Random Thoughts Showing 4,051-4,100 of 17,689

[Jane]

You're most welcome. It really made an impression on me; I still remember it. I think you can find it on http://www.gutenberg.org since it's in public domain.

[Lisa]

Wow, what a diverse little group. Love it. Have a great weekend everyone!!

[[deleted user]]

Lisa wrote: "Ok, that's interesting. I must say that BC does set the bar very high for me, so I struggle at times to get involved. I am up to chapter 9 of insurrection and am only now becoming interested. I'm s..."

Mushrooms can be very distracting:D :/ Gates of Fire was the last one that really moved me.

[Simona]

Derek wrote: "Gates of Fire was the last one that really moved me. "

The same for me.

[Nick]

Still not read that. I'd never heard of Pressfield until I was bored at a train station in first year uni, went over the road to a second-hand bookshop and bought Tides of War.

I'm pretty sure that was the first mainstream Historical Fiction I read.

[Lisa]

I quite like Leon Uris, Linda. Probably not promoted as well as he should have been. I love war novels, bit freaky I know. But his set a new benchmark for me. They are vey well written. Funny how your tastes change. I've picked up books that I thought were great in my 20's, and when I read them again they aren't quite the literary masterpiece I thought. I hope that is not the case for Mr Uris, lol.

[Linda]

Tastes do change. Mr. Uris has been around a long time. His books have been made into films. He has touched the political hotspots of my generation. Because of EXODUS and his name, people may think he just writes about Jews. Nothing could be further from the truth. Kathleen Woodiwiss, Patricia Cornwell, Tom Clancy, James Patterson, etc., have come and gone with me. Uris has stayed. His war stories aren't all about the battlefield. There are those of the mind, of religion, of race, of land. I could go on and on. If you haven't read THE HAJ, please do so and let me know what you think.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

My comments have stopped showing up on my profile again. Blimey!

[Bryn]

Oh I think mine too. Let's see.

[Bryn]

Yup def mine too.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I wonder if it is starting Downunder again before spreading around the world. :)

They showed up only ten minutes ago because I deleted some comments I posted in Goodreads Feedback about poor Jane's weird edit link issue.

[[deleted user]]

Same here. Not just Downunder this time.

[Jane]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Maybe it will hit me by morning. Maybe it's coming east.

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Mine are still showing up.

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Sorry, nix that. Mine have gone west as well.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

hahaha. Well it appears to have gone global.

[Lisa]

Linda wrote: "Tastes do change. Mr. Uris has been around a long time. His books have been made into films. He has touched the political hotspots of my generation. Because of EXODUS and his name, people may t..."

Thanks for the recommendation Linda. I have not read this. I did a quick check on GR for some reviews and it certainly seems to move people in very different ways. Not much middle road there!! Your right about tastes changing though. I use to be a huge Ludlum fan. Now when I go back to some of the early stuff it seems a little clunky. Bourne was still his best, I think. I've not read any Clancy or Patterson and I gave up on Patricia years ago. I really started to dislike Scarpetta, so that was it for me. Speaking of Ludlum though I'd love to hear what other people's opinion is on other authors publishing books under deceased authors names, for eg lustbader/Ludlum. For me I don't bother with it, I generally of interested if its not written by "my" author.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Lisa,
in regards to your question the other day. the one where you asked what book 'lately' has grabbed us straight away...I said Matterhorn (even though that wasn't really 'kately' it was a couple years back). But i now have one.
I picked up The Ill-Made Knight yesterday and it grabbed me straight away!

[Lisa]

Oh great! I think Mark sent this as a recommendation to me! I don't know where to find these things once they've been sent, but I think someone did, thanks, haha. I look forwarded updates. I'm disappointed I'm still not getting into to Insurrection as well as I'd hoped. I have all these other books I'm keen to look at now, especially Conn Iggulden's new one, that I'm racing through it a little. FOCUS Lisa, focus....glad your enjoying it though, there is nothing like that book you just can't put down or wait to get back to. I love it.

[Linda]

Yes, I am a Ludlum fan, but I didn't know about author's using deceased author's names. I will watch for that because it sounds like something I would not like. I put Wouk, Forsyth, Sheldon, Uris and a few more that I cannot recall into the same box. The first Scarpetta books blew me, and plenty others, away! But her obsession with Lucy ended it for me. The 'wannabe' P. Cornwells can be spotted a mile away. Sometimes Tom Clancy's name will be written in large letters on a cover as if he were the author. A closer look reveals he is not the author but may have endorsed the book or the book is written in his style. Same true with Patterson. Good covers are an art that sells books.

[Linda]

I am reading Aztec by Colin Falconer although the book has a longer title. I am interrupted by the native names. There is a science to reading. The eye falls on part of the word and the mind interprets(sp) the entire word. When the word in its entirety has to be mentally sounded out, the flow of reading becomes interrupted. Anyone, is that correctly stated? Obviously, I don't really know what I am talking about, so I was hoping someone who does know will jump in right about here!
P. S. "Turn of phrase" interrupts reading flow as well. Could that explain why books flow in English but stutter in German?

