Comments, Questions & Suggestions

[Kennet]

Ken here Have anyone advertise his or her book on Amazon, say if it’s worth it.

Big thanks for taking the time to read my post. Kindly post it on to like-minded friends.

[Ian, Former Moderator]

Helen wrote: "Love the name change!"

Hopefully only temporary.

[Em]

Oh Ian! Our new (temporary) name has your handy work written all over it. xx

[Kiwi Sarah]

Whew- I had a slight panic when I saw the new title of the group - thought it meant that the group had disbanded... Until I read this and clicked... Relief!

[Ian, Former Moderator]

I'm a bit like our politicians. Never really thought about the consequences.

[Em]

Hahaha!! So true.

[4teenliars]

Winter book tour letter
Hello my fellow goodreaders
I am going to be a book blog tour. It is going to the Winter Book Tour. Basically, I am going to create a tag, a read-a-thon and you will be reviewing books. For this Blog Tour, I would like you submit a book review you have written. You will submit them through my contact page. All the book blogger I want to be part of this tour will be announced on Nov 6th.If you have any questions message me on goodreads.
Requirements
• You are book blogger, book tuber , book Tumblr, Book Instagram
• You read and review books
• You are friends with me on Goodreads
• You follow me on my social links
• You submit a book review by the November the 6th
My blog: https://4teenliars.wordpress.com/

Please get involved with this and have a nice day
X
4teen

[Dave]

A suggestion for a new thread:

Having a book swap/place for people to giveaway books?

We could have a thread and people could list books they want to give away and they could either swap with someone or give them away (perhaps pay for postage) if they want to?

[Martin]

In May, we shall be going to Spain and Portugal. I already have one book, Campos de Nijar (Nijar Country) to take but I am looking for a second one, preferably associated with Portugal.

Needs to be shortish (200 pages or less) and in English
Can be travel, observational, biographical or fiction. Not into 'chick lit' or romance.
Needs to be relevant to the country.

Any recommendations?

[Steve]

Dave - I really like the idea of a book swap. It could either be a direct swap or more indirect where you list books you are offering, and you can request books of other people's lists. There used to be dedicated book swap sites a few years ago, but think these have gone by the wayside now. On a site was on a few years ago (Bookcrossing), I also did a couple of bookrings. The idea was that someone offers a book, and asks who is interested in getting it. The original person then posts the book to the first person on the list, who reads it and then sends to the next person etc. These can either go on forever, or in theory, come back to the original owner at the end. The couple of bookrings I did went all over the place, and I added in the suggestion that each person writes a brief comment inside the front cover of what they thought of the book. It was good fun (they never made it back to me, but went to about 10 people before they got lost).

Martin - I read The Portuguese: A Modern History by Barry Hatton when I went to Portugal last year. It's quite a short book, only a couple of hundred pages or so, and despite the title is not just about the history but about the people, culture etc. too. I thought it was a really good book.

[[deleted user]]

I have had a friend request via Goodreads - what is this about? Do I accept or ignore or decline? I thought I would communicate with others via this book group forum. A little guidance would be appreciated.

[Abigail]

Hi, Wendy. Good questions! What I typically do when I receive a friend request is that I click on the inviter’s profile picture and check them out. Are we in the same groups? Do we read similar things? Or does that person read things that I might be interested in? If those things are true, then I generally accept the friend request. Once someone is a friend, you will get periodic updates (you can choose how often in the settings for your profile; I get them once a day) about what that person is reading and reviewing. They will see similar updates from you.

On occasion Goodreads friends have turned into long-distance friends for me, as we have exchanged ideas that have wandered beyond the boundaries of what we are reading.

A note of caution, though: I never accept a friend request from someone who does not have a developed profile—a little biographical information about themselves, other friends, reviews, or shelved books. If there's no profile image and all the other info is blank, it’s safe to conclude that the person who created the profile is not here to exchange ideas about books. There are occasional people who join Goodreads for predatory reasons not entirely clear to me.

Hope this helps you navigate!

[[deleted user]]

Abigail wrote: "Hi, Wendy. Good questions! What I typically do when I receive a friend request is that I click on the inviter’s profile picture and check them out. Are we in the same groups? Do we read similar thi..."

Thank you Abigail. It has helped a lot. I will be cautious to begin with and I note that the request is from someone with whom I do not have much reading material in common.
Now back to the some reading - the life of Robert the Bruce; I have only read about 20 pages and I am staggered at how much I let the English history overwhelm the history of other nations. The Scottish independence referendum is already making much more sense. Once again thank you for taking the time to offer that bit of guidance.

