Welcome to The Midnight Bell (a virtual pub and general discussion thread) (2024)

[Neer]

More bad news! IA says only a small section of books to be made available for borrow:

https://blog.archive.org/2024/09/21/l...

If anybody has more details on this, plz share.

[Tania]

Middlemarch is one of those books I've always meant to read, but the length is daunting, and I feel like I shouldn't be reading too many other books at the same time so I've booked a week off work to read it in November. I'm planning on audio and print at the same time.

[Alwynne]

Ben wrote: "I mostly prefer reading to listening, although I did enjoy listening to some of the chapters of Ulysses on the Radio Ireland performance, just to hear the musicality of Joyce's language and to inte..."

I'm not sure anything can penetrate some of those sentences, I read it a while ago and still puzzling over some of Bowen's lines.

[Blaine]

Neer wrote: "More bad news! IA says only a small section of books to be made available for borrow:

https://blog.archive.org/2024/09/21/l...

If anybody has more details on this, plz share."

I will, once I understand what is behind it.

[Hester]

I love audiobooks but , sometimes, the reader is terrible . Have been spoiled by Timothy West and his magnificent Trollope readings when I try to find a lesser known work , often on Libravox . If it's a novel with a regional tone / dialect it can transform the experience for me . Anna Burns reading Milkman comes to mind .

[Nigeyb]

West and Burns both superb 🫶🏻

[Roman Clodia]

Hester wrote: "Anna Burns reading Milkman comes to mind."

Oh yes, even reading the book, I heard Anna Burns' voice in my head.

[Blaine]

I've reviewed my Internet Archive "want to read" list and no additional books have been removed from "available to borrow" and made "preview only" so I can't tell what changes, if any, are being made to their lending policies.

So, the meaning and implications of the blog post Neer linked to is still a mystery to me.

[Jan C]

Not receiving any updates today. Has Hurricane Helene even made landfall yet? I know that a lot here locally is shut down in anticipation of the storm. But I am getting other emails.

Anyone else having problems?

[Alwynne]

Jan C wrote: "Not receiving any updates today. Has Hurricane Helene even made landfall yet? I know that a lot here locally is shut down in anticipation of the storm. But I am getting other emails.

Anyone else h..."

I can't help but just wanted to say I hope you stay safe, as well as your little dog who looks lovely btw

[G]

Nigeyb wrote: "West and Burns both superb 🫶🏻"

The audio of Milkman available in the US is read by Brid Brennan. Is there a different version available on your side of the sea?

[G]

Jan C wrote: "Not receiving any updates today. Has Hurricane Helene even made landfall yet? I know that a lot here locally is shut down in anticipation of the storm. But I am getting other email
Anyone else h..."

I was just looking at the NOAA site. As of 6 pm EDT she had not yet made landfall, but the satellite imagery appears to show the leading edge of the storm nearing the coast. Outer bands appear to extend well up into Georgia. Sustained winds have been hovering around 125 mph.

[Nigeyb]

G wrote:


"The audio of Milkman available in the US is read by Brid Brennan. Is there a different version available on your side of the sea?"

I just checked. I'm pretty sure that's the one I listened to. I only hesitate as there seem to be two versions, the other narrated by Anna Burns herself, but I'm sure she didn't narrate the one I heard. It was five years ago now so forgive me for not accurately recalling.

[Roman Clodia]

Yes, I think it's Brid Brennan who did such a fantastic job with Milkman.

[Hester]

Definitely Anna Burns was a choice on Audible

[Susan_MG]

After a ponderous journey along the Florida Coast in the Gulf of Mexico storm Helene accomplished her worst. Water surge caused significant damage to all vulnerable locations on the Western Florida coast. The damage has yet to be assessed at area of landfall as the full force of Category 4 Helene made landfall in Big Bend (the approximate juncture of Florida Peninsula and east portion of the Florida Panhandle). I’m 80 miles inland from Tampa and had minimal impact but did endure a stressful day of anticipation and hope that the huge storm would not make any right hand turns.
At time of landfall Helene’s winds rated at 140 mph. Today 1 million customers are out of power. Temperatures are typically high 80’s to mid 90’s in September so power outages care critical. I finished 2 books during the storm.
My thoughts and concern go out to all who suffered damage or loss of home or business as a result of Helene.

[Nigeyb]

Glad you're okay Susan. I echo your thoughts to all those suffering.

