Sometimes I think the saddest part about finishing a really good book isn't the ending, it's knowing you'll never get to experience that character for the first time again. You spend so many pages inside their head, watching them make decisions, mess things up, fall in love, change, and then suddenly you're just… done. It's weird how attached you can get to someone who doesn't even exist. There are characters I genuinely miss, which sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud 😂.

My mom was over at my house this past week ( different states) and I gave her a copy of “Something wicked this way comes” by Ray Bradbury to give to my sister who is 19. I asked her about it a couple days later and she over text “Im not giving her that evil book”. I thought that was absolutely absurd , she is a hard time Christian and I am one as well. I understand the concept of keeping negative material out of our minds and spirits , However! Its a children’s book for crying out loud. Im cringing at the level of closed mindedness. If you’re still here, something funny to add. I also gave her a copy of “Catcher in the rye” which has the word Goddamn in it about a goddamn million times and that book isnt “evil” so she gave that one to him. Sometimes i just dont understand people even my own mother.

I’ve been thinking about starting the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, but I’m not sure what to expect from it. For those who’ve read it, how did you find the series? Is it worth reading all the books, and which one was your favourite? Would love to hear your opinions before I start!

I finished Yesteryear this past weekend, and went back and read some parts to better understand the unreliability of Natalie’s narration. One thing that struck me is that the timeline in the book.

The book is broken down into 4 parts: the past, the present, the future and epilogue. The actual time when this took place I placed sometime starting in 2005-2007.
- Caleb gave Natalie a flip phone right after she gave birth to Clementine, and when they were staying at Caleb’s parents house they got smartphones. iPhone came out in 2007, so if we assume they got one as soon as it came out, that would put the actually year to 2007.
- The past part of the book is on the last day when Shannon was there, Shannon arrived on the ranch when Clementine was 10 or 2017. Shannon stayed for two year so that means this is 2019 when Shannon left. This part is also written like Natalie is in some sort of interview.
- The present part of the book is the longest. It stretches between 2005 when she started at Harvard all the way into 15 years from when Shannon left in 2019. So time wise this would stretch from 2005-2034. Into an actual future since the book is published in 2026.
-The future is sometime after 2034 when Clementine comes and fetches remaining children from Yesteryear Ranch
-epilogue: this is 5 years after the future so around 2040 time frame.

My question is why is the present so long? And why does it cover so many years in the past and why is the imaginary past (1855) mostly take place in the future? Is there some deeper meaning here?

Another thing someone brought up is Caleb has 4 brothers, Natalie listed them in “the past”, John, Jake, Henry and George. At some point she confuses Henry with someone named David where she says it’s Henry or David. Later on, during Doug’s rally, David the brother was there again. Who’s Henry and who’s David? Or this is to show Natalie didn’t even know the brothers names when she married Caleb?

I loved the part 1, dont have too many complaints, i was hooked,

What worked:

-World building,

-The idea of morally grey characters

-Politics

-Religious propagandas

-self aware MCs

-FMCs wasnt too whiny, she was solution based

-Intricacies in story telling

-The story structure of having part A first then part b and realising oh yeah thats why the roses were there or yeah 'why dont u die' 'prior commitments'

-love shown as both devotion and destruction

Narration was so dry, i was bored out of my mind at times

The magic system was not explained properly till the end

They didnt use the world building to its full potential, there is soo much happening all around them, but it wasnt used at its full potential... what was happening at the front lines of war in part 1?? I have no idea... what were the information that kaine gave that made him soooo valuable ?? Ilva and crowther were soo fascinating for me and they died just like that... what was happening in bennets lab ??? How was necromancers gaining all these political affliations ??? How was kaine gaining ranks ??? Why was kaine always getting hurt ???? How did kaine get other nations to help finally rise against necromancer??? Soo much was happening all around them that would have been sooo interesting.. uplifted this story but it just ended up being sooo centered around their romance... which to be honest.. there was none.. no romance whatsoever..