[Abigail]

My pleasure, Wendy! I made some dreadful mistakes when I first joined Goodreads—my first experience with social media—so I can feel for others who are just working it out. There’s a lot I still don’t know; the moderators are generally very gracious about pointing the way.

[Daniel]

Given all the known facts and the damned hard work involved with research and the need for accuracy, let alone the cost, why do billions of logical thinking human beings compose zillions of words that make up fiction?
If I've seen one answer to that question (maybe put a different way) stating a love of the punishment then I must have winced at thousands.
Is masochism on the increase generally or is it being successfully restricted to the composition of the written word? Or is life so one-dimensional that escapism is essential?

[Abigail]

Speaking only for myself, I love the worlds that exist only in my head, and writing about them makes them come that much more alive for me. I don’t regard that experience as escapist, by the way—I always learn something (or at least clarify something) from taking a deep dive into a story that’s persistent about getting my attention. Can’t say whether anyone else benefits from it.

[Daniel]

There is a lot of sense in what you write, Abigail, even though a psychiatrist may have a problem with your confession of listening to voices in your head. In all probability, he would declare you mad and prescribe tablets. If it were me I'd wear the badge of madness with pride and if there was any rabid dog nearby I'd give it the tablets. Escapism; that is a pull for me. Reality is harsh and unforgiving whereas with fiction one makes an ending of choice. I sincerely thank you for taking the time to answer my silly point and may your voices always be kind.

[Abigail]

LoL, Daniel! So far I’ve been wily enough to evade capture and institutionalization.

[Daniel]

Good luck to you and may it last forever!

[Jason]

Is there a group that UK authors can promote their work on this group?

[VictorWizard6000]

Hi everyone I'm new here and i like very much to read books

[Abigail]

Hi, Jason: if you go to the main page for this group and scroll down, you’ll come to a section labelled “Authors” and it has threads for book promotion.

Welcome, Victor! Look forward to chatting about books with you.

[Natalie]

I've seen on a list on here that Harry Potter is set in Scotland. I'm confused by this?

[Lep]

Em wrote: "I'd love it if you had books in the fridge Lynne! I've got piles under my bed, beside my bed (annoying my husband) on top of the wardrobe and in the airing cupboard!"


My husband bought me a Kindle a few years ago as a Christmas present, he obviously was having a deaf moment when I previously said I didn't want one. It was the worst Christmas present I have ever had! I fully admit that the house is full of books, to the extent that my husband reckons that he will soon have to reinforce the floors because of the weight. So lately I have started being very self-sacrificing and started giving them away to charity shops once I've read them, just keeping a few by very favourite authors. I used to try selling them on Amazon Market Place, but the amount that you get for them is really not worth the hassle it entails, especially as my books are generally in such good condition in comparison to the few I buy second-hand off AMP; other people's idea of "Good or excellent condition" seems to very widely from mine. However, much I hate Kindle if you genuinely lack space, I suppose that's the way to go. Or, have a clear out from time to time.

[Kate, Your Friendly Moderator]

Lep, have you looked at Bookcrossing as a way to get rid of unwanted books? You register books on the website and give them an ID number then leave them in public places for new readers to find and journal. If you're lucky they travel about and you get to hear back from them. Take a look at www.bookcrossing.com it might be of interest. :)

[Lep]

No never heard of it Kate. I'll have a look, thanks.

[Kate, Your Friendly Moderator]

Just wondering if anyone is up for a numbers challenge?
I've just finished One Blood and thought I might try for more numbers in titles.
If there are a few of you willing to give it a go maybe we could set up a new topic?

[ReadAlongWithSue recovering from a stroke★⋆. ࿐࿔]

Lynne - The Book Squirrel wrote: "Anyone fancy a 'meet up'? I am off to my second Readitswapit meet up at the Book Barn near Bristol/Bath on Saturday. It is a great place to visit - all books in the main warehouse are just £1 each ..."

How often do they hold this? It’s not far from me

[[deleted user]]

May I offer Group Member's a free copy of my new novel, 'To Run Before the Sea' to read and discuss? Or is this against the rules?

[Liz, Your Friendly Moderator]

Hi Mike, You can, just go to the 'Authors - book promotion' section and place your offer there.

[L]

I’ve just downloaded the gooodreads App and I’m struggling to find my way around it so am having to come back onto the website instead.

Can I suggest the Tool bar is moved to the top from the bottom. It’s really hard to spot as it’s in a similar colour and I didn’t expect it at the bottom.

[Liz, Your Friendly Moderator]

Hello L, sorry to hear you're struggling with the app. The developers keep tweaking it, attempting to improve the experience, but just when you get used to one layout they seem to shift things around - if I remember the tabs used to be at the top...

