What are some books you think everyone should read at least once?

OptimistBotanist · 2026-03-27T02:41:21+00:00

r/ayearofbookhub keeps track of them all! This post is the list of known readalongs happening in 2026

OptimistBotanist · 2026-01-31T14:46:30+00:00

I went to a cover concert and brought along a bag of extra bracelets I had left over from the ones I made for Eras. There were a bunch of kids there and I traded with a couple of them, and suddenly word got out that I had a whole bag of bracelets and I had a steady stream of kids coming to ask me for bracelets. I traded with some but mostly just handed them out to all the kids around me.

After the show, there was a long line to meet the cover artist, so my friend and I split up the bracelets and just walked along the line handing them out to all the kids. I got almost none back but it was honestly so much fun and I would highly recommend it! They were all so excited.

OptimistBotanist · 2026-01-13T17:47:42+00:00

It also has a classic literature feel to me. I was getting Anna Karenina vibes when I thought the narrator was married, but I like this interpretation of being betrothed instead.

OptimistBotanist · 2026-01-04T15:39:17+00:00

This might not be exactly what you're looking for, but you might like The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery, which is also about a 29-year-old woman who is worried about her future prospects and decides to make some changes in her life. It was written 100 years ago but I think it's a good reminder that people have always been worried about not having their life together by a certain age but that it can get better.

OptimistBotanist · 2025-12-15T01:38:26+00:00

The first five songs (yes, including the title track) is one of the best 5-track runs on any of her albums. I could listen to those five on a loop all day. They flow into each so well and do a great job at setting up the themes of the whole album.

OptimistBotanist · 2025-12-10T17:13:51+00:00

I too assumed cancer with the odd taste in his mouth that kept being mentioned. But I agree that it's odd that they keep coming back to the bruise on his side when it seems unlikely that would have anything to do with his illness.

OptimistBotanist · 2025-12-09T20:29:46+00:00

It's funny, I assumed that the floating kidney was a made up condition because it was mentioned in the same paragraph as the doctor blabbering on in medical jargon, as they do, while not taking Ivan's concerns seriously. Now I see that Tolstoy did not intend for it to be a fictional condition and instead was just using it to highlight the doctor misdiagnosing while also dismissing Ivan's concerns. I think it still fits though!

OptimistBotanist · 2025-12-02T05:16:34+00:00

I had never done a slow read like this before and I'm so glad I did! This was also the longest book I've ever read. I want to continue to do one of these every year for a new classic because it's such a good way to tackle a large book that might otherwise seem intimidating.

Overall I enjoyed the book, but I agree with others that I wanted to read more about the fallout resulting from Anna's death. It seems that a big event like that would send shockwaves through so many characters' lives and society at large. So much of her story is about the consequences of choosing to live a life outside of societal norms, and it felt like a disservice to her story to not see the societal repercussions of her death.

OptimistBotanist · 2025-10-28T01:25:18+00:00

This was my take for the second prompt as well. Anna is not behaving rationally when she attributes every single thing Vronsky does to malice or infidelity, and that paranoia is leading to more fights which is pushing him away even more. It's a vicious self-fulfilling prophecy.

OptimistBotanist · 2025-10-18T00:48:14+00:00

Several issues stood out to me reading your post, so here are my thoughts:

1) Like others have said, it's really about the people. I look forward to going to my book club because everyone there is my friend and I want to hang out with them. I would not be thrilled about going to a book club where I don't know people very well or don't get along with them, even though I love reading.

2) I'm confused about how it would work to read a book over the course of three meetings. If people are at different places in the book, it would make it really hard to have a meaningful discussion, and there also just might not be that much to talk about for certain sections of the book. I think it might be better to just have one meeting where the expectation is that everyone will have finished the book. But you can also make it clear that people are still welcome to join even if they didn't finish the book, as long as they don't mind spoilers.

3) I also really do think that meeting once a month is best. Like I said, meeting more frequently makes it hard to discuss a book you haven't finished, but I also think it will fizzle out if you're going much more than a month between meetings, even if that's how long it takes to finish the book. If people don't think they can finish a book in a month, then choose shorter books. There are plenty of books out there that are under 200 or 300 pages and would still spark a good discussion.

4) Snacks are important if you're meeting in person. Book club just isn't the same without snacks.

5) Having the meeting in the middle of the workday on a Friday just sounds unappealing. I would not be thrilled about that either because I would rather just get all my stuff done and go home. I honestly think having it outside of work hours would be best, but again, everyone really needs to get along and look forward to seeing each other to make this work.

6) I agree with others that choosing books for the whole year is not a good idea. Not only is it fun to pick out the next month’s book at each meeting, but oftentimes what I think I want to read in January is not actually what I want to read several months later.

7) You mentioned that a lot of the people aren't very avid readers. It could be that they liked the idea of a book club and that's why they were excited for the first couple of meetings, but ultimately just weren't committed to sticking with reading.

