? I can understand why it isn't a popular diagnosis for characters because... well. But maybe there are at least memoirs out there?

P.S. my neurodivergant butt is worried this comes across as me looking for pity but it's not that ahhah, I'm okay, happy for answers to my medical issues but it would just be nice to have some reading comfort!

Feeling very sentimental about pagebound with the recent post about when people joined but I’m also thinking about the books I would’ve never known about if not for joining here.

Notably, The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E Harrow (and eventually the Everlasting); I probably wouldn’t have ever known about this book if not for the PB yoink train and general chat while reading it awhile ago and I absolutely love it. It’s so amazing to have a community where things like this can and do happen on the regular 🥰

So, curious what books others have found (and hopefully loved) through PB?

Sometimes I feel absolutely insane. Right now I am reading five books. Two of them are buddy reads with my best friend. we are reading an ARC together and her monthly rec from me because i wanted to experience it with her, one is an ARC I’m about to be late on, one is my monthly rec from my bestie, and one is an audio book i listen to during my commute. I dont have a problem keeping them straight or anything. I just feel a little bit ridiculous reading this many at one time. Where are all my people who read multiple books at once and what are you reading?