[Nigeyb]

Maggie Smith has died


She'll always be Jean Brodie to me

For my kids it's as Professor Minerva McGonagall

RIP Maggie - a legend

[G]

Nigeyb wrote: "Maggie Smith has died


She'll always be Jean Brodie to me

For my kids it's as Professor Minerva McGonagall

RIP Maggie - a legend"

For me, it's the Dowager Countess, though I'd enjoyed watching her in many films before that.

[Susan_MG]

Maggie Smith an icon who will be long remembered. May she rest in peace.

[Kathleen]

It's funny, in real life I've noticed when people die, they revert back to their prior selves in my mind. Maggie Smith did this for me too, and I find I'm stuck on her in the movie I first saw her in, Murder by Death in 1976.

[Nigeyb]

I haven't thought about Murder By Death for eons. Very funny as I recall

[Roman Clodia]

Oh that's sad. Even though I've never seen the film of Miss Jean Brodie, I've seen so many clips that she is Maggie Smith - probably the voice especially.

I'm way older than your kids, Nigeyb, but Prof McGonagall is probably my most vivid memory too.

[Blaine]

Further to my thoughts about the status of the Internet Archive lending.

I haven't found any further material on this statement in their blog post:

To date, we have removed over 500,000 books from lending on archive.org (and therefore also openlibrary.org). While we are reviewing all available options, this judicial opinion will lead to the removal of many more books from lending.

I think it's poor writing in the blog post and refers to broader threats to lending by libraries generally due to the license terms of ebooks, as an increasing segment of book publishing, rather than an upcoming wholesale removal of an additional class of books from the Internet Archive.

It's just that under the terms of the recent court case, when a book becomes commercially available as an ebook, the IA will have to remove it from its lending library. Just my interpretation.

As a big fan of libraries generally and of the IA particularly I will continue to monitor the issue.

[Neer]

Ben wrote: "Further to my thoughts about the status of the Internet Archive lending.

I haven't found any further material on this statement in their blog post:

To date, we have removed over 500,000 books fr..."

Thanks Ben for keeping us abreast of this issue.

[Blaine]

There's another threat to the IA from a case brought by music companies for copyright infringement arising from the archive of 78 RPM records. An article in Wired says it could result in damages of $400 million and would bankrupt IA.

A final result in that case would be years away, but it's an existential threat to the IA.

[Alwynne]

That's dispiriting Ben. Meanwhile on a more trivial matter, I'm baffled by some of my recent friend requests from people with whom I have absolutely zero interaction and nothing in common like the author of How America Works... and Why it Doesn't: A Brief Guide to the US Political System I mean wtf?! The guys claiming to be in the military I get, these kinds of profiles are everywhere online, often part of a scam aimed at lonely women... But otherwise where do these people come from? And why do they think I'd want their reviews cluttering up my feed? I now have over 300 of these kinds of requests pending, it's crazy.

[Roman Clodia]

Wow, 300? That's crazy! I think I've had a request from this guy too but I just hit 'ignore'.

[Alwynne]

I know, got another one this morning a 'rugged' American guy in a baseball hat, reading a book on his porch, looked like a sweatshirt ad! Think I should label my profile 'disgruntled lesbian' beware.

Also anyone else noticed any oddities with GR? Some of my books are losing their cover images so have had to switch editions when I come across those on my shelf. Also kept getting 'likes' for an ancient review and found that even though I read it years ago, it's been linked to an entry for the book that was only recently loaded and the review recirculated. Is it the software? Or has a GR librarian run amuck/gone rogue?

Also noticed can no longer re-order my friends' list by 'recent' or in alphabetical order etc Nor can I select an option for how I want to be notified about comments.

[Roman Clodia]

Someone told me in another group that there's been a change to notifications so you have to sign up again.

I don't always get notifications for comments on my reviews and noticed the 'notify me' box seems to be automatically unticked - but can't go back through all my reviews to tick it for each one.

[Roman Clodia]

Alwynne wrote: "Think I should label my profile 'disgruntled lesbian' beware"

🤣

[Blaine]

GR "Help" re Notifications

We’ve simplified the way we notify you about activity on Goodreads. Within Account Settings, we’ve moved the notification settings to a new Notifications page.

Some notifications have been updated to only alert you on Goodreads and can no longer also be sent via email:
When one of your groups is about to start reading a book
When a Goodreads member answers your question for Goodreads Q&A
Reminding you to write a review for a Giveaway you’ve won
Requests to join your group.
Notification settings can only be modified on desktop and any changes you make will appear on the iOS or Android app. For steps to change or review the updated notification settings, see How do I edit my notification settings?

