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willaful

willaful

Joined April 2022

Love to read, garden, dance. Pretty sure my last words are going to be “where did I put my Kindle?“ She/They.
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willaful
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A Gothic romance set in Old New York, featuring the most adorable love of an absent-minded-scientist hero.

#HauntedShelf Lets Go Points #ScreamTeam @Puddlejumper

PuddleJumper 🖤🖤 17m
8 likes1 comment
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willaful
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PuddleJumper 🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛ 15h
24 likes1 comment
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willaful
Little Moments of Love | Catana Chetwynd

I've been reading all of these collections while I have free KU; this is the first, and though the drawing technique isn't as polished as in the later comics, my favorite. I think it's because while they're all pretty much the same -- cute, relatable vignettes about coupledom -- this is the one in which Chetwynd really lets her freak flag fly. 😂

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willaful
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CatLass007 Absolutely true! 1d
willaful Nah, that's what audiobooks are for! 1d
Ruthiella 😂😂😂 1d
See All 7 Comments
CarolynM That‘s my life motto😆 1d
AmyG Unless….you are audio reading while cleaning…which is what I do. @willaful. Yep! (edited) 21h
Arvena 👍 18h
dabbe 😂🎯😂 15h
35 likes7 comments
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willaful
Susan Settles Down | Molly Clavering

Anyone have a bingo square for most bizarrely gratuitous homophobia?

Ruthiella Ah, you just got to that weird bit about effete Londoners. Totally jarring. 😖 1d
willaful @Ruthiella really is! 1d
Faranae 😬 1d
CarolynM There were a lot of jarring moments @Ruthiella 1d
17 likes4 comments
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willaful
Sucker's Portfolio | Kurt Vonnegut

Mark Twain, not long before he died a bitter old man, was writing a book much like John Latham's.... Like Latham, he chose to laugh in agony rather than sob in agony about how irresistible forces, whether physical or economic or biological or political or social or military or historical or technological can at any time smash our hopes for moderately happy and healthy lives for ourselves and our loved ones to smithereens.

willaful This section made me think of The Great Believers. Perhaps the reason Vonnegut's writing got so samey over time was that he didn't or couldn't see that there are other options than sobbing in agony or laughing in agony? I still appreciate his work but it gets more limited in outlook. 2d
26 likes1 comment
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willaful
Sucker's Portfolio | Kurt Vonnegut

We like to pretend that so many important discoveries have been made on a certain day, unexpectedly, by one person rather than by a system seeking such knowledge, I think, because we hope that life is like a lottery, where simply anyone can come up with a winning ticket...

Who knows? Tomorrow morning, some absolute nobody, maybe you or I, might fall into an open manhole, and return to street level with a concussion and a cancer cure.

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willaful
Sucker's Portfolio | Kurt Vonnegut

A rather odd collection of previously unpublished stories that will probably be most appreciated by fans. My favorite part of it was an essay about American myths and decline, which is even more painfully relevant than it was in the 90s.

#AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville

Soubhiville That‘s a pretty great title! 🙂 2d
23 likes1 comment
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willaful
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This is actually just the start of my impossible aspirational pile! I've been noting #HauntedShelf related books all year. 😂

PuddleJumper Excellent! 5d
27 likes1 comment
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willaful
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My mom thought this might amuse me. It does. 😄 Who else thinks Mr. Darcy is in for an interesting time?

#Pemberlittens

Faranae I probably would have liked the version of the book that exists in this illustration much better. 😂 6d
Ruthiella Oh yes! 😂😂😂 6d
quietjenn 😂😂😂 6d
CarolynM Hmm, not quite how I read it 🤣 5d
32 likes4 comments
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willaful
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willaful
Jingo | Terry Pratchett

“Are you going out, Sam?“

“Yes, I'm just going to kick some arse, dear.“

“Oh, *good.* Just be sure you wrap up well, then.“

Ruthiella I love Sam and Sybil‘s relationship. ❤️ 1w
27 likes1 comment
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willaful
Jingo | Terry Pratchett

He looked at the face in the mirror. Unfortunately, it was his.

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willaful
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A really interesting look at what we know and don't know about the history of gender nonconformity. With input from historians, this graphic novel presents our current best understanding of different kinds of gender identity throughout the past, as well as sharing voices from the present. The images are based whenever possible on historical records, though the artist also brings some humor. Would make a fantastic high school textbook.

