Hot GR Spots, New Tips & Tricks and Random Goodness

[AH]

I see Caucasian skin color.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

AH, what colour do you see for your own name/message bar?

[Regina]

LOL AH. Yes, that is what I see.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Well, if I was that colour I'd be in liver failure, so I'm glad I'm not. LOL.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

LOL! Silly Sandra.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Anyone noticed the new question box on book pages?
Launching Today: Goodreads Q&A! Ask Your Favorite Author or Fellow Readers Questions on Goodreads!

Reader Q&A
Ask the Goodreads community a question about XYZ

Be the first to ask a question about XYZ

[Steph, Serious series addict]

I noticed this a bit ago, but still haven't tried it out. I'm assuming it's much the same as Amazon's feature and available now b/c of the buy out.

Now You Can Preview Books on Goodreads! (U.S. Members)

Currently, only available to those in the US and, understandably, those outside of the US are upset. Emily said:

message 64: by Emily
8 minutes ago
Hey all! We definitely understand that our members outside the US would like to try this feature too. We'd love to roll this out in future releases, and we will let you know if we're able to do this.

I'm sure all you'd have to do until it opens worldwide is change your GR profile to the US, if reading a preview was important to you.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Well, I'm assuming we can read the same preview on Amazon if we were really worried.

Steph, why don't you pick a book and do a comparison read and let us poor people outside the US know if it is the same.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

:D I am just now seeing your post, Miss Sandra.

Goodreads' blog post charts the differences between men and women's reading habits with a focus on author gender.

My hubby reads more books by men than women, but I have successfully turned him on to several of my favorite women UF authors. And, this year, I've tried to check out more books by men. In 2014, I started 4 series by men compared to 0-1 in previous years.*

I know several male authors are very popular around SOS, George R.R. Martin, Kevin Hearne, and Jim Butcher, just to name a few.

How about you? Do you prefer female authors? Do you seek them out or find you're just drawn to their books more often?

* On a side note: I was surprised to see that in 2014 I only started 48 new series (at least so far) as compared to an average of 66 the previous 5 years. Huh. Maybe I'm finally getting better at finishing up series I've already started.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

If its a new series I honestly don't look at the author to see if its male or female, I look at the blurb and what my friends think of it.

Most of my books are authored by females, but I have a few male authors I autobuy including Kevin Hearne & Ben Aaronovitch & there are others that I have on my lists, I even have a male author shelf (idea copied from Miss Steph).

There is also a male GR member that I follow. I noticed he kept coming up on the books I liked with a very similiar rating to mine so I jumped on his bandwagon and I've found a few new books that way. LOL.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Sandra wrote: "There is also a male GR member that I follow. I noticed he kept coming up on the books I liked with a very similiar rating to mine so I jumped on his bandwagon and I've found a few new books that way. LOL. "

That's a good idea! :D

[Literary Ames]

I mostly read modern fiction by female authors, classics by male authors, but my non-fic reading is more of an even split.

[Valerie ~ Val Hall ~]

Maybe it's genre related? I started a lot of PNR series over the years so granted they are by female authors. Over time I've included other genres that do have male authors and it's a totally different reading experience even in the same genre...the emphasis is not the same depending on the author gender.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

For me, genre choice has been a major factor since I read a lot of PNR. The male-authored books I've read have all been UF.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

I'd have to say all my male authors are UF also, not one I can think of writes PNR, except for the duo Ilona Andrews and I don't think that really counts.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

I have a PNR by James D. Horton, editor Miranda Horton, that's a PNR. I haven't read it yet though. I also have some of

I think I started a post here a couple of yrs ago about male/female authors of PNR. I seem to remember reading something about it on a blog.

ETA: The only thing I could find in a search of our topics was: Author's Gender ~ Does it Matter?. I'll have to keep digging around; now I'm curious about the article.

ETA²: Okay, I figured out why I couldn't find anything here @ SOS. It's b/c I was talking about it over in PR&UF group: Male Paranormal Romance Authors. Another thread there: Male vs Female PR Writers.

Guardian Quiz: The Naipaul Test: Can you tell an author's sex?

[Steph, Serious series addict]

I just spotted a new feature on some book's pages. It's kind of a duplication, but the option exists in the book's details on every book's page. But, they've added another block along the right of some - under Readers also enjoyed, genres and about the author - "Other Books in the Series" with links to each book and a link to the series page.

