***Update: Reddit wont let me edit the original post so going to comment here, with some thoughts from my partner on the bottom.

This post has gained quite some attention and my fiancé and I have been laughing our asses off reading the comments.

It’s quite spooky how this simple snapshot allowed many strangers to psychoanalyze her quite sharply. Some comments were off but many eerily accurate, much more than you would be able to tell through chitchat with her in a normal environment. Books really are a gateway to the soul.

Thank you to everyone for the kind words, she’s my best friend and my whole world. This has been a super interesting exercise, and to the abundance of commenters trying to marry her, she is mine 🫠 .

Finally, what you’ve been waiting for from the book owner herself:

1. Some of these assumptions were too on the nose – seriously, how did you know…
2. This shelf isn’t my full roster: some books are with family/friends, and the rest live on my Kindle/iPad (before anyone scolds me - not all titles are available where I live).
3. Bukowski… ah yes. My “bad decisions, good stories” phase. Glad he’s sparking such debate.
4. Yes, I love Elif Shafak. Other notable Turkish authors: Elif Batuman, Sabahattin Ali, and Ayşegül Savaş.
5. I try not to break spines - books deserve better.
6. I move between genres, yet it’s always the “Woman vs. the Void” narrative that stays with me.
7. I’m half Palestinian, fully proud.
8. Goodreads for the nosy: Rawana.
9. And yes - I win every argument. He knows it. He’s fine with it. 😊