On Paths Unknown discussion
The Anything Goes chit-chat thread (subject to tiny fine-print rules)
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I do have the Adobe Digital Editions reader of course as well, since you cannot avoid having to have it if you buy via Google, but I really dislike all the DRM around that and I dislike Adobe products in general because they tend to be so intrusive. But when I have time again, I will try out some of the readers you have mentioned!
Traveller wrote: "I do work and leisure on a PC sometimes up to 16 hours a day."All of that stuff except actually reading books on my PC. I do that sometimes, but it's not my preferred method. I would like an e-ink reader with a light, though.
I used to use FBreader on the PC, now whenever I read on my laptop I use the Calibre reader. I don't remember the last time I actually read fiction as a PDF — I always use calibre to convert them to ePubs.
Mobipocket is still available from Mobipocket's site. Doesn't look like it's been updated in over seven years, though
Derek (Guilty of thoughtcrime) wrote: "Traveller wrote: "I do work and leisure on a PC sometimes up to 16 hours a day."All of that stuff except actually reading books on my PC. I do that sometimes, but it's not my preferred method. I ..."
That's the site I went to a long time ago and it still says "the resource you are looking for has been removed."
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Amazon sues 1,114 reviewers, some selling their opinions for $5
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and this:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015...
"Reportedly, during a meeting of the Inklings, the Oxford dons' book club whose members included Tolkien and C.S.Lewis, Tolkien read passages from his manuscript for The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was a terrible public speaker and reader, mumbling and droning, and his fellow English teacher, Hugo Dyson, promptly fell asleep. When he woke up and heard what was still going on, Dyson exclaimed, "Oh no, not another f***ing elf.""
Can I just write a tribute to everyone on here who participate in GR group reads? Before I started participating in group reads, I was very hesitant in sharing my thoughts and feelings with an online community. Now I even feel comfortable to occasionally share relevant (to the discussion) personal information. Through these groups I have overcome my fear of posting stuff online. I am writing this because I am now in this eTutoring training programme at a national university where they require us to do exactly what we do here in the group discussions. I believe that I would not have been able to do it so efficiently and honestly in the training if it wasn't for me being part of this reading community and that our group reading discussions prepared me excellently for it. So cheers to all of you!! O yes, and to GR for existing (and in spite of Amazon) :D
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Before I started participating in group reads, I was very hesitant in sharing my thoughts and feelings with an on..."
What a lovely tribute! Thank you very much for posting it, Yolande, and may I add my best wishes for your tutoring activities!
Indeed! GR has taught me so, so much. More than I could have learned in the narrow confines of any college or university. Cheers!
Yay us! Thanks Yolande. GR makes it possible, but you still have to find the right groups, as very few of them get into discussions as good as we have here on in the Mievillans group.
Yolande wrote: "Can I just write a tribute to everyone on here who participate in GR group reads? Before I started participating in group reads, I was very hesitant in sharing my thoughts and feelings with an on..."
Yay! Clicking the invisible "like" button! :D
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This is my first full year on GR and it has been a really great experience. Having access to a fire hose of recommendations for the best books and having perspectives from all over the world in discussing and commenting on said books is just amazing to me.
Derek (Guilty of thoughtcrime) wrote: "Yay us! Thanks Yolande. GR makes it possible, but you still have to find the right groups, as very few of them get into discussions as good as we have here on in the Mievillans group."Yes, my thoughts exactly.
I've never paid attention to the profile picture of the group. For some reason I always thought it was a dog, but I just realized that it's a girl.
Paul Martin wrote: "I've never paid attention to the profile picture of the group. For some reason I always thought it was a dog, but I just realized that it's a girl.":D
Yolande wrote: :D"Not that I'm drawing any comparisons, mind you!
Paul Martin wrote: "Yolande wrote: :D"Not that I'm drawing any comparisons, mind you!"
Nope, the profile pic was unclear to me at first too.
Another click of the invisible "Like" button from me.When I first joined GR, I joined several groups and did several group reads, but then there were too many and I more or less gave up groups. The balance in this one, and the membership, suits me better. I can join in for a bit, then take a back seat, and whichever I do, the quality of debate is always good.
I've only participated in group discussions this year, even though I've been on the site for a while. I do find that in some groups, there's no real discussion at all. Or someone makes a comment or two, posts their review, and you hear nothing else. So an active group that comments in (great) detail on the works is wonderful!