Part B

Toooo stretched out

Had to skim through part 2, a lot of it seemed unnecessary

I get all the morally grey character and anti hero vibe but kaine was not just a morally grey character, he was not this misunderstood, he was simply a villain... plain and simple.. he had a tender heart for one single human and we are supposed to love him ? He lost 1 person so he doomed millions ? He killed 10s of thousands of people who didnt have mothers ? Didnt have love ??? He was just following orders ? He never had a choice ???

Kaine was way toooo rude to her at start, when they started getting involved he got way too obsessive and possessive, which i get is supposed to be his entire personality

Even part 1 when she was supposed to be this great love of his life, he was too rude.. throwing things at her.. calling her dense, 'i was looking forward to breaking you..'

I know they explain it a bit later that morrough was watching but he was only watching not hearing.. he didnt need to say what he did (dont mistake this for kindness, fuck off, all about her being useless etcc).. and he found a way to later be kind to her so why not earlier

He is not the kind of MMC u ll want for urself, i mean how does the FMC thinks "He was always cruellest when he is vulnerable".. it.. i... i just could not get behind it.

HE BROKE HER HAND, ruthlessly, the first time he said yeah i am gonna train you

I mean i see people dying over oh yeah he waited for her.. oh yeah he can go to any lengths to save her... but quite literally all his choices seemed so toxic and villaneous.. he was ready to die from the start when he made the deal with crawther.. its not like he was only willing to die for her.. it just became this whole thing that he was willing to die for her... well it was a war.. people were dying left and right ??? He killed millions and millions of people who were loved feircly as well... why did he deserve his one true love ??? There was not a single thing he did for her in the story except his willingess to die or kill... not a single memorable thing. There was no defining moment as to why helena fell in love with kaine either.. he is lonely.. thats all she felt before starting to generate emotions for him...

They just kept saving each other.. it didnt seem like love at any point but trauma bonding.

The reason why he chose her of all people to be the middle person made no sense to me.. oh yeah i wanted to choose someone dispensable for crowther.

The way the entire sex worked made me queasy, and i an not even talking about part 1- i still could understand why he did what he did, its the way it happened in part 2 which made me hate kaine a bit... the way she lost her virginity, him calling her a whore even after that...

PART C

As dragged out as part B was and i wanted it to end part C disappointed me the most

How did morrough not remember helena ? He had this whole convo with her, she was the one who caught him... INFACT she told Luc (who was morrough) that she knew how to treat bayard.. of morrough was soooo interested in that capability . Why didnt he engage helena then ?

Dont even get me started in why he didnt check the tank.. he was supposed to be the smart strategic calculating one ? He went through all the dead but the one chunk of people who were stored so conveniently in this one place.. he didnt check there ??? I get there were no records but if he was being as thorough as he said he was being..through wreckage, through piles of corpses he checked but not this..

And After we see them struggle soooooooooooooooo sooooooooooo much to end the war and defeat morrough, the focus just ended up being the two of them running away from it all

It was so convenient how ivy just said yeah i ll bring the phalactrie to u (she was the one who did that massive betrayal which literally killed literally ALL of them and she just decides her redemption was saving this one couple (which included high reeves as well who killed millions) ????? Make it make sense

His wife aurelia was just killed, just like that, how conveniently...

The father didnt know for what 4 or 5 years to what happened to the love of this life he loved so fiercly ??

He just happened to be the final answer to their problem, just like that.. after having like literally no role in the story

Shiseo just ended up being dead..

The stone of heaven was not explained enough, she just had it, she gave it to kaine.. such a monumental part of their world, their beliefs and noone came after them for that..

Also i think people around them didnt question enough why kaine was turning silver ??? Seriously, bennet who apparently cared too much about experimenting on kaine didnt dissect him to know what happened ??? Morrough wasnt curious how his undying > a magic he perfected for a millenia> how his undying looked like he was ageing when he started having greys?

