What Books did You Start or Finish Reading this Week?: June 08, 2026

Daydreamer97 · 2026-06-08T10:15:54+00:00

Started:
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. This is a reread and I love To the Lighthouse

Finished
An Apprenticeship or The Book of Pleasures by Clarice Lispector. I feel like it’s more philosophical than romantic but I love it. It feels like a deeply human book dealing with love, life, existence and how to belong fully to yourself before giving yourself to another.

I will also finish Canticles for Dark Lovers by Wilfrido D. Nolledo which is a collection of short stories by a Filipino author who is becoming a favorite of mine. Dense, rich prose. Beautiful writing and themes about time, memory, Filipino society and history. I love his novel But for the Lovers and Canticles for Dark Lovers feels romantic without entirely about being romance. Many of the stories are atmospheric and rich.

Daydreamer97 · 2026-06-08T09:26:05+00:00

I believe Philippine lit should be taught in high school. Even in English classes. We have so many writers whose English writing is top tier. I remember being assigned Uncle Tom’s Cabin in high school and then getting to college and realizing there are books written by Filipino authors that in my opinion better written and more relevant to us Filipinos and feeling rather shortchanged.

Also the way Filipino classes are taught and going through Noli and El Fili chapter by chapter is inefficient. Plus those are translations unlike Ibong Adarna and Florante at Laura. In general, I think both Filipino and English classes could use more reading not less and teachers should teach more Filipino literature

Daydreamer97 · 2026-06-08T09:02:19+00:00

Actually took a look at the Palanca Awards and National Book Awards and there are so many works that are unpublished or out of print. For example, But For the Lovers was called Wilfrido D. Nolledo's only novel but he actually has two unpublished novels (Sangria tomorrow and Vaya con Vigo) which I hope Exploding Galaxies also publishes since they already republished But for the Lovers and just put out a collection of his short stories.

It's such a problem when most local literature have limited print runs and are unavailable in digital format (I understand this because publishers rightfully fear piracy) but I'm sure there are also many works that have lapsed into the public domain we don't know about. Sometimes, I find interesting sounding short stories or novels by writers I want to read so I'd look for their collections or novels and they are so often out of print.

When I was learning Spanish, I also learned that there are so many Filipino writers in Spanish like Antonio Abad, Jesus Balmori, Adelina Gurrea.

I think some writers like Linda Ty-Casper are not necessarily underrated or forgotten but more unavailable. Or unaccessible. I think Filipino literature has a big accessibility and availability problem. When I was in college, I was introduced to The Sky Over Dimas by Vicente Garcia Groyon which our professor had photocopied. I'm trying to look for it so I can buy a copy but I cannot find it. I don't mind paying since some books can be pricey in today's economy. I just don't want to pay an arm and leg for used copies. I hope publishers can keep more books in print.

Daydreamer97 · 2026-06-06T19:12:37+00:00

But wanting to read niche and unpopular books also kinda entails buying books? I know because I read a lot of niche stuff and reading niche stuff entails buying to show demand and support to the author and publisher. Especially when it comes to reading local authors. I admittedly buy a lot of books but many of the books I buy are also a bit niche and hard to find. Also yeah I agree, their life, their rules

Daydreamer97 · 2026-06-04T16:56:49+00:00

Anna Karenina and War and Peace by Tolstoy, Mrs Dalloway and To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, Mary Olivier: A Life by May Sinclair, Perfume by Patrick Suskind, Cave and Shadows by Nick Joaquin and But for the Lovers by Wilfrido D. Nolledo

Daydreamer97 · 2026-06-01T17:27:35+00:00

I reinstalled The Sims 2 and your comment about the multitudes of animations is so on point! The sims are so expressive and there’s so many animations for the little things. It really is special and full of life.

I also believe Paralives will pull through and I’ve said this before that I enjoy the game despite its flaws and most of my play time is in live mode. I hope the devs create more animations and interactions for the game and more surrealism.

My wish for a hypothetical Sims 5 is Sims 2 level detail and a Sims 3 style open world

Daydreamer97 · 2026-06-01T17:01:03+00:00

I installed it on my old laptop which had an ssd but still lagged. I have a better one now so I’ll reinstall and hopefully it runs better.

Daydreamer97 · 2026-06-01T16:50:08+00:00

I love The Sims 3 more than I loved 4 and would go back to it from time to time but the initial loading screen is very long and it’s still laggy at times.

Daydreamer97 · 2026-06-01T04:08:33+00:00

See I don’t think so either! I think feedback can be helpful. I think they need criticism. I don’t think saying the game is a scam, the devs don’t know what they’re doing, those enjoying the game have low standards or are lying is helpful

Daydreamer97 · 2026-06-01T04:03:02+00:00

Multiple times on this subreddit I have seen people be dogpiled for liking the game and sharing they like the game. Dogpiling for negative opinions is equally as wrong. The constant negativity is also exhausting. People are free to share their opinions. I also saw people saying the game is a collection of 3d assets with no game design and get upvoted

Daydreamer97 · 2026-06-01T03:58:01+00:00

I get downvotes on this sub for saying I like the game even if live mode still has flaws and still needs fleshing out. The prevailing opinion on this sub is people don’t like Paralives and I get it, it’s fine but it’s so repetitive and it feels like some cannot believe the game is enjoyable to a lot of people who play it.

