Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction discussion
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Bryn wrote: "I came to the conclusions C.P. did, and never 'like' reviews of my books. I have to hope that isn't seen as ungracious. It's meant to be non-intrusive."Yes i think thats a really good school of thought unless soemone i know has reviewed my book and then i like to say thanks
Terri wrote: "Jane wrote: "I try to follow what GR says the ratings mean: 3 stars means you like the book; whether or not you would read any others by the author is irrelevant. 2 stars means to me the book was ..."I have come to the conclusion that the more reviews a book has the lower the star rating anyway because there will be more chance of lower ratings amongst a higher population of reviews
Terri wrote: "Jane wrote: "I try to follow what GR says the ratings mean: 3 stars means you like the book; whether or not you would read any others by the author is irrelevant. 2 stars means to me the book was ..."@Terri: Research results from GR??!!! Link PLS!!!!
In any case, I am not surprised that 3 star reviews stimulate more conversation - it creates a discord. If I like a book and see that someone I know did not, then I tend to ask why, especially when I see that the person has similar taste.
I agree that the overall ratings are not very telling, better to create network of people with similar interests (like this group, YAY!)
@Jane: library magazines? interesting, never heard of that. it might not be a bad idea for GR to introduce something similar to metascore on imdb.com - have a separate ratings collected from professional reviewers. Or perhaps restrict the rating by group members (to have a better idea how my peers like it, and not just random readers).
GAh! Recommendations on the Home Page now... frackin'.... THEY are really making it harder and harder to justify staying.(and yes, I see that I can 'hide' them, but that's not the point)
I noticed 'Recommendations on the home page' last night--good Lord, don't they already have a 'Recommendations' section up top? [rhetorical question] But at least the one up top is not intrusive.@Michal--library magazines: librarians use for reviews to build up collections, or know to avoid with bad reviews. For example, Booklist
Choice Library Journal
For any of you whose libraries or library systems have online databases, for the entries, do the databases not have blurbs from library magazines?
@Jane - thanks for the links, going to check it out.I am not sure about the local libraries, never seen any blurbs or anything...
@Darcy - What recommendations? Some advertisements? I am using adblock, so I generally do not see any of these..
No they're not links. I just underlined them.
I usually use adblock too, but today I'm using my work computer, so they popped up. I think there's always been a recommend feature, but not its got book covers rather than 'click here to get a list of books recommended based on the ratings you've given your read books'.I don't know what shelf they've placed recommendations for, if it rotates. None of it matters - it's in the face now and I'm tired of being blatantly advertised to by this site.
I just try to ignore! I hate ads too! I try to buy from others than Amazon. I feel they've got their tentacles into everything. Like I hate Wal-mart and avoid shopping there. Library his my first choice.
Only just noticed on a conan book page, that there's a link called read book, I clicked on the link and the full book came up.Is this a new thing?
Jane wrote: "No they're not links. I just underlined them."Ah, I know, sorry for the confusion, googled it :) The Booklist looks quite useful.
I myself loved libraries, until at the college I was living with my friend for a while. I couldn't believe my eyes, but he was bringing books to the toilet...I am not sure whether it is a global thing, but allegedly many people do that. This made me uncomfortable with bringing the books to bed or to the table where I eat etc. That's also what I like about ebooks - even if you borrow it from a friend, you do not have to be worried about where it was before :).
Mark wrote: "Only just noticed on a conan book page, that there's a link called read book, I clicked on the link and the full book came up.Is this a new thing?"
Nope. That has always appeared for me if the author/publisher has made the page available to read directly from GR. There's a link called 'ebooks' in the Explore section where you can access them all. Though, there are so many and the search function, I have found, isn't all that good.
Many classics are read the book - those in public domaine.
ETA: Some are just excerpts.
Darcy wrote: "Mark wrote: "Only just noticed on a conan book page, that there's a link called read book, I clicked on the link and the full book came up.Is this a new thing?"
Nope. That has always appeared fo..."
Thank you darcy.
Darcy wrote: "GAh! Recommendations on the Home Page now... frackin'.... THEY are really making it harder and harder to justify staying.(and yes, I see that I can 'hide' them, but that's not the point)"
You can only hide them if you don't clear your cache every time you log out....which I do, so I can only hide them temporarily while I am logged into GR. :(
Jane wrote: "For any of you whose libraries or library systems have online databases, for the entries, do the databases not have blurbs from library magazines?..."
I'm not sure. I know that my library is linked up to LibraryThing and you can check a book's reviews and ratings out there via a link on the books page in the library database.
The Home Page recommendations thing is something I have lived with for over a month. It was in beta testing with members of Feedback.It appears now they have released it site wide though.
It used to be at the top of the page I think, but at least they moved it under the 'currently reading' box now.
They have. It's not as in-your-face as it was.
I agree. I wish they would bump it down one more spot, but it is much less in your face now, as you say.
