I don't read or watch a lot of horror, but I loved this movie. Any books like that?

I liked the social commentary (the double horror, being targeted by the vampires and the klan), and the folklore/magical realism elements with how music was used in the film.

I plan on reading one book from a different country such as China, Sweden, Poland, Nigeria, Ghana etc. per month to broaden my literary horizon because I mostly read books from authors from the US, the UK, Ireland and Germany. If you have suggestions for books I should read please let me know ☺️ I already have Pachinko, Beartown and A Hero Born on my TBR. I’m open to most genres except Romantasy or Romance. Tried it a few times but it’s absolutely not for me.

With the book I'm currently reading (The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins) I have had the physical copy on my shelf for over a month now, and while I am excited to read this, I needed a bit of a push to get myself going. I know from past experience that I tend to read physical books quite a bit slower than ebooks and audiobooks, and especially when they're 500+ pages like this book is, so I was in a bit of a dilemma when trying to decide between if I wanted to pick this up and read it slower than I intended to, or borrow the ebook instead and read it quicker but let my physical copy collect dust on my shelf... So, for the first time ever, I am reading my copy while listening to the audiobook on libby 👀 It does feel a bit different from the usual! I'm so used to my mind wandering and having to repeat certain lines over and over again to get them to register, but having the audio there (and having it playing at 1.5 speed) makes me feel so much more attentive and not letting my reading get away from me. I kind of like the feeling of the audio always nipping at my heels, telling me to keep moving and not to let myself stray away from the page, and I also am definitely fidgeting less than I normally do. I did have one moment where I kinda got jolted out of the story and had to rewind because the narrator accidentally(?) said a completely different word than what was actually in the sentence he was reading, and I sat there puzzled for a moment wondering if he was reading an edition that was somehow different from mine. It hasn't happened again besides that one time, so I'm assuming he just misspoke, but it definitely kept me a little on edge for a while lol I definitely think that reading it this way is helping me in being more productive with my reading and not wasting so much time getting side-tracked, since I was able to sit through several chapters worth yesterday, even though that's something I'm normally not able to do 😊

I just looked through the roadmap and saw that one of the features that's going to be changed soon is that lists will go from an upvote/downvote system to being likes-based, and I'm wondering if the upvotes that are already on lists will be translated into likes or if they're going to be reset? I'm assuming they're going to be converted into likes, just a bit curious how the process would work. I know that if a list is downvoted the overall number goes down, so I'm wondering if all previous upvotes are still stored in the system somewhere and that if they are converted to likes, if the amount of likes shown will be based on the number total that it sat at before being transferred or if it would be based on the amount upvotes that it had irregardless of downvotes. But anyway, I think it's great that at this point there's a big enough moderation team that lists are now going to be independent from needing community moderation😊

It is deeply enraging that there are certain audiobooks ONLY available on Audible. I'm trying to move away from my support of Amazon and its insistence on getting its tentacles into everything. But often times, I'll search for an audiobook on other platforms for purchase only to find it's completely unavailable due to some exclusive rights with the Amazon beast.

And I live in a rural area, so sometimes the books aren't even available on Libby or Hoopla, and my library has limited funds so they can't buy the rights to every single audiobook requested.

I'm so sick of Amazon controlling stuff like it does.

Now that the new year has started, I've been wondering what people's non-numerical and non-challenge goals/plans are (if you make any). For example, mine are

• finishing Octavia E. Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy (I read Dawn last year and already have Adulthood Rites and Imago on my shelf)
• reading my first Brandon Sanderson book (I put Elantris on hold at the library; most people say Mistborn is the better place to start, but I liked Elantris's blurb much much more)
• reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke cause I loved Piranesi so much
• buddy reading I Who Have Never Known Men by Jaqueline Harpman along with Marlen Haushofer's The Wall (a friend of mine suggested reading them together and I love that idea, so I asked if I could join her)
• EDIT: reading more slowly and organizing my thoughts before moving on to the next book, ARCs notwithstanding - I got a reading journal this year just for that purpose and am excited to fill it!

Do you have any similar goals? Or less specific ones?

i recently read a book i really enjoyed (kinda nasty and disturbing, unlikeable MC) and checked some reviews shocked that a lot of people were giving it 1 star— a lot of the time just saying that the book was too nasty for them, or that the MC was unlikeable/unrelatable, or something along those lines.

i was a little confused because in my head, that means that the author did a good job because their intention was to disturb and create an unlikeable character. to give a book one star under that reasoning makes me think that many are solely rating based on personal enjoyment, but because personal enjoyment does not equal bad quality or bad work, necessarily.

it frustrates me a little bit because it makes me feel as though authors hard work is being watered down at times just based on reviews that are rating low bc the book isn’t their vibe, when the book was genuinely intended to make you feel that way. i feel like we are missing a lot of nuance in rating and that it might negatively effect authors because of how much ratings matter for them in the publishing world…

imo we should be doing overall ratings a little bit more critically because of our consumer responsibility and not just solely by enjoyment, but i want to hear what others think about this!!

(and this is not to say that i don’t think personal enjoyment matters, but i don’t think it should be the defining factor in overall star ratings!!)

As the title says, my resolution is to rate books harsher. I saw my Wrap Up for this year and went back through my ratings and went, 'I rated that way too high' about a bunch of books I read in 2025. Do you ever look back and think you rated books too high or too low?

Hey everyone!

I’m dealing with a really f’ed up situation in my personal life and looking for a book(s?) to help with some catharsis, as this isn’t something I can really discuss with many people irl 😬 I’m looking specifically for books not about dysfunctional families, but specifically where one sibling is super toxic. Open to any genre and even non-fiction. I’ve just been having a hard time finding anything that’s not a messed up family dynamic as a whole (and while my family isn’t perfect lol), I’m really looking for something where one person is stirring up the trouble. Does anyone have any ideas?

anyone else getting a little ✨‼️🥳‼️✨ feeling when you start recognizing the same usernames in comments across posts?

I’m like !!!! oh my god that’s the person from another post whose comment i liked before !!! & it’s ANOTHER good commment !!!! eeeeee!!! they’re being cool & fun & nice AGAIN!!! (ps everyone is literally SO cool & fun & nice here)

feels like when you go somewhere or see something/someone you’ve only ever seen online & it’s like !!!!! ahhh !!!!! i know this but i don’t !!!

just me?

Does anyone know how long it takes usually for a “missing book” to become available on pb after providing the goodreads link?

EDIT: I tried copying the link a different way and now the book is up!! Thank you everyone 😊