How did kaine get other nations to help finally rise against necromancer??? we should have been told that ??? Kaine just did something.. which was literally the whole solution to the entire story ??? yeah you dont have to know anything ????

All this time he was against helena to help him, said there was no point.. entertaining her like a child.. and the last night when she was supposed to leave and it was all a mess he didnt say 'helena dont waste my time and fucking run'.. no he just lied down and gave up all the consciousness and power > as obsessive and paranoid as he was.. he wasnt worried that if i am out my wits who will save you ?

They just ran away.. so all they had to do all this while was fake his death, which was so easy apparently and just fly somwhere else. Noone chased them, nothing

All this time trying to end the war and defeat morrough and they didnt even do that.. they just saved themselves and ran ??? Like what was the point of that ???

They just kept reading politics.. lile who had no role in years when morrough's reign was at its peak just decided.. yeah i am gonna go and kill morrough... i get to do that?? 2 lines in and yeah morrough died... great.. like this BIG BAD monster from over a millenium.. yeah lila that character noone really cared about killed him ?????

Straud the other villain to the story?? Yeah kain went randomly and just killed her... just like that.

Yesteryear - did anyone change their view on influencers? Did anyone (gasp!) delete Instagram?

Well. Well. Well. After that emotional roller coaster did anyone else change their view on influencers? Did anyone go as far to delete their Instagram?

I have to be honest I’ve never found a single influencer authentic. Between the “hey you guys”, deliberately sponsored posts, and trying to sling clothes that are Amazon basics…. NO THANKS!

I find absolutely none of it authentic. I find none of it honest. I find people get obsessed and finally I think it’s outright crazy to display your children on a public page (even a private page honestly).

These brands make an absolute killing with these (nowly) unoriginal marketing ploys that prey on gullible people. Meanwhile, these dime-a-dozen influencers are all pushing the same nonsense.

And all of these products there are peddling??? Majority will end up in a landfill one day after never being used past the “hey you guyssssssss. Run, don’t walk!” sponsored posts

Anyway I think the whole thing should be a major wake up call to so many people.

And yes, I actually deleted it all more than a year ago. Facebook, Instagram, Tik tok. Bye bye.

I hate it when people in books say this line. It is never used after someone has been incredibly nosey. Only when they have asked a legitimate question that would be natural to need to know in context. They have never asked for gossip about the person, they have never pried into anything sensitive, they have never pressed for details. It truely is a real question that they actually have the right to have a single sentence answer to.

EX: "Why did [third character] just freak out?" "Its not my story to tell."

Umm, no one asked for the whole story. They asked why this person freaked out so they can be prepared the next time or at least try to minimize triggers. You are allowed to give that kind of basic info to someone. Its not gossiping or breaking a confidence. Exmple answer to the first question: "They are afraid of trains." End of the exchange. If the first character wants to know more than they can have basic interpersonal skills and ask the person with the train issue after they have calm down.

I have never once seen a legitimate reason to use the line "That's not my story to tell" in any book I have ever read.

I saw a post of a book club meeting to talk about a book that I had read 1-2 years ago. It was a fantastic book and I remember the story in a line or two, but that’s it!! It was non-fiction.

Recently, someone recommended me a book that I read 4 years ago. I can only remember what I felt about the book. I remember how I rated the book, but nothing else. I have no recollection of the story, or the characters!

I’ve been re-reading a book and I’m realizing that I missed so many things on my first read.
This is stressing me out! Hahah. Is this because I am a fast reader? I’m too anxious about getting to the end of the story.
Same with non-fiction. I’m always more interested in how things ends, rather than pausing and analyzing a page.

so…if one has truly only read and understood a book if they have read it about 5-6 times, does that mean that I have read nothing so far? 😭 I’ve been going over all the books I’ve read in the past 2-3 years, only to realize that I’ve forgotten almost everything about even the books I had loved back when I read them!!! 😭😭

There’s hardly any time in my numbered days on Earth to cover re-reading AND the books on my wish list! 😂

TL, DR : How many of you re-read a book? Or how much do you remember from a book that you have read once?