I find I often go back the the website, as it has more features, but the app is handy when I'm out and about. I still haven't worked out how to insert a book-link in a post on the app (I can do it on the website) - despite using it for 10 years!

[L]

Thanks for replying

[Sean]

I've made my book trilogy, "The George & Sally Series", completely free for eBook until Thursday: mybook.to/GeorgeAndSallySeries

If you take up the opportunity to read the series, I really hope you enjoy it and do feel free to review them where possible :)

[Amelia]

i really want to get out of my comfort zone as i mainly read thrillers, contemporary and fantasy so please can you recommend me something
thanks xx

[Liz, Your Friendly Moderator]

Hi Amelia,
We're currently running a genre challenge where we read a book from a different genre every month _ I find it really helps me broaden my reading. You can join at any time. We've run it several times, so you can dip in and take a look at past suggestions too :)

I get most of my books from the library, so I don't have to worry about taking a risk, and wasting cash, if it's not my cup of tea!

[Ben]

I'm looking for recommendations for books focused on the second world war. I read The Holocaust by Laurence Rees a couple of years back, not an entertaining read, but incredibly insightful and really opened my eyes. Having watch a couple more documentary's on TV I'm now intrigued as to what else would be good to read concerning te 2nd World War.

I'm looking for something more factual than fiction, but I'm not looking for a reference book, thanks in advance if you can point me in the right direction.

[Kate, Your Friendly Moderator]

Hi Ben,
WW2 isn't something I read a lot about but I can recommend Enemy Coast Ahead which is an account of the Dam Busters raid by Guy Gibson.
I would also suggest you check out the 1900-1950 thread in the Time Traveller Challenge section as I think there maybe some suggestions there.

[Rachel]

Ben wrote: "I'm looking for recommendations for books focused on the second world war. I read The Holocaust by Laurence Rees a couple of years back, not an entertaining read, but incredibly insightful and real..."

Hi Ben
I read this last year - it's not my usual thing but I really enjoyed it if i ever see volume one I'll get it. You might be able to find a secondhand copy.
Secrets and Stories of the War: Volume 2 by Kendal Burt - odd true stories about the war

My partner was also recommended Troop Leader: A Tank Commander's Story by Bill Bellamy he managed to get it from our local library.

[Clara]

Hello everyone! My name is Clara and I am currently an MA Publishing student at Kingston University in London. I have to send out a survey to UK readers for my dissertation and (though I don't want to spam any of you) I would greatly appreciate if you could fill it out. It only takes about 10 minutes and it helps to have all kinds of readers taking it.

https://forms.office.com/r/N5fFnT5WMy

I really appreciate you taking the time to read this and hopefully do the survey as well. Thank you!!

[Maggie]

Hi. Can anyone please enlighten me as to how to change my e-mail address. I've looked in my profile but there's no reference to it.

[Kate, Your Friendly Moderator]

Hi Maggie,

Click on your profile pic in the top right of the page. From the drop down box select account settings. When that window opens click on the settings tab at the top and it looks like you can change your e-mail there.

[Bill]

I've been seeing the beta version of the 'My Books'. I can't say I like it. One feature in the original one is that when you hover your cursor over the picture of the book, it allows you to check out other versions so you can select the one that you actually have. I can't seem to do that in the Beta version. Has anyone else noticed that and is there a way?

[Pam]

Is it my imagination or are we seeing the death of the paperback?
Many of the new books for sale on Amazon are only available in Kindle or Audible. (and some are hardback). I think this must be Amazon promoting Audible. Has anyone else come across this?
(An example "Young Mungo" by Douglas Stewart and there are many others). Has anyone else noticed this trend?

[Abigail]

I haven’t noticed fewer books being available in paperback but I have noticed Amazon offering a lot fewer discounts (and smaller discounts) for paperbacks.

[Laura]

Hi! Quick question. Is the genre challenge going to be done for 2022-2024?

[Liz, Your Friendly Moderator]

Hi Laura, Yes it is. I am putting it together as we speak. I will start the new thread tomorrow (Sunday). Sorry to keep you all waiting, the end of the month crept up on me!

[Laura]

Hi Liz, thank you!!

[Bill]

Liz wrote: "Hi Laura, Yes it is. I am putting it together as we speak. I will start the new thread tomorrow (Sunday). Sorry to keep you all waiting, the end of the month crept up on me!"

My wife thought it was still September today. It did come around quickly

[Sharon]

Hi there, I just joined my first book club on Goodreads. I was wondering how you tag books and authors. I noticed some have a blue underline that takes you straight to the book or author...