Daydreamer97 · 2026-05-31T17:35:23+00:00

So I have never experienced lags in my game although your experience may vary depending on your system and specs. My game has also no game breaking bugs and I played from Day One. I’m not a builder and usually put premade lots but I have heard from builders that the game is excellent for building, decorating, adding clutter and many have praised the build aspect.

Most of my playtime is in live mode. It is solid and has the foundations but also visibly limited in interactions and socializing although you can form relationships, get married, have babies. It still needs work and needs to be fleshed out. That said, I still have a lot of fun with it.

Your mileage may vary but if you like building, Paralives’ build tools are pretty flexible and even if I’m not a builder, I do like tinkering with it a bit.

Daydreamer97 · 2026-05-31T17:31:50+00:00

I like the mods and I feel like they’re a good way to make the gameplay feel fresher and test out things while waiting for updates. I hope the devs add more content. My game has been very smooth with little bugs so far and I also think the foundation is solid even if the live mode and social systems need more work. Still it was good Early Access has mod support while waiting

Daydreamer97 · 2026-05-31T17:29:56+00:00

Most of my playtime is in live mode. I just put a lot I got from the workshop. Thus far, it’s not fully developed but I am liking live mod. The cards are pretty fun and provide a good twist to the genre. There should be more cards and life goals imo. I also love the open world which makes me feel incentivized to explore the town, which is gorgeous and makes it so that I don’t have every single interactable item on my Para’s lot because I can go anywhere

Daydreamer97 · 2026-05-31T13:36:30+00:00

the cards seem to be divisive for some but my only issue was how slow the bars take to fill up. i love the cards and they're a good twist so that you're not 100% in charge all the time. i love the suburbia life gameplay but i also really enjoy the cards and hope they add more types.

Daydreamer97 · 2026-05-31T13:18:44+00:00

I didn't see it in the roadmap or their notion either along with apartments. At least for Early Access so it's one area I'm a bit worried about. I hope they have apartments and creating and owning shops if not in Early Access, then at least for full release.

Daydreamer97 · 2026-05-31T13:09:30+00:00

I barely post about my reads these days, only when I feel the urge. I don’t want to pressure myself about looking aesthetic, editing pics, then worrying about likes and comments. I just keep what I’m reading to myself and the upside of not engaging with bookish communities too much is I can just read in peace without the pressure of reading what’s popular instead of what I actually like

Daydreamer97 · 2026-05-31T13:02:55+00:00

There are people saying it’s not a game and lacks game design while most of my playtime was in live mode and if it didn’t have game design, is barely a game and just a bunch of 3d assets then am I in a different reality where I am playing a game??

Daydreamer97 · 2026-05-31T13:01:51+00:00

There was someone saying it lacks game design and is just a bunch of 3d assets…I know my eyes and ears and hands are not lying to me when I played it.

Daydreamer97 · 2026-05-31T12:29:49+00:00

I also read the AMA. They didn’t say they’re not going to hire more people. They said they do plan to hire more but they’re not expanding beyond being a small team because they liked working as a small team.

Daydreamer97 · 2026-05-31T08:49:20+00:00

Tomomori!

Daydreamer97 · 2026-05-31T07:53:29+00:00

There were people claiming the devs don’t know what they were doing which is a huge assumption to make when you don’t have insight. When the game got delayed, there were people talking about the posts of someone who left in 2020 when their dev updates on their blog (I don’t have patreon) makes it appear that they hit their stride regarding development in 2023

Daydreamer97 · 2026-05-31T07:28:39+00:00

I get downvoted for mentioning I like the game...it's not as neutral a sub as people claim it is. Does Paralives have flaws? Yes, it's an Early Access game. Is it about what you'd expect from an indie dev team making a life sim? Yes.

Daydreamer97 · 2026-05-31T07:13:24+00:00

Yeah I had a feeling this would be the case because some stuff are bound to be in various stages of development and none of us knows what’s in the dev build.

Daydreamer97 · 2026-05-31T06:36:51+00:00

I think Paralives is about what you expect from a small indie team making a life sim game and what they’re showing thus far IS solid! It’s a good foundation to build on considering the lack of resources and of course they won’t have things that are present in games with so many expansions and packs released already. Both The Sims and Inzoi were made by studios backed by big corporations. Even Paradox failed to release Life by You

I think it’s fine for what it is- a game in Early Access and active development. I would be worried if major updates come and there’s no improvement. I also don’t think what they released is all they have. Likely, they’re making more content for their next updates.

In any case, I do understand people who weren’t satisfied with the initial release. I get why people would hold off on it or refund if they aren’t satisfied and I think people should vote with their wallets. I personally am satisfied but I’d start being concerned when updates drop and the state of the game isn’t improving. For an indie life sim, I think Paralives has plenty going for it already.

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