Café Quito: 'pub' thread for general discussions Showing 701-750 of 1,427

[Hugh, Active moderator]

I think they are doing a phased implementation - some of us get a message at the top of the book page inviting us to try it.

[Jibran]

I have been getting the new design for about a month now and have spent some time with it to better appreciate the new changes. It did look better and bigger at first but then I realised that the things I needed to see at first glace required a few more unnecessary clicks which I did not need before, like @Hugh pointed out. There is no 'see all friend reviews' option and you need multiple clicks to get all my friends/followers reviews to display.

Plus, I don't want to see "Readers also enjoyed" recs on the book page BEFORE I get to see the ratings and reviews. I also don't want to see the writer's biography before reviews and ratings. And other things.

[Paul]

Sounds awful!

[Roman Clodia]

I've been getting the invitation for about a week now and hate the new book page! It's so clearly copied from Amazon and seems focused on selling books, not reading and discussing them. It's much harder to find your own and friends reviews, surely one of the great draws of GR that we can easily read reviews from people whose tastes we share rather than random reviewers?

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

It does sound bad - Amazon is great for buying stuff but not for reviews. It’s the Friends review thing that I really value from Goodreads (I spend much longer there than on the most popular reviews) - that plus the discussions on the Mookse forum (which is all the "readers also enjoyed" feature I need)

[Paul]

Yes I use the book page pretty much solely to find friend reviews

[WndyJW]

I liked it until as Jibran pointed out the options I needed were in small print at the bottom of the page. If they want feedback mine will be No!

[Karen Michele]

At our last Zoom chat it came up that some people in the group might be interested in children's books through teen/adult books that focus on Equity and Inclusion. I'll leave this here for those who'd like to see it:
I have been spending most of my Goodreads time curating a list on a Goodreads group I have created for that purpose:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Your input and/or participation is welcome. It is still a work in progress and I just changed the group from private to public.

[WndyJW]

That is a generous endeavor, Karen Michele. I hope it gets a lot of traffic.

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Site notifications seem to have been broken for at least a couple of days now - most of the ones I am seeing are 15+ hours old so the backlog must be pretty mountainous. So if I miss something important that is why...

[WndyJW]

I just saw that Ahmet Altan has been released from prison after four years.

[Paul]

Yes I saw that as well and posted over on the EBRD Prize thread (one of those that doesn't have an obvious thread home)

Slight concern is that he's been released rather than charges being dropped - I have a feeling that happened once before

[Roman Clodia]

That is good news. As you mention, Paul, his father or brother, I think, had previously been released... and then rearrested soon afterwards.

[Paul]

New BBC drama schedule has some interesting book-related productions - including a TV series of the RoC longlisted The Gallows Pole (and series written by / based on books by Women's Prize 2020 longlisted author Candice Carty-Williams and 2021 judge Dolly Alderton

https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2021/...

[WndyJW]

I’m super excited about The Gallows Pole and I hope it makes it was to the states somehow. I have Acorn and Britbox and we have a BBC channel through cable, but we don’t get all the BBC shows.

[Paul]

I put this on another chat but buried away

Has anyone else had reviews disappear?

Happened a couple of times to me recently (probably more - just two I have noticed) - in both cases the reviews were long

Felt like Goodreads made have reduced the character count limit on reviews (the reviews were from 2019 or earlier) - and then reviews over this have vanished.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I read in the Bookseller that Goodreads had been approached by a few publishers about copyright breach in some reviews which had quotations in excess of the "Fair Dealing" exception in UK Copyright law (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/exception...)

[Paul]

Well guilty as charged - except the editor and translators of one of the books wrote a personal thank you on one of my deleted reviews so they didn't complain!

But if anyone else wrote a review in last few years that was near to the word limit then, you may want to check if it is still there

[Hugh, Active moderator]

The only ones I have ever hit the limit with were year reviews with too many book and review links. The 2020 one is still there and should be the largest.

[WndyJW]

Happy Father’s Day to the all the dads, step-dads, grandads, and men who provide fatherly love to kids without dads in their life.

[Tommi]

Inspired by the discussion on the Galley Beggar thread, I’m thinking of buying a Kindle to see if e-reading could be my thing after all. Any tips as to which one to buy? They all seem to be reasonably priced, so going higher-end is no problem. Would an Amazon Kindle be most suitable for NetGalley? I’m a complete novice with these.

