r/bookdiscussion

I don't know if this is the right place to ask, but I've been curious if anyone else has experienced something like this. I'm not saying it's supernatural or anything—I think they're probably just coincidences—but the timing has been so weird that I still think about them. The first one happened while I was reading Murders at Mount Fuji. I had just started working in a supermarket in France and knew almost nothing about wines. A customer asked me for a wine called Chablis , and I'd never even heard that word before. He found the bottle himself, came back later to pay for it, and that was the first time I'd ever seen or heard the word. After work, I was walking to the metro thinking about that interaction, wondering how I was supposed to know what Chablis was. I got on the train, continued reading my book, and while I was still thinking about it, the very next line mentioned people drinking Chablis with dinner. I literally stopped reading because it gave me goosebumps. I just thought, "What are the chances?" Then yesterday something even stranger happened while I was reading Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami. I get hemorrhoids before my period, and yesterday the pain was really bad. I had just finished work and was sitting on the metro thinking about how much it hurt and how exhausted I was from dealing with it. I looked away from the book for a moment when the train stopped, then looked back and continued reading. The next sentence said, "Come to think of it, throwing up was no big deal. It was no less painful than hemorrhoids." I was honestly stunned. I closed the book and just sat there for the rest of the journey. I'd never seen the word hemorrhoids in a novel before, and seeing it at the exact moment I was experiencing that pain felt so bizarre. I've had a few smaller coincidences like this while reading over the years, but these are the two that I remember the most. Has anyone else had a book unexpectedly mention the exact thing you were thinking about or experiencing at that moment? I'd love to hear if anyone has had similar experiences.

Just curious I have been toying with this question in my head for quite sometime obviously the price point with paperbacks is usually much more appealing then hardcover editions what say all of you?

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Okay, hear me out.

For the past few years, I’ve been so focused on university, work, and trying to figure life out that I realized I’ve been missing something really important…….meeting new people. I’m 24, from Poland, and I’d genuinely love to build a little online community with people who enjoy reading, talking, learning from each other, and just… being curious about the world.

So I’m thinking about starting an online book club, but not the kind where everyone treats it like an assignment. I don’t want this to be stiff or overly academic. I don’t want anyone to feel pressured to have the smartest analysis or finish every single page. I want it to be fun. I want us to read amazing books, talk about them, laugh, overshare a little, exchange ideas, recommend books to each other, and somehow end up talking about life, travel, philosophy, art, relationships, culture, dreams, random shower thoughts… literally anything.

The plan is to make it online (probably on Discord or another platform we all agree on), so it’s easy for everyone to join. We could meet every week or every other week, chat about the book we’re reading. Basically, I want a space where people can read, learn from each other, exchange perspectives, and also just… exist. A place where it’s completely normal to spend 30 minutes discussing the book and then another two hours yapping about everything else. I really miss that feeling of finding “your people.” The kind of conversations where you look at the clock and suddenly it’s been three hours.

As for the books……I love classics, modern classics, and literature from around the world. I’d love for us to read books that make us think, introduce us to new cultures and ideas, and stay with us long after we’ve finished them. But I definitely don’t want this to be my reading list. I want everyone to recommend books, vote on what we read, and shape the club together. More than a book club, I’m hoping this becomes a little community. Somewhere people can make friends, feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, learn something new, and have conversations that leave you feeling inspired instead of drained.

You don’t have to be someone who reads 100 books a year. You don’t need a literature degree. You don’t need to have read all the classics. More than anything  I want this to be about the people. I’d love to create a supportive, welcoming little corner of the internet where people actually look forward to showing up. A place where it’s okay to disagree, where everyone feels heard, where we can be ourselves, make genuine connections, and maybe even make a few really good friends along the way.

A little about me: I’m pretty outgoing, very open-minded, and I genuinely love getting to know people. I love hearing about what excites someone, what they’re passionate about, what books changed their life, or even just what they’ve been thinking about lately. I think everyone has an interesting story, and I’d love to meet people from different backgrounds and different parts of the world.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, send me a DM! Tell me a little about yourself. Where are you from? How old are you? What’s your favorite book, or a book that completely changed the way you think? If enough people are interested, I’ll make a group chat, we’ll figure out the platform together, vote on our first book, and hopefully create something really special.