[Alwynne]

Thanks that's better for me, I loathe checking emails if I don't have to.

[Roman Clodia]

Thanks, Ben - only I've never had emails, just notifications on here.

[Blaine]

Roman Clodia wrote: "Thanks, Ben - only I've never had emails, just notifications on here."

Same here

[Alwynne]

Ben wrote: "Roman Clodia wrote: "Thanks, Ben - only I've never had emails, just notifications on here."

Same here"

Mine kept defaulting to email for some reason.

[Jan C]

I think we were lucky. My creek raised to the level of the banks, but not over. And I am up the hill from it. I know Fred took out a lot from the Pisgah Forest, just down the road from me, but I don't really remember it being that bad where I am/ But Helene was very loud. We'd already had 2-3 days of rain from a storm from the west.

Mainly we just lost connectivity for 4+ days. But when I was able to get on Facebook this morning I saw just how bad it was for the surrounding area. They still have to determine the level of damage at the Biltmore Estate. They are usually open 365 days a year. They are currently closed and don't know for how long. The local library is closed but they did announce (for those with connections) that you could use wifi by standing near the building. And I saw a picture of people doing just that at the Asheville Library.

Roads are considered closed here - partly because they may not be passable and partly so that the rescue/repair people can get through. What this bad is they are in the mountains. Great difficulty getting to some places. Landslides. We usually just get remnants of storms.

[Hester]

Just glad that you're ok Jan . I agree I'd not imagined Blue Ridge Mountains being affected .

[Nigeyb]

Hang on in there Jan

[Patrick]

It’s been a year since I have been active in Goodreads Groups - I had some personal matters that needed taking care of. On returning, I am confused by the Notifications situation, and hope that someone can enlighten me. I used to get emails whenever someone posted in a thread that I had marked “Notify me when people comment”. Now, no emails, and nothing in my Update Feed from any Groups, either. I did get one bell notification in the top bar, but that’s it.

I have the app, but I am using the website version.

[Alwynne]

Patrick wrote: "It’s been a year since I have been active in Goodreads Groups - I had some personal matters that needed taking care of. On returning, I am confused by the Notifications situation, and hope that som..."

Somebody more clued up will probably come along, but as far as I can tell they've stopped/restricted emails and most info is circulated via notifications but you need to opt into those. So if you go to the settings for each group that you're in, you can tick to get notifications. That's what I did and mine are coming through. When commenting on reviews, if you want to see any replies you have to tick the notify me box or you won't see them.

[Patrick]

^ Thank you so much! I have been worried that if I ticked Notifications generally for a group, I would get them for every single post, and it’s too much - I only want them for subscribed threads.

[Alwynne]

Patrick wrote: "^ Thank you so much! I have been worried that if I ticked Notifications generally for a group, I would get them for every single post, and it’s too much - I only want them for subscribed threads."

I'm not sure about threads, think if you tick the general notifications for a group under the 'Edit Group' section you will get notifications for everything posted. Try leaving that unticked and just tick the 'Notify me when people comment' box on the thread you want to follow, and see if that works. It's at the bottom on the right of each thread.

[Patrick]

^ That is what I will continue to do for now. I did get bell notifications for your two responses here, so that is working.

[Alwynne]

If it's any consolation the change only happened very recently, so a lot of people were taken by surprise, and still figuring out how to work within the new frameworks! So even though you were away you're not really that behind. Nice to have you back btw

[Patrick]

^ Thank you, it is good to be back!

That is interesting about the recent changes. I suppose they have their reasons. I can certainly adapt. 🙂

[Roman Clodia]

I know many of us are very busy at this time of the year but do you have any reading plans for either UK Black History Month or Halloween?

For the latter, I'll be reading Just an Ordinary Day, a collection of short stories by Shirley Jackson.

[Blaine]

Nice idea. As I'm still slowly going through JCO's High Lonesome I won't add another full collection, but I will pick a few stories from Jackson's Dark Tales in solidarity.

[Roman Clodia]

Oh, Dark Tales is great! I think it might have been my first taster of Jackson. There's a tale about being on a bus that blew me away with how she creates unease and sinister undercurrents from the mundane and everyday.

I'd definitely trace a line from Jackson to JCO's creepier stories.

I think I'm going to cheat on Black History Month by reading more James Baldwin.

[Sonia]

I am going to puck up some books for Victober - the last of the Carlingford Chronicles Phoebe Junior and The Odd Women
Recently I have targeted by Black History Month reading for February.