You mean, not all discussion groups are like this one?! Wow! Hitting the jackpot first time out -- how lucky can I get? You see, I've never joined a reading group before, virtual or otherwise. So I guess you guys are stuck with me -- I'm not going to go wandering if the best is right here :)
Ruth wrote: "You mean, not all discussion groups are like this one?! Wow! Hitting the jackpot first time out -- how lucky can I get? You see, I've never joined a reading group before, virtual or otherwise. So I..."When I first joined Goodreads I discovered the place where you can choose groups, and I chose a few according to my reading interests. All of those weren't much active so I never participated. It was only this year, starting with the Year of Reading Women group where I actually got hooked into participating, so there I learned the ins and outs of group discussions. And now this one is my second group in which I can participate. Many of the groups I initially followed I have taken off my list because they are just not as effective as the two I now use. I have never come across this environment before and I love it. I just feel like the people gathered here and in the Women's Reads group result in a group of readers that make it all work, which I haven't found in other groups.
I started with Apocalypse Whenever—it's very active—and somewhere fairly early on Traveller, or maybe Cecily, invited me to the Mievillans group, so I got lucky fast. I've been a member of half a dozen other groups, and only one of them has decent discussions, except the only moderator disappears for months at a time.
Yolande wrote: "Ruth wrote: "You mean, not all discussion groups are like this one?! Wow! Hitting the jackpot first time out -- how lucky can I get? You see, I've never joined a reading group before, virtual or ot..."My case is similar, Yolande. But I do have to say that I´ve found a couple of groups, both reads within ¨2015 The Year of Reading Women¨ and other groups, where members were active, but they weren´t as welcoming. One group I even left after a new moderator made some rude remarks. So there´s something to be said for those moderators who know how to make everyone feel welcome and handle discussions well, esp if there´s contention. *tips hat*
Derek and I know each other from Apocalypse Whenever. I am also in another group that is chatty as well. Leafing through with Friends.
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*Lays out the coffee table with some Black Forest cake, Pecan Nut Brownies and Blueberry Cheesecake Pie.*
What would y'all like - there's tea, coffee, homebrewed ginger beer, tropical punch, lemonade cranberry cooler ; anything else you would prefer? :)
Black Forest Cake? I'll be right over.
/me snatches a few brownies, gleefully nibbling on them, until he notices CHEESECAKE!I feel very welcome indeed!
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I feel very welcome indeed!"
I sneaked the cheesecake part in after Derek posted. Sorry Derek, but remembered I love blueberry cheesecake more than blueberry pie... *slurp*
I had the most amazing piece of pistachio cheesecake 2 weeks ago.
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Yum, pistachio would also work - how about blueberry pistachio cheesecake or strawberry almond cheesecake? ;)
Orange blossom cheesecake with walnuts and cloves in the crust and pomegranate-raspberry sauce?
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OOOOOOOHH! Ouch ouch ouch, is that a real thing? If so, that would really destroy all my good dieting intentions... it might be even worse if we substituted the raspberry with strawberry... it sounds completely heavenly!
Bon Appetit´s recipe....only make it for special occasions since I love orange, and yes, it would be dangerous. The cheesecake itself, and the orange flavor, are really light. The crust balances that sweetness with a slightly salty-savory taste. I´m not much on tart, so find the sauce a bit much, but it also keeps it from being cloyingly sweet. I like the idea of substituting strawberries!That´s the real name, too ¨Orange Blossom Cheesecake...¨¨
I like the crust so much that I tried it with a heavier pineapple cheesecake that I make, with macadamias instead of walnuts.
Here´s link.
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/oran...
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The pineapple cheesecake you mention makes me think of the banana-pinapple merangue which i need to have as a banana lemon merangue instead because I'm sadly slightly allergic to pinapples.
oh, darn! I hated it as a kid, but love it now! Thankfully, as far as I know, am not allergic to anything.Hmmm....don´t know what would sub. It´s called ¨Calypso¨ and has lime, rum, pineapple in it, and then a sauce of pineapple, lime and rum on top. So texture kind of plays a role.
Wasn't sure where to put this, but just got an email today from Goodreads inviting questions for an interview with Mieville ... Anybody else get that? I'll cruise the email later and post the link to where you can ask questions if anybody wants.
