Cheryl’s Comments (group member since Jul 30, 2011)

Cheryl’s comments from the More than Just a Rating group.

I'm about to start Liar & Spy, but it you want, I'll wait until you can pick up a copy.
by Rebecca Stead.

It looks interesting, but I'd have to order it from a different library in the system, so it'd be at least a week, probably significantly longer, before I could get a copy. :(

Well, I'd need time to plan ahead to get the given book from the library. But having it as a general discussion instead of group-based is a good idea.

That might be fun. Do you have a particular book in mind?

And some books are added during automated imports, too. I don't know the details, though, sorry.

It is so annoying to me to find those kinds of books that I call them 'orphan books' and try to find copies to read & review, if they're at all interesting. But I'm glad they're in the database, at least. I've found several lesser-known out-of-print children's books that were actually quite worthwhile, by looking at popular authors' back catalogs and finding their other titles.

I'm sure there are true 'ghost books' too. Some might be ARCs that were withdrawn from publication, some might be planned works and the author died or something, some might be mis-entered or misspelled real books. If you come across something that doesn't seem real at all, you can post information in the Librarian's Group or here in our Librarian's folder and we might even delete the book from the database. But we'd have to be really sure, first.

For a number of reasons, lots of members here on goodreads follow a lot of different people's reviews. Lots of us have lots of reading friends, too. However, some of us want more, especially if we're new.

Please post in this thread if you: 1.) are *not* an author promoting your work or your friends' work and 2.) that you would love new = A. followers, B. friends, or C. both.

For example.

I, Cheryl, am: 1.) not an author and have no friends for whom I promote their books and 2.) C. = welcome followers and friends.

Also, feel free to converse, promote yourself, say what you want out of a GR friendship, etc. etc. :)

Oh you're so thoughtful. Well, I suppose they can use the other folder if they do want feedback, or I'll phrase the intro to our new thread to welcome them, too. Off I go to set it up!

Hmm. You do know that we can just click on each other's avatar pictures, to get to profiles, right? And right there under the picture is a link to reviews, and under that a bit is a list of shelves.... So it's really easy for anyone to find a list of reviews for any other member.

Maybe we should have a thread where people say they welcome followers (and/or) friends, so people know who actually wants people to check out their reviews... what do you think of that idea?

I agree with both of you. If the connection between the two books is either obvious or made clear, it's a Good Thing. I do it often. If it's just random, it's annoying.

I've had a few, but thankfully not many.

I hope everyone realizes that you can delete others' comments on your reviews. Don't argue with them, don't explain why you've done so, just quietly delete them.

I agree that there's no 'should' at all.
However, if you *want* to write more, lots of stuff could fit. I'll make a list for convenience, but *please* don't look at like it's an assignment or anything. :)

1. Age level of intended audience vs. age level of appeal. For example: "This book is supposed to appeal to upper teens, but it's ok for kids as young as 9 imo." "This book is aimed at kids, but I think everyone would like it."

2. Yuck factor. I'm not a prude, honest, but I don't like gratuitous swearing, or child abuse, or teens getting drunk casually, as if it's nbd, stuff like that. At least if someone warns me "there's a lot of swearing, but it's in keeping with the character" (for example), I appreciate the information.

3. Personal appeal. Sure, the blurb says, for example, "a thrilling adventure" but you might say "I didn't find it all that thrilling, but I fell in love with the characters." Or, "This takes place in my home city, so I wanted to love it, but the author's clearly never actually been here cuz it's all messed up, so I have to take a star off my rating."

4. Contrary thoughts. This is hard, but fun when it works out. Say you're reviewing a book lots of people love, and you do too. Try to find something in it that's not perfect. Or, try to imagine a reader who wouldn't like it, because they're looking for something that's not in the book. Or, otoh, Say you're reading an awful book, or a book that is not working for you at all. Try to find one positive thing to say about it.

Hmm. I know I've got more - I'll try to come back later to add.

Totally agree with both of your concerns!

Ah-ha, I had the feeling I already knew you! New avatars confuse my old brain, sorry; thank you for reintroducing yourself. :)

"Almost seventy years later I remember clearly how the magic of translating the words in books into images enriched my life, breaking the barriers of time and space..."
Mario Vargas Llosa

"Literature, as I saw it then, was a vast open range, my equivalent of the cowboy's dream. I felt free as any nomad to roam where I pleased, amid the wild growth of books. Eventually I formed my own book herds and brought them into more or less orderly systems of pasturage. I even branded them with a bookplate that had once been the family brand: s stirrup drawn simply and elegantly by my father."
Larry McMurtry, Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen (1999)

"There have indeed been minds overlaid by much reading, men who have piled such a load of books on their heads, their brains seem to be squashed by them."
A.W. and J.C. Hare, Guesses at Truth (1827)

"... give me a small snug place, almost entirely walled with books. There should be only one window in it, looking upon trees."
Leigh Hunt, My Books (1823)

"SID: Good is it?

HANCOCK: This is red hot this is mate. I'd hate to think of a book like this getting into the wrong hands. As soon I've finished this I shall recommend they ban it."

Alan Simpson and Ray Galton, Hancock's Half Hour: The Missing Page (1960)

"I am not at all afraid of urging overmuch the propriety of frequent, very frequent, reading of the same book. The book remains the same, but the reader changes."
Matthew Browne On the forming of opinions on books (1866)