(Example: Dead Heat ~ scroll down, look on right side)

And... I just noticed that when you click on the series link, they've added (on the right of this page) "Other Series by AUTHOR"

(Example: Immortal Game series page - page lists all other series/books in series by Ann Aguirre)

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Yep, I've used those doing my librarian fixes. Not sure how long they've been around but a while at least.

As to the recs it appears on the book's page depending on shelvings. If its a book that has only been shelved a few times, it doesn't give recs. Must be an algorithm thing.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Did anyone notice Goodreads' April Fool's joke post?
Announcing KINDLR, the New Goodreads Dating App

[Charlene]

Thank goodness that was a joke. When I saw it, I did an inside "ewwww". Not that I have anything against dating sites in general, but I'm on GR for the books and reviews and friends who are here for the books and reviews. Dating? Get in the way of my reading? Not a chance!

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Charlene wrote: "Get in the way of my reading? Not a chance!"

LOL!

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

I saw it but because it wasn't April 1 here I didn't even think of it. Just thought, more crap......

[Steph, Serious series addict]

LOL!

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Did everyone get their GR challenge report card? Oy! Thankfully, I'm ahead on mine, but damn. No longer is it enough to chastise you on your home page if you fall behind, but you'll also be gifted a personal email. LOL! Guess it's good they included a link to unsubscribe (located at the bottom of the email), if you'd rather not be bothered.

Still, being a data nerd, I did like seeing the breakdown they provided:

You've read 70 of 200 books. (35% complete)

Pages Read: 19,551
Avg. Pages Per Book: 279
Average Rating : 3.89

[Lauren]

I got mine too and it says that I'm ahead of schedule.

The thing that irritated me was the list of recommended books - none of which are even remotely close to my reading tastes. Obviously Goodreads is now actively shoving promoted books down our throats!

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Yeah, I thought the same, Lauren. None of mine were anything I'd be interested in reading either. :/

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Me as well. :(

[AH]

Steph wrote: "Yeah, I thought the same, Lauren. None of mine were anything I'd be interested in reading either. :/"

Same here.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Well that sucks. I'm guessin' it won't be something they tweak so that it's actually helpful.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Come to think of it, they were probably all the same books we were recommended. Probably a promotion thingie they were slipping past us.

If they do it again, we should post here the books they rec and we can compare.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

I'll try to remember to do that; I'll be interested to see if there are similarities.

I noticed that they are now offering an audio sample on the book page, in addition to the preview. Nice! I always make sure I can stand like a narrator's voice before buying an audiobook, so this is a nice shortcut (don't have to pop over to Audible.com unless buying book).

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Yeah, I can see that would be helpful, but to me it is just another link on the page cluttering it up. I totally agree it should be on the audio pages, and I'd be happy to see it gone on the paperbacks etc.

Not even going to bother requesting that though, total waste of time as audible is an amazon company.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

LOL! True!

Yeah, I thought the same.

I'm being bombarded by ads all of a sudden. I know they've been there for a long time, but AdBlock Plus was removing them completely. I've figured out how to get rid of them again, but now I have these big blank spaces on the book pages where the ads used to be. Knew it was coming and very glad I have a way to rid them from my screen, but sad to see GR turn more into one big billboard ad than where it started. :(

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Yeah, are you getting the sponsored ads in your feed? I was for a while, but a few clever people figured out how to get rid of them - using the gear lever on the top of the feed, unclick GR editorial. Already had the recs unclicked.

I never notice the ads on book pages, just tune them right out.

[Lauren]

Based on the latest changes to GR, it seems that all we are to them is a market to be mined :0(

I got rid of those sponsored adds in my feed the day they announced them. Very irritating!

I do like the audio sample as, like Steph Ann, it save me going to Amazon to see a) if there is an audiobook version available and b) if I like the narrator.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Nah, those sponsored ads are gone. But, since I got back from my road trip, it seems like I'm bombarded. I'll continue to tweak my AdBlock+ preferences.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Did You Notice Something a Little Different?
A little? I think it'll take my eyes a while to adjust

So, another change - this time to the font, coloring, etc. What do you think? Seems to be getting a lot of mixed reviews on the blog post page.

I do like the look of the font while typing comments, but not how it appears on the screen once posted. I do like the teal/beige coloring throughout the threads in the group. But, I do not like how the main page looks. It feels like the recent updates/book titles are shouting at me. LOL! I get they're going for a clean look, which, granted, was at least partially achieved. But, I'm a bit nervous about the comment, "important changes was to ... lay the groundwork for some design improvements that we’re planning in the future." What will they do next?

