there’s absolutely nothing better than reading a 100k word fanfic, that is until you remember you have a body that is starving, thirsty and incredibly sleep deprived and hasn’t used the bathroom since the sun set 8 hours ago
me cross eyed and seeing double:
I saw this discourse in the comments a thousand times and I just cannot commit to the entire work I have to click next chapter, it's like a reward
[ID: The AO3 next chapter button filtered through a wobbly haze]
oops i hit the wrong thing😅
i am a next chapter kinda lad too
if a girl is reading a really interesting book she shouldn't have to go to work. she's expanding her mind and bettering herself and her employers should understand that
Like Darcy said in Pride & Prejudice, I'm expanding my mind through extensive reading to become truly accomplished.
That can go on my resume, right? And on my mid-year accomplishments at work...
“phones are disrupting natural sleep cycles” I mean true but also bold of you to assume I had one before the tech boom lol catch me out here reading chapter books by the light of my light up pens in the third grade
I got in trouble for staying up past my bedtime as a kid with a literal flashlight reading books under my blankets.
If we did another book club on Discord, I would want to read...
"Death of the Author" by Roland Barthes
"Beyond Vietnam" by Martin Luther King Jr. (parallels to Palestine)
"Orestes" by Euripides (I'll take care of you / It's rotten work / Not to me...)
"The Aleph" by Jorge Luis Borges
Hozier's self-titled album
The Book of Jonah
"The Cask of Amontillado," "The Raven," and "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allen Poe
The Tao Te Ching
"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Gabriel Maria Garcia
"Picturing Deep Space is Deeply Human" & "Problem of Evolution as Progress"
"A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor
The comic book "Mister Miracle (2017)" by Tom King and Mitch Gerads
See ResultsBooks clubs are held on this discord server
If you're lamenting the fact that you used to be able to shoot through a 500-page novel in like a day when you were in middle school and now you can't, it's worth bearing in mind that a big part of that is because when you were in middle school, your reading comprehension sucked. Yes, mental health and the stresses of adult life can definitely be factors, but it's also the case that reading is typically more effortful as an adult because you've learned to Ponder The Implications. The material isn't just skimming over the surface of your brain anymore, and some of the spoons you used to spend on maximising your daily page count are now spent on actually thinking about what you're reading!
Reading as a kid: "I can tell that this is supposed to be an emotionally moving ending, but I genuinely cannot remember who two-thirds of these characters are."
Reading as an adult: *reads a paragraph* *pauses* *reads the same paragraph again* *flips back and re-reads the preceding page to make sure you didn't misunderstand something* *stares into space for ten minutes as the Implications sink in*
If you DON'T read books, what's the main reason?
I read only fanfiction, and that's good enough for me
I have a disability/illness/condition that makes reading difficult
Reading books doesn't interest me personally, and I'm fine with that
I don't like reading, but I wish I did– even when I try, I can't get far
I would, but I'm way too busy and don't have the time
I don't think reading is a good pastime in general
Another reason (elaborate in tags)
Show results/I do read books
See ResultsFor the purposes of this poll, audiobooks and ebooks count as reading.
There's no judgement behind this question; anon doesn't read either. They're just curious about others' reasons.
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We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.
Maybe this is a weird take, but I ask all of you:
Write into your books. Add bookmarks, add doodles, add notes, add whatever you want. They are yours.
I'm going through the books I inherited from my Grandfather and not only is it interesting to look at books that are 40+ years old, especially history books, it's also always... a surprise, a memento and memory, an added value whenever i stumble upon a note he left on a text, a bookmark or even newspaper articles he clipped out and added to the books because the articles relate to the book's contents.
Preservation of books is great and all, but don't be afraid to add to the physical books you own. There is something incredibly intimate and charming and also very honest to discover a persons notes. Something they deemed noteworthy, bookmark worthy, necessary to leave a note of and for themselves in a published book. It feels a lot more valuable.
"Warning Signs Your Machines Are Trying to Kill You!" by TJ Klune
(Legally, I’m required to tell you that when smart phones first became popular, I bought one and then asked for the address of the app store because I thought it was a physical location I had to go to in order to download apps and not something already on your phone. Also, I was recently told I speak like an old person so as a warning, there will not be any slang you youths typically hear, especially on Tumblr. Any slang I’ve learned in the last five years has been against my will. I still don’t know what FOMO means, and I don’t care.)
1. Oh no! You and your family are trying to enjoy a movie night, but Overlord Prime (With Free Shipping) wants a sacrifice at the altar of their god, BeeZos. Should this happen, do not attempt to give Overlord Prime (With Free Shipping) a cantaloupe with googly-eyes on it and say that it is your baby. Overlord Prime (With Free Shipping) knows the difference between fruit and children. Instead, ask the machine to order dog food, and it will forget about eating humans for a little while.
2. If you own a very fancy vehicle that can drive itself, always make sure to carry a brick. That way, when the car locks you inside and attempts to drive you off a cliff into a gas station, you can break the window using the brick. You will then have to jump out, but make sure you do so in time so you can watch the wicked-ass explosion when the car hits the gas station, and you can revel in your victory over your car.
3. This one will hurt. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Chances are, you’re reading this on your phone right this second. To be safe, after you’ve finished reading this post and have clicked on the affiliated links to purchase my books, you should throw your phone into a volcano and then move to South Dakota where there are no machines, only wind and cows. That way, when everyone else gets the 5GZombieVirus that people on Twitter (I’m not calling it the other thing, shut up) seem to think is real, you’ll be safe with your cows on a windy day.
4. Get rid of your air fryer. Don’t ask me why, just do it. Red flags all around. Danger, danger.
5. Do you know of the Clapper? That thing first launched in the late 20th century (I wrote it that way to make me feel old) where the commercials showed cranky old people unable to reach their light switches, so they got a thing called a Clapper that turns your lights on and off when you clap? Guess what? Those will be the first things to try and kill you. If you love your gram-gram, save her from the Clapper. When she asks why you are destroying it with an ax, tell gram-gram it’s because you love her.
6. Do you live in a smart home? The kind where everything is connected to the internet, including your refrigerator? The refrigerator that holds your perishable foods? And oh, would you look at that: how many ice cubes have you kicked under it rather than picking them up when they fall to the floor? A dozen? A million? The refrigerator remembers. And it will spoil your food in seconds. What then? What are you going to eat? Canned food? Not if the refrigerator falls on top of you!
Unfortunately for you, this is where it must end. I hope this has given you enough information to help you survive the inevitable. If you do not heed my warnings, well. Who cares. I’m not in charge of you. Do whatever you want. Just don’t come complaining to me when gram-gram gets the clap.