[Darcy]

I find words in languages I'm less familiar with always serve to stump me at first, but eventually I either use a mnemonic tool to remember/replace it with, or it eventually feels more natural.
I don't typically have trouble with South American names, but I do with Asian - simply because I'm uncertain how the sounds should be. I think it's natural to stumble when faced with that sort of thing Linda

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Random thought.


I just needed to share the fact that as I sit here catching up with you all my back yard is full of escaped hens!
It appears they found a way out of their hen yard and are making the most of their freedom. I can hear much destruction going on below the back steps. I have no idea what they are into, but they are being very noisy about it..

[Darcy]

Maybe they found their teeth? ;)

[[deleted user]]

Lol! Good luck with that Terri.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Darcy wrote: "Maybe they found their teeth? ;)"

lol

Considering their rarity I should probably call in the media if they did.. ;)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Derek wrote: "Lol! Good luck with that Terri."

the biggest problem is that they are hanging around the bottom of the stairs...which means they are leaving all their 'deposits' behind and I have to tip toe around them all.
This afternoon, when they find their own way back to the pen to roost i shall plug their hole and hose off the back cement. :]

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Oh..and their husband..the rooster 'Mr T'..actually tried to fight me when I went down the stairs to investigate their noise.
It would appear that the freedom has turned him rogue.

[Lisa]

Linda wrote: "Yes, I am a Ludlum fan, but I didn't know about author's using deceased author's names. I will watch for that because it sounds like something I would not like. I put Wouk, Forsyth, Sheldon, Uris..."

You are right about Scarpetta, it drove me mad. If you look at the latest ludlum books, they look to be co-authored but seen as though he passed away a while ago now, I'm obviously doubtful.

Once again I am cringing about my TRL. Every time someone mentions another writer I download a preview to my kobo library, thanks Linda, here I go again, lol.....

[Lisa]

Bahahaha any chance of some pictures Terri, I would find this hysterical!!

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Terri wrote: "Darcy wrote: "Maybe they found their teeth? ;)"

lol

Considering their rarity I should probably call in the media if they did.. ;)"

Fame and fortune at last!

[Simona]

Terri wrote: "Oh..and their husband..the rooster 'Mr T'..actually tried to fight me when I went down the stairs to investigate their noise.
It would appear that the freedom has turned him rogue."

Could have been worse. They could have been ostrich, a whole herd of them running on and around your porch. :)

[Mark]

Or ducks like we have to chase away from the cafe at work. Lols.

[happy]

Terri wrote: "Oh..and their husband..the rooster 'Mr T'..actually tried to fight me when I went down the stairs to investigate their noise.
It would appear that the freedom has turned him rogue."

Chicken stew for Sunday Dinner?

[happy]

Lisa wrote: "Linda wrote: "Tastes do change. Mr. Uris has been around a long time. His books have been made into films. He has touched the political hotspots of my generation. Because of EXODUS and his name..."

I'll second/third or whatever the recomendation for Mr. Uris. I recently reread
Still a fantastic read!

Battle Cry is one of my all time favorite WW II novels

[Lisa]

happy wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Linda wrote: "Tastes do change. Mr. Uris has been around a long time. His books have been made into films. He has touched the political hotspots of my generation. Because of EXODUS..."

Unfortunately there is almost nothing available from Kobo from Leon Uris. Only O'Haras Choice & A God In Ruin. I'd love to reread Battle Cry. It is most certainly my favourite of his. I have a lot of favs from that era. Clavells' Taipan, an aussie classic ATown Like Alice, book:A Town Like Alice|107301]
great story, there are so many.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Lisa wrote: "Bahahaha any chance of some pictures Terri, I would find this hysterical!!"

Nah. I didn't think to. Today they are all safely back in prison. :)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

happy wrote: "Terri wrote: "Oh..and their husband..the rooster 'Mr T'..actually tried to fight me when I went down the stairs to investigate their noise.
It would appear that the freedom has turned him rogue."

..."


Those old birds would be too stringy. :)

[Bryn]

Hey my updates are back. Visibility!

[Jane]

Mine have been working only intermittently.

[Bryn]

Ah maybe mine too are intermittent.

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

They're back! They're back! *does happy dance*

[Bryn]

It's tough being invisible for two days, isn't it? And your friends invisible?

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Bryn wrote: "It's tough being invisible for two days, isn't it? And your friends invisible?"

It is. I hate being Johnny No-Mates. :p

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I know! Its awful. It makes me look *gasp* inactive..

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I see there was a Goodreads Announcement made regarding reviews. Thought I would copy the announcement to here since those not in GR Feedback won't see the announcement.
__________________________________________________
Since our inception, Goodreads has lived by a few simple principles with our reviews. You can see our full policy in our review guidelines, but at a high level, we believe:

1. Reviews should be about the book. If you think a book is a masterpiece, tell people why. If you hated the book, say so. If it had potential but fell short, share your perspective.

2. Members are not permitted to harass or threaten other people. We have always dealt with this promptly when it has been brought to our attention.