Apologies if this topic has been talked about already (and I’m sure it has been). And the web is surely full of recommendations but I’m specifically interested to hear from you guys.

[Sam]

All the different products have pros and cons which are argued by the fans of each product. I use a 2017 Barnes&Noble 10 inch Nook based on a Samsung Galaxy E of the same year which I am typing this on now. It was my first tablet and I immediate bought a 7 inch Samsung tablet to accompany it that wasn't as restricted Barnes&Noble products. They have served me faithfully for 4 years and I will buy another Samsung tablet soon. I like the independent tablet since they are not tied to a specific bookseller and with the right app can use various file formats, plus I use them for web browsing and media viewing without problem. One issue with the Kindle app has arisen. The app keeps getting updated to gather information and sell product, so that it has reached a point where it no longer works as well. So I just bought an 8 inch Amazon fire tablet for Kindle and Audible audiobook use. So far I have not had problems but I haven't had it long enough for problems to occur. It was only $90 for me and marked down to $60 Amazon's last sale so it is the cheapest thing out there.

All have been fine on the eyes. Kindle has a reputation for being better on the eyes and for being able to be used in direct bright sun, but I find no problem with eye fatigue and can stay out of direct sun, so the higher cost was not worth it. The Kindle note taking features probably works better on the Kindle, but I need not take notes.

You would probably want to do some comparison shopping and if you could use a friend's product to see your personal preference it would help. The physical characteristics are mostly personal preference. If you plan on keeping a lot of files you'll need 32GB storage and 2-4 GB RAM. Tablets usually come with WiFi and some are either tied to a certain company for cellular connectivity or can be purchased unlocked. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask.

[Sam]

Tommi wrote: "Inspired by the discussion on the Galley Beggar thread, I’m thinking of buying a Kindle to see if e-reading could be my thing after all. Any tips as to which one to buy? They all seem to be reasona..."

Just replied and forgot to link your comment.

[Sam]

Tommi wrote: "Inspired by the discussion on the Galley Beggar thread, I’m thinking of buying a Kindle to see if e-reading could be my thing after all. Any tips as to which one to buy? They all seem to be reasona..."

On your note on NetGalley, ask around and get specific answers before you buy. I had an issue where some epub files were deleted from my Samsung device. I did not bother to track down the source but it was annoying. My suspicion was that this was a malware or software upgrade either targeting pirated material or old epub library books that hadn't been deleted. Unfortunately, it erased several books from Open Letter which I had bought during a sale and a few free downloads from TOR.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I find many of the Kindle versions on NetGalley almost unreadable due to awful formatting (it’s ones in a certain format I think) so although I download them there as it’s good for searching and cut/paste I use an App like Bluefire reader or the NetGalley App itself

My recommendation would be an iPad but then as my household has 5 iPhones and 5 iPads I am biased

[Neil]

Most NetGalley books are PDF and the process of sending a PDF file to the Kindle almost invariably ends in something unreadable. If ever you are lucky enough to get a MOBI version, that’s exactly what the Kindle expects.

So, I also read NetGalley books on an iPad but I do use my Kindle a lot for published books, partly for storage reasons (my house is full) and partly because it is easy to highlight passages and take notes. Also, when I go on holiday I can decide what to read when I get there, if I have time to read, rather than planning ahead and guessing how many books I might need.

For what it’s worth, I have a Kindle Paperwhite from a few years ago and have never felt the need to “upgrade” from that as it does everything I want it to do.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

The iPad has a very good Kindle app - I am not sure what it lacks compared to a Kindle other than the risk of distraction given everything else it has.

[Robert]

The e reader on the iPhone is good too - I used it for practically all of the books on the IB Longlist and it was smooth

[Roman Clodia]

I'm a dedicated Kindle fan. For me, reading on a Kindle is a completely different experience from reading with a Kindle app on phone or tablet, principally because of the back-lit issue: a Kindle is matte, paper-like effect, important for me if I'm reading for hours.

There are sometimes issues with NetGalley formatting which can sometimes be solved by changing the font size, sometime not - this doesn't bother me hugely. And a Kindle app for phone/tablet is free so easy to have that as well.

I have an old Paperwhite and also an Oasis which has a deluxe screen, love them both.

[Tommi]

Thank you so much everybody for such speedy help. What’s drawn me toward a Kindle is the matte effect, which seemed surprisingly bearable to my eyes many years ago when I saw a friend using one.