Does this happen to anyone else? You are so hooked on a story, so enveloped and invested in it that when you try to sleep all your brain does is go over things you’ve read and the characters and what could happen?

I just finished an AO3, Dramione and it was so fucking good I’m so sad I finished it. But legitimately it takes up every part of my brain even after finishing it! It was so good I felt so much and was able to picture everything perfectly. I may actually reread it.

Is this normal or am I just slightly unhinged haha. It happens with other books too, first time I read the ACOTAR series etc there’s certain books that I become completely entranced by. It seriously rewires my brain or something when I read something I’m hooked by.

I used to have a pretty rigid go-to list of what I liked to read, but lately, I’ve been trying to be more open-minded. I’m curious—was there a book you picked up on a whim that completely surprised you by becoming an all-time favorite? I’m looking for stories that might change the way I look at books I usually pass over.

I speak three languages so my algorithm shows content in different languages. I’ve noticed that english language Booktok usually recommends books that I honestly wouldn’t want to read. Also it‘s very anglo centered, barely any books translated from different languages. When I compare them to the books that non english speaking content creators recommend the quality in book recommendations and analysis is amazing. I‘ve discovered books written by authors from all around the world, from Nobel Prize winners to debut authors, different genres, etc. Has anyone else noticed it? Can it be explained by a different literary culture?

Hello!

I just started reading the book Intermezzo by Sally Rooney and quickly noticed the writing style which I can admit is new to me but I'm okay with adapting to it if the book is worth reading so give me all your thoughts and summaries please (spoilers free if possible).

Thank you in advance!

This AMA has now ended.

A message from Charlotte and Liese:

"Thank you for all your questions! We hope you found the discussion interesting and got some more insight into how we put our 100 best novels list together.

You can read more on the story behind the list here and find all our latest books coverage here."

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Hi r/TrueLit !

We are Charlotte Northedge and Liese Spencer, the joint head of books at The Guardian. We recently published our list of the 100 best novels of all time, and we're here to pull back the curtain on how it all came together.

With screens dominating our time, reading for pleasure is facing a quiet crisis—half of UK adults say they never read, and reading levels among young people are at a 20-year low. We wanted this list to be an antidote to that; a gateway back to the best of literature.

To build it, we polled over 170 novelists, critics, and academics (including Stephen King, Salman Rushdie, and Bernardine Evaristo). Our criteria included any book published in English, regardless of its original language. 

But we are aware that compiling a list like this is never easy. It sparks fierce debates, tough omissions, and endless conversations about what truly defines a "classic" in the modern era. 

Whether you want to know how the data was tallied, why a certain book made the top ten, why your favourite book was left off, or how the landscape of fiction is shifting, we are here to answer it all.

We’ll be here on Wednesday 1 July at 11am EDT/4pm BST to answer your questions live. Drop your questions below!

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A little bit about the editors and their work…

Charlotte Northedge and Liese Spencer oversee The Guardian's book coverage, from cover stories for Saturday magazine such as our exclusive extract from Virginia Guiffre’s memoir Nobody’s Girl and interviews with Richard Osman, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Margaret Atwood to breaking news stories.

With the Books team they bring together the best critics to review the most exciting fiction and non fiction releases, interview leading novelists and commission leading writers such as Rebecca Solnit, David Hare, Zadie Smith and Robert Macfarlane to contribute to their pages. Charlotte has also written two novels: The House Guest and The People Before. 

You can see Charlotte’s top 10 picks for the list here and Liese’s here.

We are Charlotte Northedge and Liese Spencer, the joint head of books at The Guardian.

I have a goal to read 100 books this year,but almost half of the year and I read only 42. I know that quality is better than the quantity,but I want push myself to read more.

How many books have you read so far this year and do you have any goal?

Book lovers can connect here...

Hey I’m Lucy 18F I’ve been searching for a book club for me and struggling to find any. I’d love to make a group of girl who just love to yap about their books. Bonus points if they live local enough to meet up!

