That's heartbreaking. My husband's family was like that. I get it. He took a different book next time. Probably one of his Nate The Great books.

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I struggle with this a bit. I grew up using stupid, dumb, idiot, moron, spaz, etc. I was recently informed by a friend with an autistic son that they don't use any of those words in their house both because a) they're hurtful and b) because historically they were pejorative terms/slurs for neurodivegent and intellectually disabled people.

I try my best to be sensitive with the words I use but these words have always felt safe, even innocent. Nobody is shaming me for using them, I'm just trying to be kind, but they slip in without me even noticing.

I'm in my early 30s too, and in recent years, I've come to value my time significantly, so I have absolutely zero anxiety over dropping something that I am not finding enjoyable. Books, movies, TV series, whatever. You can literally never obtain more time, so why deliberately waste your most precious resource on garbage?

For a reading system, I have a stack of books I've purchased and not read. I try not to let it go too high. When I'm picking what to read next, I target books that are standalone first, and then books as part of a series, because some of the series books means I actually have to read 3 other books I bought/read years ago and don't remember that well before I can read the 4th book that I purchased and haven't read. I target to finish at least one book a week, so I'll take the total number of pages and make a daily reading goal for myself. If I'm borrowing any books, then those are top of my list so I can return them to their owner and not keep them for 6 months.

I'm not big on clutter, so when I'm done with the books, I filter them into a "to shelf" stack or "to donate/sell" stack. I take care of them once I run out of space in my little stack, so about once a quarter.

damn. what do they get out of social media, out of listening to music, out of playing sports? they get serotonin, as we do. such a dumb question in my opinion. i’m really happy that you’re feeling better <33

literally

I forgot about this book. I remember it being freaky when I was younger. Glad to see this article otherwise I'd never would have remembered it.

A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of my all time favorite books.

He’s north of the wall in the first episode of season 1. He comes back again in the final season.

A few ideas: if you borrow from a library, use sticky notes for notations. I used to do this with books throughout college and it's a pretty effective way of writing down thoughts about the book, but then you can keep them and return the book when you're done with it.

If you like it enough to want to buy the book, check out local thrift stores and buy them second-hand. It's gonna save a bunch of money. You can then put the sticky notes into the second-hand books.

If no recommendations turn up here (or even if they do), you may want to ask in the r/SkincareAddiction sub. They have an extensive wiki and a daily help thread.

I deal with the same thing. I get anxious because I have such short amount of free time, so I only want to read good books. And I think for the same reason, I mostly only read classics because they are always a safe choice. Thankfully I actually enjoy classics. But yeah I understand what you are going through. Looking for a solution for this myself.

Tuck Everlasting. Everything must and should (in time) die of course. It's been a few years since I've read it but I do remember it went into:

• Class systems
• Greed
• Ownership of land
• Shades of grey to good and evil
• Sometimes you have to break rules/not listen to adults to do the right thing

Seek help

What do you get from reading books? People seriously ask this? Well, what do they get from watching movies or sports or playing games or listening to music or doing social media stuff? We all have our favorite entertainments, shouldn't this be obvious?

Yup. This is the right answer. Benjen Stark.

I’d love to read Kafka’s letters to Milena. The letter to his father is a tour de force, but I expect him to be different when writing to his Milena:).

Maybe just don't read this book if you hate it.

In Sartre's Huis clos (No Exit), there's a coupe-papier on the mantlepiece that's mentioned in the first scene (it's like a letter opener, for cutting the page edges of new books --since in France books were often sold with uncut pages so customers couldn't read the books in the store).

It's only a one-act play, but the coupe-papier does get used in the last scene.

I don't remember?

God this was an absolute cult classic at my elementary school. It was always checked out and kids would fight over who got it next. All hail the weird and wonderful Sticky Cheese Man.

Uncle Ben in Game of Thrones

I thought he also wanted to symbolically kill Henry with the legend. He wanted him terrified.

I got a list, I add books whenever they come to my attention and have something interesting to offer. I add titles even when I am not actively looking for books. I never run out this way.

Renting. I save money and help the community!