I’ve tried reading on my iPhone and it’s okay for short periods, but even with a dark background I can’t stand it for too long – feels like reading for work or something. But the better NetGalley (i.e. PDF) integration on iPad is tempting too, as I’d like to give e-ARCs a go. Hmm.

[Emmeline]

Tommi wrote: "Thank you so much everybody for such speedy help. What’s drawn me toward a Kindle is the matte effect, which seemed surprisingly bearable to my eyes many years ago when I saw a friend using one.

..."

I used to have a Kindle, now have a Kobo. I like the Kobo because it allows me to take out library ebooks from the library in Canada, but this is only an issue if you have access to a library in another country. I did like the Kindle for the matte-effect. I have the Kindle app on my phone and it works well but I can't read for long time on my phone without eye strain and/or carpal tunnel.

[Paul]

I don't like reading on screens if possible as I spend too much of working day doing that. In theory the Kindle should make the experience better but with the Paperwhite I don't find it particularly does, but that may be because I often have the backlight on (as I may be reading in bed).

The other issue I find is that the Kindle really feels very clunky versus even an old smartphone in terms of swipe speed, search speed etc. My daughter's first smartphone was a £50 very basic Vodafone phone and that felt like a Kindle.

And it still bemuses me that with all the technological advances in so many areas, e-reading is to me a pretty rubbish experience vs an old-fashioned book. But then I am still the generation that would normally (at least pre Covid - harder now) print out any document over 5 pages or so to read/review it.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I must admit I still do re printing documents - I had my work install a printer at home plus often get stuff couriered to me.

[Neil]

I think it must be at least 10 years since I printed a document to read it. Maybe quite a lot longer than that. If there’s an option to read electronically, I will use that. Same with books, really - I will always buy Kindle versions ahead of paper, although publisher subscriptions tend to come as physical books.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

You are in I think a minority though - it feels like in most other areas of technology digital has completely taken over other than for either nostalgia value (eg LPs) or real enthusiasts/specialists - whereas paper books still thrive. Even newspapers (so effectively the same technology) are dying off in paper form. Really surprised like Paul that Amazon have not developed a killer Kindle as Ebooks are of course a disaster for bookshops and a massive advantage for Amazon.

In terms of printing work stuff to read I would not do that with text but I do with complex figure filled charts and graphs (most of what I read at work) and particularly when I want to flick back and forth between pages - which for me is where (returning to books) the Kindle experience still falls short.

The ability to search and cut and paste in a Kindle is brilliant though and great for writing reviews. Also the storage element for those of us who hate the clutter of non exceptional books.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Maybe to start a related but new discussion ..

From what I am reading in the Bookselker this week (which I just started subscribing too - in paper of course and find fascinating) the area which is really growing in books is Audio downloads and that is causing some considerable tension between authors and publishers as most publishers effectively give the same royalty percent for audio (and e books) whereas authors claim it should be higher due to the higher profit margins.

What everyone - publishers and authors - dread is a killer Spotify type subscription app (Amazon Audible has not got there yet) which will effectively funnel all the money to the App owner.

[Robert]

I can see Apple or even Spotify incorporating audiobooks- I’m sure it will happen

[Paul]

Now audiobooks are something I really don’t get (emphasis on 'I' - I can see this works for others)

Why would I want to read a book at the pace someone reads it rather than linger over passages, skim others, flick back and forth etc. I also find my attention tends to wander as well - it's the opposite of immersive.

There are a small number of books which work better read (Girl Is a classic) and others that draw on the oral tradition but otherwise I find it an unsatisfying way to consume literary fiction.

Kundera once said (although I can’t find the quote so perhaps Paul said it!) that true novels are books that don’t work in any other form. He was thinking of film adaptations (he loved the royalties on Unbearable Lightness of Being but hated the result) but for me I’d add audio[notreally]books.

[Sam]

In the U.S. Auduble (Amazon) has pretty much dominated the market, but who gets what from the pie retards the possibilities of the audio/print product. I personally like to listen and read, which means I need an audio and print version of the work. Print publishers and audio publishers have IMO, not satisfactorily resolved things cost effectively yet though the suits have quieted.