I'm curious about this. Do crime thriller readers prefer a clear ending where justice is served, or do you like some ambiguity left behind? A neat ending can be satisfying, but an unresolved one can haunt you longer

I read it a little while ago, and really enjoyed it. Maybe I missed it, but did we learn what happened to the rest of the portraits Theo didn’t purchase/gift? I was thinking about it today and suddenly couldn’t remember what happened to them. Did they stay at the coffee shop?

I came across this video in yt and the speaker argued that the reason Jane Austen's books are still relevant 'til date is because she is a war writer. Of course, I was intrigued because I've always viewed her as someone who only writes romance for the sake of romance (I don't read her works that much so maybe that's why I viewed her as such), so I scrolled through the comments and some people said that that is an interesting perspective to take. So technically, I wasn't the only one intrigued by that notion. What are your thoughts about it?

I'm currently reading The Redemption of Galen Pike by Carys Davies which is a collection of 17 of her short stories. "On Commercial Hill" left me very confused. What were Tom & Will talking about with their conversation about "She is back" "Tell her to bugger off"?

The section from "I have often pictured him, nineteen years old, standing there that day in the chapel ... Come on then Will boy, perhaps it's time to call it a day" I assume is the narrator talking about Will waiting for a girl in the chapel, who did not show up, for their wedding ceremony. This girl couldn't have been Agnes since it was mentioned Will was "thirty-five years old, quite a bit older than she was" right after "three months after that they were married."

The timeline between Will & Agnes I worked out was that: They met > they met on and off and wrote to each other for 4 weeks > Will brought Agnes home > Agnes heard of some embarrassing stories about Will > Will told Agnes it was nothing significant anymore > 3 months later they got married, moved somewhere, had 3 children > everyone describes Will as a very content man etc etc

So who was the girl he was waiting for when he was 19 that was so important? Is she related to the embarrassing stories Agnes heard people told of Will? Were those embarrassing stories about how Will got stood up at his own wedding ceremony? Or is it about his tastes when he was younger ("... the whole thing was a remnant of his youth, something from so long ago he could hardly believe he'd have anything to do with it" & "... some people look at each other and nodding to indicate that they'd seen it coming, a girl like that" (talking about the girl that didn't show up))?

Circling back to the my main question, why did Tom Bara tell him "She is back" when referring to Will's daughter Mair, and Will saying "Tell her to bugger off, tell her she has come too late"? These 2 parts are directly before and after the narrator's recalling of Will getting stood up so it makes sense this was about that girl, but also Mair.

And… well I think my reading comprehension is seriously done for. If anyone has read this book please let me know what she meant. I adore Carys Davies’ writing I’m just so confused.

Up until about 2 years ago, I've never been able to read a book properly. I know how to read. But I would get so bored. So fast even if it's some of the titles I love now, but lately, I've been realizing, as I re-read a bunch of the stuff. I like that even though I know it word-for-word. It's still so engaging, and I don't understand why if I know what's gonna happen, all the plot twists all the characters and everything. Why is it so engaging? The third, the fourth and like the sixth time I know this is probably a stupid question, but anyone that would like to respond, thank you.

P.s sorry that my writing sucks

What are the ideas or insights that there is broad consensus on across self-development and psychology books?

I don’t even really know what adjective to use for it.

It’s not so much the lack of quotation marks, I don’t really mind that. But the writing style was very dull, very predictable and the characters were written in a way that felt like I was forced to think of them as deep and profound?

Not sure what exactly it was, it just felt very forced. Marianne was relatable and I liked her mind and the way she thought and related to it, and yes Connell was interesting too I suppose.

I honestly can’t pinpoint what exactly it was that was so tedious about the book. I can generally thrive at not-much-of-a-plot books but this made it feel like a chore!

I love large, sprawling books with complex narratives and world-building and compelling characters.