So I posted about this question before and unfortunately confused “campy” with “satire”. If anyone saw my last post before I deleted it, thank you so much for helping me realize my mistakes 🙏

For a while, I’ve been working on a story of mine that I am really proud of, but sometimes I get tired of writing something so heartfelt and serious. Lately, I’ve started experimenting with campy, over-the-top, silly stories on the side that aren’t meant to be taken seriously but are written like they want to be.

I’m wondering if people like reading these type of stories. Should I try to put them out on Amazon KDP? I don’t want to put something out there if people aren’t interested. To clarify, I wouldn’t stop writing them because it brings me a silly outlet and joy, but is all the research and proofreading time worth it just for no one to enjoy it?

I also wouldn’t want the humorous stories to be tied to my more serious pen name. I’m curious if it’s acceptable to be under two separate names for different genres.

Any feedback is appreciated!

Book Club? Anyone in Saskatoon (or anywhere else) want to join me in reading a couple of books this summer in a book club? I'm thinking Flannery O'Connor, Frederick Buechner, CS Lewis, Yann Martel, or Marilinne Robinson, or .....

Either in someone's home, backyard, or over pints at a local saloon?

Hi all,

I just wanted to ask and discuss whether or not I should continue with 11/22/63 by Stephen King?

I am currently 30% and whilst I do enjoy it, I find it boring at the same time or shall I say not fast paced or exciting.

I picked up this book of the back of a reading slump which thinking about it now is probably a bad idea, however can people let me know, is it worth continuing or not?

Looking to meet some new people, and have a good book discussion.

It's been a few days since I finished We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer, and I'm not even kidding, every time I forget something, a tiny part of me starts wondering if I'm somehow slipping into another reality. That's just my overactive imagination, but if a book can make you question your own memory days later, I'd say it did its job.

This book is an absolute page-turner. Once l started reading, I couldn't stop. I ended up finishing it in one sitting because I just had to know what was going on. It's creepy in a way that slowly gets under your skin.

One thing I really loved is that the book doesn't explain everything. It leaves enough unanswered that you're still thinking about it long after you've finished. For example, early on, when Jenny refers to Eve as “Emma” I start thinking that what if Jenny was aware of the alternate reality and that is why she runs into the basement trying to find a way out?

Then there's Thomas. The more I thought about him, the more suspicious he became. Paige mentions that she used to be more carefree before Thomas led her toward religion, and that little detail made me wonder if he is the one moulding everyone’s reality around him.

Also, this story actually started as a Reddit post (on r/NoSleep) before Marcus Kliewer turned it into a novel.

I‘ve just started reading The Pumpkin Spice Café by Laurie Gilmore and with every new page I‘m questioning the author more and more. Everything just feels so unnatural and forced and why can’t the characters just decide? There are many random inputs about how jeanie and Logan are attracted to each other and then suddenly it’s the worst thing ever and under no circumstances can they fall in love, huh? The conversations between Jeanie and Logan aren’t "flowing", it’s like the author tries to throw in some random facts and lines that are meant to describe the past of Logan or what happened but it doesn’t make any sense. And with every page I’m just more enraged but I wonder if that’s because now I’m influenced by my opinion on the beginning of the book and am not giving the book a fair chance or if it’s really that bad.
I also feel like it’s a bad knockoff from gilmore girls, with the town meetings, the coffee shop and the grumpy Logan that never shows up at town meetings.

Are there any movies you think would have been better as books, that aren't?

I'll go first--Weapons.

I think the story was too big for the time-limitations of a movie. And there were too many characters who are, unfortunately, useless to the overall arc.

I think a book could really fill out that story, bring the whole town into it, kinda like Needful Things by Stephen King.

I think the scope of Weapons, while I enjoyed it, suffered from trying to cram that whole story into 2 hours.

In a book, you could really bring in all the kids who were important to the story and played zero part. You could see their home and personal lives and really fill out that, "what the hell is going on?" vibe the movie was really going for.

Maybe Stephen King should write a book adaptation of the movie and give us another thousand-page epic.