Getting back to devices Kindle devices are marvelous but technology is moving so fast that a simple reading device is not enough. The devices are capable of running video, audio, and various background apps, so I did not elevate the kindle. Since I use my device for reading, I have adopted my tablets as go to devices and carry one with me when I go out instead of a phone. 100% of my posts in the past two years have been written on the tablet and if I am reading a book I am constantly referencing allusions on the tablet, which may be audio, visuals, or text. The kindle paperwhite was their last big upgrade and Amazon seems to be putting their effort into the fire tablets now. I think one is better with an IPAD or android tablet if they need the technological assets the new tablts provide. Of course we tend to be creatures of familiarity so if you begin with a kindle you will probably prefer it.

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Last time I was in an office (March 2020) there were still a few people who preferred to print off most of their documents, but I was not one of them - I only printed anything I wanted to access away from the office computer or scribble on. Since I stopped working, I have not bothered to get a printer, and having seen how much money my mother spends on ink cartridges, I am not sure I ever will.

[Roman Clodia]

I love audiobooks but see them as an addition to, rather than a substitution for, 'real' books - in the way that a film/stage/radio adaptation is.

I tend to listen on the commute because they are door to door, unlike a book, and worked especially during the pre-covid rush hour tube when there was literally not an inch to hold a book/phone.

That said, I tend to listen to rereads, especially of nineteenth century classics, and thrillers.

I don't think lit fic generally works on audio and when it does (Milkman is fab on audio, as is Mermaid of Black Conch) I go on to read the book as well which is a different experience.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Hugh wrote: "I only printed anything I wanted to access away from the office computer or scribble on..."

That's the main reason I get prints - to be able to sit away from a computer and review something and scribble my notes /queries on it in advance of someone presenting it to me

Absolutely re ink cartridges - they are shocking.

[Sam]

Roman Clodia wrote: "I love audiobooks but see them as an addition to, rather than a substitution for, 'real' books - in the way that a film/stage/radio adaptation is.

I tend to listen on the commute because they are..."

Getting off topic but I agree with you RC on nineteenth century classic reads and retreads, especially from Naxos. Their narrators often get it just right. I am listening to two at the moment; one by by Charlotte and one by Anne Bronte and they couldn't leave me happier.

[Roman Clodia]

Sam wrote: "Getting off topic but I agree with you RC on nineteenth century classic reads and rereads, especially from Naxos. Their narrators often get it just right."

In case you haven't discovered her yet, Juliet Stevenson is just excellent as a narrator of the Brontes, Austen, Gaskell.

[Debra]

Roman Clodia wrote: "In case you haven't discovered her yet, Juliet Stevenson is just excellent as a narrator of the Brontes, Austen, Gaskell."

Agree! And of Virginia Woolf, too.

[Roman Clodia]

Ooh, Stevenson and Woolf sounds like the perfect match! Will check those out, thanks :)

[Tracy]

I listen to audio while I’m working- since I work from home, I can multitask. I tend to listen at 1.5x to 2x speed, depending on the book. I have found that certain types of books work better in this format- for me, NF, poetry, and easier fiction. Nonfiction is easier to listen and comprehend- maybe a throwback to school days, when taking notes on lectures and listening at the same time?

And I would much rather hear poets and NF authors read their own works. I will avoid fiction authors reading their own works like the plague.

I use both electronic and DTB formats- whichever is easier to get ahold of, and though I have Audible, I also use Libro.fm which benefits the indie bookstore of my choice. Libro.fm also has better sales.
I use an iPad- I had an earlier Kindle, and liked it, but I want a multitasking tablet, and it syncs with my Mac and phone.

[WndyJW]

I can’t listen to audio books because my mind wanders and if I don’t love the narrator it ruins the book for me.

I have an iPad for Goodreads and internet, and used the Kindle app on my iPad for Ducks, Newburyport. I discovered it quickly didn’t matter that it was a tablet, not a book, as far as my enjoyment of the book, but I retain what I read on paper better than what I read on the iPad.

If I were to get magazine subscriptions I would get e-versions, but I’ll always prefer books.

[Ang]

Sam wrote: "The kindle paperwhite was their last big upgrade and Amazon seems to be putting their effort into the fire tablets now..."

There's the Oasis which is fabulous, way beyond the Paperwhite, but also a lot more expensive. Worth it in my opinion.

[Neil]

Interesting. I looked at the Oasis a while ago and could not see a reason to ditch my Paperwhite. What is it you see as the advantages of the Oasis?