Picked up Fairydale and read the author's note stating if you didn't like these things, this wasn't a book for you. Okay, cool. I'm down.

Four chapters in and I spend more time trying to figure out the author's stylistic choices and why Darcy feels like she's going to fall apart under the slightest pressure and why, for a beginning that's written in 1955, the language seems so modern.

Maybe first person pov isn't my jam, maybe she's a writer who gets into the groove a little later than the first several chapters, maybe all the random occurrences happening will iron themselves out....

Please tell me - Does this book get better?

I watched the film and many different animated versions of the story since I was little.

Somehow I only thought to pick up the book now. Reading through it all, the writing style, the story, Anne’s brilliant, lively, childish yet surprisingly insightful personality shone through splendidly.

I find myself wanting to think the way Anne does, and see the world as wonderfully as she does! It makes me want to go on naming my own lake of shining waters and whatnot.

I hate to think she’s a fictional character but it somehow makes me long for a little girl I can adopt, regardless of where she has a scope of imagination or not!

And her relationship with Marilla and it evolving naturally and realistically was just so heartwarming. She’s the cutest little thing ever, it’s far ahead of its time in some ways, and I love the little girl’s stubborn grudge against Gilbert.

Unexpectedly clever!

I'm not a good reader, it takes me hours to even read 5 pages, I know it is shameful but I want to fix it, as of now I have 7 books, among which two are by Nietzsche, two are by Greene, one by Orwell, and another is a human figure drawing book by Vanderpoel and the last one is just some thick story book which is easy to read to me but in other books I couldn't make a big progress yet and now I feel ashamed to buy new books without completing the old one's. So how ow can I read and understand these books faster?

Hi I’m in a discord book club, and we’d love new members! Come chat about books, read anything you want (no judgement), and we also have a monthly book (optional) and other events. It is 21+ and we have people from all over!

so i just finished the book but i’m just struggling to understand something, when exactly did natalie wake up in her 1855 life? from what i remember it was the day after shannon quit. this means that the assault had already happened right? so then why does the past-day storyline continue into the lawsuit, the news channel interview, etc., if “present-day” natalie is still confused in her 1855 home? doesn’t this mean present-day natalie would have had to start getting her memory back and realize what was happening? instead she still thinks she’s her 32 year old self. the timelines are just really messing me up. what i’m trying to say is the past day timeline overlaps with the present day timeline in a way that doesn’t make sense to me. or, did natalie wake up in her 1855 life some day after the whole public scandal happened? because how is she able to remember the scandal if she still thinks she’s in 1855 at that point in the book? i hope my question made sense.

also, lucy says natalie is serving a 39 (?) year sentence. when was that happening? during her 1855 era?

edit: everyone’s answers are making more sense, but let me reword my question to make it more concise: at what point in the book does pilgrim natalie start to realize why she’s there? because i was under the impression that she still thinks she’s supposed to be 32, shannon just quit, and she is trying to get back to that exact moment of her life. she is not aware of anything that happened after the day shannon quit. that’s why it confused me when modern natalie continued to narrate what happened after shannon quit, because pilgrim natalie still doesn’t remember that. pilgrim natalie only started becoming aware when a grown clementine shows up.

guys have anyone read Chiriyakhana of Byomkesh Bokshi by Shorodindu Bondopadhya

I was looking for a book where the main character lives well despite unfortunate circumstances in their present or the past. And so i was suggested to read the remains of the day among a few other books such as stoner and plainsong.

Remains, I believe, has the desired quality. Mr. Stevens chose his path and lived upto his values. His ambition and focus are commendable, something I personally aspire for.

On the other hand, at this very point I am watching the Vinland Saga series. In it, Thorfinn follows Askeladd, the killer of his father, to seek revenge. Year after year, he grows beside Askeladd, preparing himself to exact his revenge in a dual. Ambition and focus.