We have done our best to uphold these tenets, and they aren’t changing. But we recently recognized that we can do a better job enforcing them, particularly in the small number of situations where tensions start to run high. We took a long, hard look at our guidelines and how we moderate Goodreads and identified some areas where we can be clearer and where we can improve. I wanted to share with you some of the changes we are now making:

**Make it easier for anyone who feels concerned about content on Goodreads to get help from Goodreads staff. We have now improved the visibility of our flag button, and have added the ability to flag inappropriate friend requests. Of course, people can also reach us through support@goodreads.com. If you see any inappropriate content or behavior on Goodreads, please use these options. We’re here to deal with this so that individual members don’t have to.

**Better education for authors about Goodreads and our review guidelines. It’s clear that some problems have come up because some authors who are new to Goodreads don’t know what’s appropriate on Goodreads and/or take matters into their own hands rather than flagging content that they feel is inappropriate. We’ve therefore revised our author guidelines (http://www.goodreads.com/author/guide...) to make them clearer. We’re also working on improving how we introduce new authors to Goodreads.

**Delete content focused on author behavior. We have had a policy of removing reviews that were created primarily to talk about author behavior from the community book page. Once removed, these reviews would remain on the member’s profile. Starting today, we will now delete these entirely from the site. We will also delete shelves and lists of books on Goodreads that are focused on author behavior. If you have questions about why a review was removed, send an email to support@goodreads.com. (And to answer the obvious question: of course, it’s appropriate to talk about an author within the context of a review as it relates to the book. If it’s an autobiography, then clearly you might end up talking about their lives. And often it’s relevant to understand an author’s background and how it influenced the story or the setting.)

We recognize that not everyone is going to agree with our approach. People have different - and often quite strongly held - viewpoints about what should and should not be allowed in a review. We’ve had suggestions that no GIFs should be allowed, reviews should be limited to 300 words only, reviews should only be allowed if you have read the book to the very last page, etc.

What we try to do is provide room for our members’ own personal approach within our overall principles rather than set rigid guidelines. We’ve found it has worked well for the community overall so far and is something that readers value.

By the way, to put things in context, every day we have more than 30,000 reviews written on Goodreads and, on average, only a handful are flagged as inappropriate. That means 99.99% of new reviews are happily within our guidelines. (Funnily enough, we get way more flags from people asking us to add a spoiler alert to a review than any other type of flagged review.)

We think we have something special here with the Goodreads community and we want to support and protect that. Thank you for being part of this. As always, we welcome your feedback on these changes and on how to make Goodreads a better place for readers and authors.

[Mark]

Is this Amazon making them enforce the rules better?

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

While checking the author guidelines for amendments I thought I would bring out these two and highlight them.

We have strict rules in this group about author promotion. We have always wanted it to be a readers group where authors can come and mingle as readers and if their book fits our niche, then it can be mentioned in the appropriate era folder, but there is not many other chances to promote.

Over the years I have received many a back hand remark or message from authors who have joined the group, ignored our rules and started promoting themselves. Only to have myself, Dawn or Darcy delete their post or direct them to the A&M Author Posting Rules.

I just wanted to highlight these points from the guidelines to show that the rules we have regarding author promotion in A&M is not abnormal or super strict, it is community etiquette across majority of groups and is supported by Goodreads themselves.

_________________________________________________

Join a group around a topic or genre related to your book or a group for authors. Groups are a great place to meet readers or other authors who share your passions. Bring your expertise and enthusiasm to group discussions, and you're bound to meet some people! If you join a group, participate as a reader first, and be sure to check the rules regarding author participation.

A good analogy is the cocktail party scenario. Imagine you are at a cocktail party full of readers (dream scenario, right?!) The conversation is interesting and flowing. People are exchanging ideas and suggestions. Now imagine, that a new person enters the room, barges into the conversation and announces, “Hi Everyone, I’m an author and you’re going to love my book!” Would you welcome that person and want to get to know them? Unlikely. So, join the conversation as a reader first. Once people see you are a passionate and friendly member of the group, they will want to know more about you and then will ask questions about your work. If this seems like too slow an approach and too much work to you, we recommend you don’t join groups. Focus on giveaways and building out your author page.

Don’t join groups simply to promote your book. While we encourage you to join groups to meet readers, do so as a reader. Joining multiple groups for the sole purpose of posting about your own book isn’t permitted on the site, and will simply irritate your target audience.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Mark wrote: "Is this Amazon making them enforce the rules better?"

No. I would not say so. These kind of announcements go on quite regularly in the Feedback group.
And they had to do something about the ridiculous author/reviewer war going on.
Authors and reviewers abusing each other and internet stalking each other. Bookshelves on people's profiles that are worded for the sole reason to be negative towards others. Reviews by authors and reviewers that are not about the book, but are written to insult others.
They needed to get control of all that mess. glad they finally have.

[Dawn]

Amazon would be the last ones to make anyone enforce those rules anyway! They are seriously bad about monitoring their own site. :)