31 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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willaful
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Ruthiella 😂😂😂 2w
Lcsmcat 😂🤣😂 2w
Sace 🤣 2w
See All 9 Comments
Sparklemn Clever! 2w
TheBookgeekFrau 😂😂😂 2w
lil1inblue 😂 😍 😂 2w
dabbe 😂🤩😂 2w
Jari-chan 😁😁 2w
Reggie lol 1w
39 likes9 comments
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willaful
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I just noticed that today is Nick's birthday! Celebrate adorably. 😂

Ruthiella 🥳🥳🥳 2w
37 likes1 comment
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willaful
Jingo | Terry Pratchett

Sergeant Colon had had a broad education. He'd been to the School of My Dad Always Said, the College of It Stands to Reason, and was now a postgraduate student at the University of What Some Bloke in the Pub Told Me.

julesG 🤣🤣🤣 One of my favourite quotes from the book. 🦧 2w
BookmarkTavern I know way too many people like that! 😂😂😂 2w
willaful @BookmarkTavern Those schools certainly never lacked enrollment! 2w
27 likes3 comments
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willaful
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Ooops, forgot to check in yesterday.

I had quite a busy weekend -- anniversary party! but read and enjoyed two of my books and bailed on one. Also read a romance and listened to some of Misdirected, an Audible original.

Bookwormjillk 🎉🎉🎉 2w
28 likes1 comment
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willaful
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Who needs drugs?

dabbe Good point. 🩵😂🩵 2w
lil1inblue 🙃 😂 🙃 2w
35 likes2 comments
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willaful
BookSpinBingo | Untitled
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I'm using the two list method this month, for extra flexibility and also to hopefully keep my board tidier. 😁 Last month's was a mess of extra books in the margins.

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! Looks fantastic!! 2w
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Four bingos!

TheAromaofBooks Yay!! Looking great!!! 2w
26 likes1 comment
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willaful
BookSpinBingo | Untitled
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Read six books from my #BookSpin list and got two bingos.

#MonthlyNonfiction2025: The Mythmakers The Mad Files, One Day I'll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman, and Puzzled.

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! Fantastic month!! 2w
julieclair Fabulous month! 2w
27 likes2 comments
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willaful
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Let's go!

Ruthiella 🚗💨 👍👍👍 3w
julesG Michener by the pound?! 🤣🤣🤣 2w
38 likes2 comments
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willaful
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Our August #QueerBC author was Alice Oseman. Feel free to discuss your reading here.

rwmg 1. I'd read Heartstopper and Solitaire earlier this year so it was too soon to read them again. I Was Born For This was the only stand-alone in the bookshop.

2. As someone whose relationships with fictional characters aren't always the healthiest I found the themes of fandoms and what I believe are called parasocial relationships fascinating.

3. Too many to choose just one.
(edited) 3w
Kitta I read heartstopper and couldn‘t stop and just read the whole series. 😂 I normally don‘t enjoy any kind of romance but this was just so sweet without being saccharine. I related a lot to Charlie and his difficulties with being outed and the past abusive relationship. I didn‘t come out for years and I wish I had while in highschool to more people. I normally don‘t enjoy coming out stories but this was so well done and lovely to read on my kindle. 3w
willaful @Kitta I love Heartstopper so much! 3w
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Zuhkeeyah I read Solitare. It was a dark story where Tori ghosted through the school day. The ending was confusing and didn't really resolve anything. Her parents are the worst. I did love the interactions with Oliver. He and Nick were the only people she never judged. 2w
willaful @Zuhkeeyah I actually gave up on that one. You might try one of her graphic novels for something more fun. 2w
willaful 1. Radio Silence kinda chose itself because it was the last of theirs I haven't read or DNFs. 😁 It was also on my #Roll100 list so I continue my streak of only reading the numbers that *haven't* been chosen! I rarely like their novels as much as their graphic novels, and this might have been my favorite so I'm glad I got to it.

2. The main theme was being your own person. I related as someone who “masks“ a lot.

cont.
(edited) 2w
willaful 2. parasocial relationships were also a theme -- I was Born for This has a lot of echos of Radio Silence. But I felt it was underexplored here. Fav character was maybe Raine, who's very comfortable being herself and consequently has the bandwith the help others.

2w
willaful 3. Quote that stood out, Daniel saying sadly 'Everyone wants the gay couple to get their happy ending, don't they.“ Scene that stood out: Frankie discovering death threats on Aled's desk. 😭 2w
Zuhkeeyah @willaful I love the Heartstopper series. I knew going in the book would have a very different vibe. It was the fact that it didn't go anywhere despite all the pages that frustrated me 2w
willaful @Zuhkeeyah It was their first novel, I think they improved. But nothing's as good as Heartstopper for me. 2w
Jari-chan I read Radio Silence, because I'm not that much into Heartstopper and didn't feel like rereading Loveless. It was a perfect coice for me and my favourite book by her so far. It's about friendship more than about romantic relationships, which is great. Because friendship is often regarded as not as important as the romantic love, which just isn't true. 2w
29 likes11 comments
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willaful
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#SummerEnd Readathon. Want to finish these for my #BookSpinBingo board and #QueerBC.