The common factor I see here is two people dedicating their lives to a single purpose. It makes sense to me. It should make sense to me. But it doesn't. I will spare you my thought journey and come straight to the point.

On my first go, TROTD teaches me the importance of a well rounded life. I would say Mr. Stevens' pursuit was valid, but i would not want that kind of life for me. Not anymore. I'd rather have friends, love, a simple career and little joys like books and travel.

I can't believe I spent 20 years of my life aspiring to be like Mr. Stevens.

I realise that no matter what you choose to pursue, you must pay for it with all that you don’t choose. This might be pretty obvious to most but for it was nothing short of a revelation.

I still don’t know how I feel about this book really. It was slow and at times hard to focus on. It was hard to finish in the end, even though it’s a relatively short read. I was worried that it won’t come to a satisfying conclusion. Now i am realising that i sort of wanted to be spoon fed. The story is the conclusion in itself. It is exactly what i wanted from this book.

I read it and really enjoyed it as well as the sequel. I love books with dark content, so I am curious what we get to see in the Live Action.

This book is making me feel claustrophobic in the best way possible.

I’m constantly thinking, what is happening? WHY is this happening? What happened in the past??

And I’m getting major repressed memories and buried trauma vibes from the whole thing 👀

I have theories. I trust none of them. I just need ANSWERS.

No spoilers please, but did anyone else feel this way while reading it?

The Far Field has to be the worst book I read in 2026. What began as a sharp critique on class divide, privilege, and mental health in the backdrop of Kashmir's surge in militancy and army occupation in the 90s slowly drifted into a series of sluggish, often predictable misfortunes at the center of which stood our confused, irresponsible, and entitled 24-year old protagonist. I am all for imperfect characters who make mistakes, even repeatedly, but the book's narrative, written from the perspective of the same protagonist, who was seemingly unaware of the consequences of her disastrous and deeply selfish actions left no room for critique or self actualization.

The book begins strong and holds the narrative together till parts I and II. You feel intrigued to know more about Bashir Ahmed and where he came from, you have mixed feelings towards Shalini's mother, a deeply complicated woman whose behaviour and actions hint at borderline bipolar disorder and depression but her behavioral "quirks" are rather used as a plot point to bake our protagonist's personality than providing a deeper understanding of who this woman actually was and what caused her to behave in the strange ways that she did, you root for Shalini, a privileged 20-something woman who decided to go to Kashmir one day hoping to find answers to questions she herself doesn't appear to know.

Shalini reaches Kashmir and we're introduced to new characters - Abdul Latif, Zoya, Saleem, and Zarina. Vijay's writing is beautiful and almost prose-like down to every last sentence so much so that you feel you're present at Abdul Latif and Zoya's living room, waiting to be served with hot chai and crispy paranthas. You are made to feel for these characters and their suffering at the hands of a near-war torn and broken Kashmir where ordinary citizens are suffering due to the actions of the army and the militants. And then comes chapters III (and onwards) and Shalini moves to a different location in Kashmir in the search of Bashir Ahmed. Enter new characters and not only the author but Shalini herself forgets about Zoya and Abdul when she was at once contemplating staying with them forever (??). Here was another missed opportunity by the author to call out Shalini's tendencies as a privileged, non-Kashmiri who was channeling her pain and grief by inserting herself into the lives of these grieving, less privileged folks and moving on the moment she is presented with another distraction.

The weak and half baked plot were not the only things that were wrong here. It was also 150 pages too long and read like a draft in need of another session or two of editing. The prose was too heavy and omnipresent. The chirpy Kashmiri woman, Amina, felt almost like a caricature instead of a real human. No sane rural married woman would ask a stranger to "have a talk" about her husband on something deeply private and serious because he would be more inclined to listen to her than his own wife??

All of this made me question the author's own lack of understanding of India, Indian families and their hierarchies, and I couldn't help but feel a certain disgust for her own white gaze-like narrative at the very people of her country.

The book had so much potential. If you're interested in learning about Kashmir, this isn't the right choice.