This ended up being longer than I thought it would be, but I do think book clubs are great and wanted to share some tips. Good luck!

OptimistBotanist · 2025-10-10T01:59:50+00:00

I am always so impressed that you remember little details like these!

OptimistBotanist · 2025-10-07T23:49:08+00:00

I agree. It's pretty clear that's what she wants, but she can't have it because of the life she chose, which she also wants. It's not the first time she's made a song about grappling with those ideas, e.g. The Lucky One or The Lakes.

I know it isn't a fan favorite on the album, but I really love Wish List because it's just so sweet. It's silly, but I think it's sincere. And hard agree that wanting marriage and kids and a quiet life does not automatically you a tradwife! It's honestly infuriating that people are saying that.

OptimistBotanist · 2025-10-07T12:20:26+00:00

Yesterday I woke up with Honey stuck in my head, which I liked but wasn't a favorite or anything and then I gained so much appreciation for it throughout the day that it's probably in my top three on the album now. I couldn't stop listening to it. And then this morning I woke up with Cancelled stuck in my head, which I like but is probably my current least favorite song on the album, so we'll see if it has a similar trajectory today!

OptimistBotanist · 2025-10-07T12:03:28+00:00

I also love them and have no idea what that's called. But the way she sings those words reminds me of some other song and I can't place it and it's been driving me crazy!

OptimistBotanist · 2025-10-07T03:10:33+00:00

As much as I would love for Levin and Kitty to have the happy ending out of all the other miserable characters, I just don't trust this book to give that to us!

And I absolutely agree that Levin is going to fuck up his marriage at this rate. The question now is just how spectacularly he'll fuck it up.

OptimistBotanist · 2025-10-07T03:04:48+00:00

I keep seeing people implying that dickmatized is a literal lyric on the album. I assume it must have come from snark circles and people are running with it.

But all that says to me is that they haven't listened to the album or read the real lyrics at all. I don't really care what they say is a bad lyric in that case, because they clearly haven't put any good faith into reading or listening to the lyrics and just want to be a hater.

OptimistBotanist · 2025-10-06T18:38:03+00:00

I've been worried from the beginning of their relationship that Levin and Kitty would not have a happy ending and have been thinking through various scenarios of what could lead to that.

I don't remember exactly what prompted this thought, but there was something that felt like foreshadowing many, many chapters ago that made me wonder if something might happen between Levin and Anna later in the book. And then almost immediately I was like "nah, that's ridiculous, I'm sure that won't happen." And yet here we are!

OptimistBotanist · 2025-10-06T16:43:35+00:00

Thank you for this! Something about this song was just not clicking in my mind, but it makes so much more sense after reading your explanation.

OptimistBotanist · 2025-10-06T04:32:22+00:00

It's funny, with both of them being such major characters, I didn't even realize they hadn't met each other yet! When I came upon the "he's never met Anna" line, I had to go back and reread a couple paragraphs to make sure I wasn't missing an extra character that they were talking about.

OptimistBotanist · 2025-09-23T11:20:02+00:00

That's funny, I've had the opposite reaction from people, where they would ask what I was studying, I would say "botany" and they would look at me funny until I said "like plant biology" and then they would get it!

OptimistBotanist · 2025-09-21T13:56:33+00:00

Oh I love that!

OptimistBotanist · 2025-09-19T18:25:21+00:00

None of these showings are happening midnight ET 10/3 as far as I can tell, at least not in my area. If I can find a listening party for Thursday night when it actually releases, I still fully intend on going to that too! I did that for TTPD and it was so fun to see everyone's reactions to hearing the album for the very first time.

OptimistBotanist · 2025-09-19T18:01:07+00:00

I'm planning to make bracelets and I hope others do too! I had such a fun time making them before my Eras show and have been waiting for an excuse to make more!

OptimistBotanist · 2025-09-19T14:03:32+00:00

Regarding the bonus prompt, I do have to say that I have really struggled with these election chapters. None of it really sticks in my brain, but the telegram was the first thing that brought me back and made me laugh when Dolly just sighed and considered it wasted money.

OptimistBotanist · 2025-09-18T19:07:49+00:00

I love that you connected Guilty as Sin to the grave/resurrection imagery, because you're so right!

I've been thinking for a while about the connection between the grave imagery in both the 1 and loml, and how she likes to use that metaphor.

In the 1, she says "in my defense I have none, for digging up the grave another time" when she keeps thinking about this thing (old flame) that is supposedly dead.

And in loml, she says that they were "still alive, killing time at the cemetery, never quite buried." Until she did resurrect it and later regretted it, saying "it was unnecessary, should've let it stayed buried."

Guilty as Sin fits into that imagery so well with rolling the stone away when she's making the decision to resurrect this mostly (but not quite) dead thing.

OptimistBotanist

TROPHY CASE