BookmarkTavern I really quite enjoyed The Mythmakers! 3w
38 likes1 comment
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willaful
2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas | Marie-Helene Bertino
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This odd little book didn't entirely gel for me, but it had so many wonderful pieces that I'll call it a pick. There's a very strong sense of place, turns of phrase that made me it feel like the author was inside my brain, and some wonderful joyfulness.

#BookSpinBingo #TBRTarot (green cover)

@TheAromaOfBooks @Cbee

CBee 💚💚 3w
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3w
39 likes2 comments
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willaful
2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas | Marie-Helene Bertino

She leads him through the moves whose Spanish terms translate roughly into misogynistic commands: Give me the girl! Tell her no! Ben immediately takes to the simple “Coca Cola,“ where he releases Rue for a beat before winding her back. “Date her cousin!“ the instructor barks as they flop across the floor. “Plug her in!“

willaful I used to dance Salsa Rueda and this made me laugh so hard! 3w
26 likes1 comment
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willaful
2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas | Marie-Helene Bertino
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Ah, city memories.

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BookSpinBingo | Untitled
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TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 3w
27 likes1 comment
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willaful

I enjoyed this more than any since the first book. The romance is really heating up and there is *drama*! And the solutions of the mysteries are cleverly deduced.

I'm hoping the next book will have a HEA because I'm not sure my heart can take much more!

#SeriesLove @TheSpineView @Andrew65

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A very poignant image.

#BookSpinBingo

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Fanny and Edmund are very happy that Sir Thomas is planning to sell his Antigua plantation, so the family will no longer bear the sin of being involved in the slave trade.

#Pemberlittens #JaneAustenThenAndNow

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willaful

Jonathan sighed. He knew the rules of ettiquete as well as any (and better than most), but he could not see the sense of any rule that made it impolite to keep to one's own house and read one's own books.

Sace I agree with Johnathan. 4w
Jari-chan Me too. 4w
willaful @Sace hard not to, right? 4w
32 likes3 comments
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willaful
That Scandalous Summer | Meredith Duran

Finally got to this, which has been on my #BookSpin list forever. It was... sort of worth it? I described it as a really good writer's worst book.

More on my blog: https://willaful.wordpress.com/2025/08/22/tbr-challenge-that-scandalous-summer-b...

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 4w
26 likes1 comment
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willaful
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It hit me today that even after my sister-in-law is okay to be left alone, it'll still be another two days after that before my husband gets home. 😭

lil1inblue 🫂 4w
shanaqui 💙 4w
26 likes2 comments
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willaful

I enjoyed Blume as a child but at some point started feeling very put off by her books. This was no exception. Way too many inner monologues by very skeezy people.

#AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville

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So many interesting books this week, it was hard to choose. Hetty Dorval was a close contender.

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Hetty Dorval | Ethel Wilson

A coming of age story in which young Frankie's life in beautiful British Columbia, and later in Europe, is disrupted several times by the fascinating, enigmatic -- evil? -- Hetty Dorval. I've read books with similar themes before but I'm not sure I've ever read one in which the narrator comes so satisfactorily into their own by the end; no matter who Hetty really is, Frankie will be the person she needs to be.

#PersephoneClub

LeahBergen Great review! And I‘ve yet to start. 😬 1mo
Cathythoughts Great review. I enjoyed this too. Hetty is one complicated woman ! 1mo
willaful @LeahBergen It's a pretty fast read. 1mo
23 likes3 comments
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willaful
We Could Be Magic | Marissa Meyer
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Fat dancers make me happy.

TheBookHippie Same. 1mo
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willaful

I still had reason to be proud, to know that my family came from here, that we had history. That above all else, I was of and from this New Hampshire land. I'm trying to say what it felt like then... To have my town look at my daughter and say, *No, we will not make it a safe space for her here.* To have it say, *No, she does not belong, she is not what we believe a child should be.* I'm trying to describe the depths to which that broke my heart.

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willaful

My family taught me to think of God and be very afraid. The MAD Jews taught me to look heavenward and ask the ancient, resonant question us misfits and outcasts have posed since time immemorial: What, me worry?

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willaful
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If like me, you grew up feeling you intimately knew movies you'd never seen, you might also enjoy these writings on MAD by authors & cartoonists. (Roz Chast & Art Spiegelman contribute short comics.) I was especially intrigued by pieces on the few women contributors and the Jewish influences on MAD, including a Talmud comparison! It needed pruning because there's a *lot* of repeated info, but overall a fun, nostalgic read.