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Well, I hate it.

Having read quite a few comments, my eyes are feeling the strain. The font & contrast have drastically changed and not in a good way.

Hate the new profile page. Looks very sparse and amateurish IMO.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

And I hate the new author page as well.

Though I quite like the group discussion threads.

And I'm always worried they are 'improving' stuff on the site - every time its a disaster. And they always do something right before the holidays, then they disappear.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Sandra wrote: "And I hate the new author page as well.

Though I quite like the group discussion threads.

And I'm always worried they are 'improving' stuff on the site - every time its a disaster. And they always do something right before the holidays, then they disappear. "

I haven't checked the author page or my profile page. Scared to now. I think I can safely say, after today's eye straining, that I only like the way the group threads have a cleaner look. Everywhere else it just a mishmash of awkwardness.

I totally agree with the " they always do something right before the holidays, then they disappear " comment. I was thinking the same!

[Valerie ~ Val Hall ~]

I must say that the font they chose is straining my eyes and I've read very little so far.

[Midu]

Valerie ~ Val Hall ~ wrote: "I must say that the font they chose is straining my eyes and I've read very little so far."

Ditto!

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Yep, it hasn't improved, at all. It's still eye-wateringingly bad.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Nope. Not easy on the eyes at all.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Ugh. Goodreads' new navigation bar changes must have altered all of the links to groups and pages around GR. So, now all of my bookmarked links are invalid. They should've made an edit where all old addresses auto redirect to the new address, but apparently they didn't do that.

For example:
Our group link once looked like this:
https://*www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
33903.sos_serious_overload_of_series
group#DOTgroupUNDERSCOREname

It now looks like this:
https://*www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
33903-sos-serious-overload-of-series
group#DASHgroupDASHname

I've posted a comment on their announcement page, but will post one on the feedback group if they don't address it. I don't know about you, but I have A LOT of links that are now invalid and it's annoying as hell. >:(

Anyway, what do you think of the new navigation bar? I don't see it yet, but they say "it's coming soon". I'm not anxious for more changes, to be honest, but whatever. At this point, I'm just hoping they fix the link issue.

New Navigation Bar on Goodreads
Starting today, we're introducing a new navigation bar on the desktop site. With a more streamlined look, the new navigation makes it easier for you to get to all the features of Goodreads you love, search for books, and stay up to date with your messages and notifications.

This new experience will be rolled out over the next few weeks, so don't worry if you don't see it yet—it's coming!

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

I checked out the beta pages on feedback a few weeks ago and predictably I hated it. I really didn't like that Groups are gone from the Header. I use that a lot. And not being terribly tech savvy, if I was a newbie, I wouldn't even know that groups exist. I'm not one for clicking on everything.

They continually fiddle with the look of GR for no good reason. They must have a lot of young IT people working for them I think.

And if they've screwed up all the links that will be a nightmare.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

I don't mind the new navigation bar honestly.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

I do like how the header bar stays as the top & you don't have to scroll back up. But I've gotta say that's probably the only thing I like.

Have you guessed that I don't like change? LOL

[Steph, Serious series addict]

LOL!

I like that too (stuck at the top), but I don't like how I'm constantly running over the BROWSE and COMMUNITY drop downs when moving my mouse up to my browser tabs and end up clicking on some random link or even seeing those drop downs over and over.

Oh well - guess it's just something else I'll have to get used to.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Every change seems to make the group, social and reader areas less visible (particularly for newbies and on the newsfeed) or else adds something promotional for the commercial interests. Meanwhile over on Amazon they keep adding more goodrwads style features to the main site like following authors, series, etc.

I miss when reader participation and content mattered outside of author needs for ratings and reviews. They really hate displaying custom shelves still even though they can and do remove objectionable ones.

The new navigation -- other than carrying on the break connections to other readers trend here -- wtf in the long run. Any navigation or menu reorganization if not done too frequently we can pick up on fairly quickly.

Busting old links as part of that is just ridiculous and unnecessary.

And all these visual and new design changes -- ack, sure go ahead and refresh the site but why on earth does the full web version have to reduce to what we'd get on tablets and cell phones? And why non-standard font changes clearly decreasing visibility? Just to make it look "new" ... blech. Standard internet screen fonts and contrasts are standard for visibility/legibility reasons. It's hardly making the site "new and improved" by trying to use some typography choices sto develop your own or use ones the Internet has already decided aren't clear ones so won't be common use.