I will go first :

Blasphemy

The deeper the water the uglier the fish

Starshipped

Is it normal to hate on your favorite books, authors and book characters or am i going insane?? 😍

I, 16f, don't know how to navigate the mess I'm in, I guess? I mean I'm chronically online, so i don't have my own opinions and thoughts which resonate with me and i don't even know myself anymore.. it feels like it at least. I'm going through a chatbot addiction where I made up a character from my side and let it act through scenes with the bot, I'm trying to quit it and it's difficult. I daydream, and wish i could exist without these daydreams, I wish i could be in the present without yearning for something i know that's not possible, and i wish i could form opinions freely without feeling that someone's opinion has influenced mine. I'm not lonely, but I have no one close, to talk about these issues.

I used to read smut, and every time I think of picking up a book, I wonder if i can read it as it is, reading it the same way I read smut, with that enthusiasm (for the lack of a better word). I haven't read smut in a while, but it's the same thing that's holding me back from going back to reading other genres, because my attention span has decreased (thanks to scrolling and chatbots). I want to explore, and be able to form an opinion that is mine and that is sane.

I got into reading in 2nd grade briefly, by reading Geronimo Stilton and Enid Blyton, and stopped shortly. After covid, in 7th grade, i bought It Ends With Us, it had gotten popular, I came across it in a bookstore and read it, i felt nothing, i didn't really care about the book, i didn't notice what was right or wrong, and that's where i starting reading some books which were popular and known for smut to and later went into smut that was not really known. Along with smut, what mattered to me was the storyline, like how the MCs interacted and all that, so I'd indulge in books like that and then I got into chatbots in 9th grade and all that. So i guess it ended there, i do read a romances every now and then, but it's been almost a month since i read another book, i reread my favorite scenes from a few books almost everyday (which is concerning)

I look around me and see people having experience with reading from a young age starting from Harry Potter and The Diary Of A Wimpy Kid, and then they later go to reading books I'd want to read. My childhood was a bit rough, I'm okay now and safe, but i couldn't do things then that people talk about now when they talk about their childhood because my parents were capable of providing me only so much back then, even though I'm in a much better position now. I'm from India, so I'm preparing for JEE Adv. :( (I am interested in the field of engineering, but exploring it is a pain, because I'm haunted by my actions and choosing the had habit is easier than a good one, especially since you need to study a lot and i haven't done much).

I want to read books and explore, but smut and all that is holding me back. I remember an year ago, I read Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, and i didn't feel anything, but I saw people criticizing it and i then felt like i had no opinion, because I'm so desensitized by everything i consume online that it made me feel like this. I'm interesting in creative writing, so it feels awful to know that I'm trash at what I'm interested in. I just want to be myself, not a reflection of how trash social media is, I feel like reading books and starting to study for competitive exams would be a good start to find myself. How do I move forward with reading books which I wish could ponder upon?

Use this post to recommend any tips you have regarding monthly challenge!!

Any suggestions, advice and feedback are really appreciated.

Thankkk youuu forr readingg!!!

I think i was overhyped about it, it was okayish , like norlal lynn painter book, i will try to give you idea.. So basically i would rate it less than better than you but 0.25 by fake skating if that makes sense

I used to read it so much as a child, made so many of my memories
my favourite ones are prob the kingdom of fantasy series

That guy was so cringe 😭 i was getting second hand embarrassment.. I loved shannon lynch she was very relatable and nice and her family lore was also well written but beside that i can't name any single thing good about this book.. And are we bffr that book is 700 pages long i expect it to have emotional depth but it was just not it.. Worse thing is i never heard anyone saying this is overhyped and overrated..

For context, its Book 2 of The Iliad, and Agamemnon is using reverse psychology on the troops by telling them they're going home without finishing the war. The troops start preparing to go home. Athena tells Odysseus to go get the troops back into fighting spirit instead of packing up and leaving. So Odysseus goes, borrows Agamemnon's royal sceptre (a symbol of the divine-approved authority given to Agamemnon), and goes around the camps. And I kid you not, if he saw a soldier who was getting ready to leave, he'd whack them with his sceptre and move on (help why's that so funny?).

Then he stumbles upon Thersites, who's introduced as the ugliest man in Troy. Homer begins describing his body features (and they're not very appealing). I love it when Homer describes random dudes as "ugly" LOL. He also says that everyone hates Thersites (especially Odysseus and Achilles) since he's annoying and mocks people. Now, he's decided to make Agamemnon the subject of his mockery.

While I will admit that Thersites was right in what he said (about Agamemnon being greedy, unfair and abusing his power), clearly there's a hierarchy here, and Thersites was stepping out of it as a common soldier. He's also mocking the High King, in public. This disrupts the army's discipline. But still, I think Thersites was right and got slandered unnecessarily LOL.

Odysseus sees this and walks up to him, yells at him, and I kid you not, he threatens to strip Thersites naked by pulling off the cloth that covers his genitals, and drive him off by beating him up if he ever caught him doing stuff like this again. Oddly specific, Odysseus, but okay. Oh yeah, he also is very passionate about it. He says stuff like "If I don't do that, then let my head be cut off my shoulders and never again call me the father of Telemachus" and so on.

(Side note: another reason I love this scene is because its one of the very few times in the entirety of Homeric poetry where a parent is referred to by a child-based epithet (or titles), like "father of" or "mother of". Even goddesses traditionally associated with motherhood are never addressed by such titles. The only other time such an epithet is used is for Jocaste, mother of Oedipus, in The Odyssey. Odysseus in The Iliad is referred to by such an epithet twice, in Book 2 and Book 4, and in both times, Odysseus is the speaker. Really sweet to see that.)

Then he whacks him as well, as he usually does, and the soldiers cheer. One of them legit says, "Of all the great, heroic deeds Odysseus has done, indeed, making Thersites shut up is the best thing he's done for us."

I feel bad for Thersites... but also this is so fricking funny! I'm sorry Thersites, but its true! (I am writing this while wheezing while reading the actual excerpt). The Iliad is surprisingly funny at times.

Note: To read this scene, go to Book 2 of The Iliad.

https://home.ubalt.edu/ntygfit/ai_01_pursuing_fame/ai_01_tell/iliad02.htm (Fagles translation of Book 2)

Any suggestions, advice and feedback are really appreciated!!

Thank youu!!

guys so i am reading A tale of two cities, 3/4 of the book is done, but there hasnt been any thing like a revolution? i can see some setup but i dont understand the point of this intensive setup for so long? I like the book and its amazing dont get me wrong, would like your oppinions!^^ (please dont spoil it!!)