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Ohboy, now I'm really going to get it in the neck for not having arranged one for Mievillians... I've had such a busy year this year that something like that was quite impossible...
Thanks for the news, Allen!
...and yes, please post the link!
Well, spoke too soon ... No link exactly. It came as a Goodreads message cause I've rated a China book with 4 or 5 stars. Assuming anyone who has done that should have got it.You reply to the message to ask a question. Here's what I received"
"We are interviewing author China Miéville for the Goodreads monthly newsletter, so we are asking his readers to submit questions! You can click reply below and submit a question about his upcoming book, This Census-Taker, his past work, or anything you're curious about in general. If you send me a question, we may be able to include it!
* You received this message because you gave 4 or 5 stars to a book by China Miéville. To participate, please click below to reply to this message with your question by Thursday, December 17.
* Look for the interview in January in the Goodreads Newsletter and online:
http://www.goodreads.com/voice
Cheers,
Hayley Igarashi
Goodreads Editorial Team"
So, for those who didn't get the message I would happily try to send a question or two into the editors. Personally, I want to ask about his interest in language re: Embassytown but have not formulated a question.
Deadline is Thursday.
Aargh! Wrote "should have got" ... Lapsed into my Appalachian English! :)
I got... I suspect nobody here would dare admit that they didn't get it, as it would imply they weren't sufficiently awed by His Chinaness.
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Allen wrote: "Aargh! Wrote "should have got" ... Lapsed into my Appalachian English! :)"Is that Appalachian? As a Brit, it didn't even register as odd.
Traveller wrote: "Btw, what do you guys think of the new fonts? They look ok on my desktop, but terrible on my laptop..."
Meh. It's not really better or worse for me, regardless of device. It's odd they've stuck with a serif font in some places, though. That's quite a dated look.
Cecily wrote: " It's odd they've stuck with a serif font in some places, though. That's quite a dated look."'Dated' doesn't mean 'bad' :-) As Matt's review of CSS Cookbook points out, running text should always be serif. In general it's far easier to read (though there are of course good and bad serif fonts).
It's not really complimentary, no, and I'm aware of the research about readability, but nevertheless, the current vogue for non-serif means serif can look old-fashioned, which is not necessarily good in a tech context. Of course, in a bookish context, old-fashioned might be good.
Old-fashioned is good :-)On any thread I'm really following, I set the 'following this discussion' settings to 'email all' and, interestingly, they haven't changed the fonts to Serif in the version they email.
I am loving the new Georgia fonts they look awesome on my desktop.
Cecily ... Sticking with one tense form of a verb is part of Appalachian/eastern Kentucky English grammar, linguistically speaking. Examples: I don't, she don't, they don't OR I done it, she done it, etc., and the aforementioned "shoulda got." My memory's bad, but I think I recall some connection to some British grammar/slang forms that ignore tense changes. Probably more the world over. It tends to be more vocal than written - admittedly, I probably speak more like that than I realize, but write in pretty much Standard American English.Ain't linguistics fun? :)
On Paths Unknown
Books mentioned in this topic
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Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Bruno Schulz (other topics)Fyodor Dostoevsky (other topics)
Umberto Eco (other topics)
Dan Simmons (other topics)
Anthony Doerr (other topics)
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Up to now I've been using Adobe Digital Editions and Sony reader for PC. I use the Kindle for PC reader only for my books that I've purchased on kindle because I like the other readers more. Calibre I don't really use for reading, I use it for converting and adding stuff to ebooks like covers etc. I've used FB reader in the past for reading mobi files but I didn't like that reader too much so I took it off. I remember a long time ago I was searching for a different reader to use and I came across Mobipocket but sadly it was then not available anymore, but it sounded like a really good reader so I would appreciate it if you can send it to me :)
On my cellphone and tablet I use many more readers because that's where I do most of my reading since they're so convenient to hold and carry. The ones I use on my phone and tablet are aldiko, moon reader, kindle app and the play books app.
I've actually really been enjoying the play books reader because of its page flip animation that makes it feel like you are flipping a page of a physical book. Recently I've discovered on moon reader that there are two realistic page-turn options you can choose from - Apple style or Google style so I've been using moon reader more now. I just like readers that have a lot of customization options for your reading experience :)
I've been looking for something where you can open more than one book on the same reader; I usually just use two different readers if I want more than one book open at the same time, so Foxit sounds really good for that purpose.