#MonthlyNonfiction2025

julieclair This looks intriguing! I was never a Mad reader myself, but I knew plenty of kids who were. It truly was a cultural phenomenon in the pre-internet days. 1mo
willaful @julieclair I'm not sure the book would be that interesting to a non fan. 1mo
33 likes2 comments
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A heartbreaking, harrowing memoir that often had me in tears. Abi Maxwell loves all the family history in her New Hampshire town, until she discovers that her “nice“ neighbors have no compunctions about denying the rights and needs of her transgender/autistic child.

The book piles on dramatic emphasis a bit too much, but the text never fails to respect the author's daughters identity, which I admire tremendously.

CW in comments.

willaful rape in the past (not graphic)
sexual assault of author as a child in the past (not graphic)
dissociation
depression and suicidal feelings
transphobia, of course
ableism
bullying
1mo
TheAromaofBooks Great progress! 1mo
35 likes3 comments
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willaful
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(Quote from Alan Ginsberg)

A poignant article on reading when you feel helpless. I've read five of the sixth gay romances mention here and must immediately read the sixth: https://buttondown.com/theswordandthesandwich/archive/a-queer-shoulder-to-the-wh...

Faranae Quite literally I was in a depressive spiral last night and pulled out an Aster Glenn Gray I hadn't read yet (and the one on that post is another I haven't...) 1mo
willaful @Faranae Oh, which one and which one? 😁 I hope you're feeling better. 1mo
Faranae @willaful I paid for my indulgence with a migraine (naw, the migraine was inevitable tbh, I just got indulgence *and* a migraine instead of only the latter). And I read The Sleeping Soldier, and I haven't yet read Honeytrap. I think Gray is just about on my automatic trust list, so I'll probably try it soon. 😁 1mo
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willaful @Faranae Oh, Honeytrap is one of the very best IMO. 1mo
CarolynM Thanks for the link. Most of them were on my radar, but Honeytrap wasn‘t. I‘ve just downloaded it😆 1mo
Reggie Thanks you for this! I haven‘t read any of them. 1mo
willaful @Reggie oh, you are in for a treat! 1mo
36 likes7 comments
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Amiable OMG, I feel this so much. Too much. 😖 1mo
Aims42 Oof, this hits close to home 😅 1mo
AmyG Yes, this is so true. Sadly. 1mo
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Cuilin There was no need to call me out this early on a Monday morning 😠 😆 1mo
dabbe 😂🧡😂 1mo
willaful @Cuilin Hey, don't shoot the messenger! 😂 1mo
Cuilin @willaful My most humble apologies.😆 I spoke before I had my coffee 🤣 1mo
38 likes7 comments
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willaful

“Abi, it's hard for me. I'm sorry, I just can't wrap my head around it.“

“Why don't you just try,“ I said. “You know how to read. Read one fucking book, Lisa, one fucking article, and you'll see that my daughter's life depends on people putting even an ounce of effort into understanding.“

CarolynM How often have you wanted to say something like that to somebody? I know I have. 1mo
willaful @CarolynM I had to say something to my own damn brother! But in fairness, he took it very well. 1mo
27 likes1 stack add2 comments
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#SereneSaturdays I have several Emotional Support Sit-coms -- Community, Scrubs, the Good Place -- and this Emotional Support Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WOO6qoEcgo

JenlovesJT47 The Good Place is awesome. I‘m due for a rewatch! 1mo
willaful @JenlovesJT47 We just did one as a family. It's the one show my daughter loves. 1mo
dabbe Torvill and Dean! Nothing better! 💛🤎🧡 Bravo, Nottingham! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 1mo
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lil1inblue Community is one of my favorite comfort shows! 🤩 1mo
willaful @dabbe not sure I would've made it through lockdown without that video. 1mo
willaful @lil1inblue “It's TV, it's comfort. It's a friend you've known so well, and for so long you just let it be with you.“ 1mo
dabbe @willaful 🩵🎯🩵 1mo
31 likes7 comments
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A five star read made the choice easy this week.

#WeeklyFavorites @Read4Life

Read4life 🧡⛵️🧡 1mo
25 likes1 comment
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willaful

It's frustrating when you use “search harder“ and actually find the book you want, but there's no way to make a post about it.

Faranae I also wish it were a little easier to add a book, or update one that's missing information. I'm not sure where litsy looks for book info exactly. 1mo
PuddleJumper @Faranae Same and reporting duplicate books. It's messy 1mo
willaful @PuddleJumper Yes! And I hate when I add a book and then see I made a typo. 😖 1mo
20 likes3 comments