Not to diss anyone else's irritation, but the books GR recommends to me are pretty hilarious most of the time—much more fun than the ads plastered all over the home page. For example, right now, "based on my steppe people's shelf" GR is recommending a nonfiction book called "Empires of the Sea."You know, that vast ocean that runs from Ukraine to Mongolia. ;-)
C.P. wrote: "Not to diss anyone else's irritation, but the books GR recommends to me are pretty hilarious most of the time—much more fun than the ads plastered all over the home page. For example, right now, "b..."Some of their suggestions are puzzling to say the least. But they are entertaining. :)
I have caught myself snickering quite a few times over the books recommended to me. Some are ridiculous! :)I wish we could at least select WHICH shelves they recommend books to us from. I have obscure shelves named thusly because I once read a few books on a topic.
Or because I used to read those kinds of books a long time ago and have them shelved because I DID once read them, even though i have no interest in the those books now.
Case and point...historical romance. I have a few Elizabeth Chadwick books on my historical fiction shelf. So instead of getting recs for the kind of historical ficiton I have been reading for many, many years, I am getting recommended all that chick lit hist fic that I have never read (other than Chadwick, but that was a short lived phase from 5 years or more ago) and never will.
Those ads on the home page are annoying. It's certainly not surprising, though.
Terri, you can. Go to My Books, then choose Edit Shelves. The righthand column is for recommendations. Just uncheck the boxes next to any shelf you want GR not to include.
say what......*off to check this out*....
Let's see if that works.I can't believe that this one keeps showing up in recs because of books on my 'Europe fiction' shelf.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...
And I noticed the other day that of the recs I get because i have a 'Vietnam War' shelf most are not even books set in that theatre.
I also get recs like Roma: The Novel of Ancient Rome because I have an 'Asia shelf'...go figure...
Crazy recs.
I'm half-insulted, half-amused by my recs. You oughtta see the ditzy stuff I get for having a 'shamanism' shelf. :D
Bryn wrote: "I'm half-insulted, half-amused by my recs. You oughtta see the ditzy stuff I get for having a 'shamanism' shelf. :D"Oooh. This should be good. :D
Terri wrote: "I also get recs like Roma: The Novel of Ancient Rome because I have an 'Asia shelf'...go figure...."Me, too, again because of the steppe-peoples shelf. Makes one wonder if the GR computers actually have any idea what a steppe is.
C'mon, Bryn, don't leave us wondering. Share one wacky shamanism rec, please! :-D
My personal favourite was GoodReads recommending a book on the history of Alexandria, because I had read a book on swearing!
Margaret wrote: "My personal favourite was GoodReads recommending a book on the history of Alexandria, because I had read a book on swearing!"What the hell? That is an oddball. hahaha!!
Bryn wrote: "I'm half-insulted, half-amused by my recs. You oughtta see the ditzy stuff I get for having a 'shamanism' shelf. :D"Oh I bet you do. I can just imagine.
C.P. wrote: "Terri, you can. Go to My Books, then choose Edit Shelves. The righthand column is for recommendations. Just uncheck the boxes next to any shelf you want GR not to include."Great!! I'll uncheck stuff, then!
Wonder what my Bildungsroman shelf will bring up, though. Wonder if the computer knows German. :)
It didn't work for me. I am still getting recs for shelves I have removed. Such as my currently reading shelf.
Maybe it takes awhile to kick in.How long is 'awhile'? [rhetorical question] :)
Terri wrote: "Margaret wrote: "My personal favourite was GoodReads recommending a book on the history of Alexandria, because I had read a book on swearing!"What the hell? That is an oddball. hahaha!!"
I'm STILL trying to work it out.
Jane wrote: "Huh? What's the connection?"I have no idea, but it's amusing to contemplate on my rare insomniac nights.
I remember in school [in DE], I don't remember which grades, we took standardized tests: xxx is to yyy as aaa is to bbb--multiple choice and we had to figure out the connections. Some of them were pretty esoteric as I remember.
Jane wrote: "I remember in school [in DE], I don't remember which grades, we took standardized tests: xxx is to yyy as aaa is to bbb--multiple choice and we had to figure out the connections. Some of them were..."Good luck with figuring that one out. :D
Well, you get the idea... it was a goofy test and I guess it was supposed to measure logic, or something. I don't remember any of the questions.
Jane wrote: "Well, you get the idea... it was a goofy test and I guess it was supposed to measure logic, or something. I don't remember any of the questions."Measuring lateral thinking by the sound of it.
Jane wrote: "What the heck is lateral thinking? :)"Thinking sideways rather than thinking straight ahead.
I just want to say that standardized tests were the worst torture I've ever experienced.
I'd rather be splayed or crucified.
I'd rather be splayed or crucified.
Jane wrote: "Maybe it takes awhile to kick in.How long is 'awhile'? [rhetorical question] :)"
Is that like 'how long is a piece of string'?
;)
Michal wrote: "The liking of only positive reviews...well, it is a bit weird. In the incident described by Terri...I was not following it very closely, but Gordon seemed to be quite friendly and open to negative feedback and therefore I would give him the benefit of the doubt that perhaps when reading very positive review he just automatically liked it as a thanks for the praise and buying the book, while with more constructive feedback he was just thinking of how to incorporate it into his writing and forgotten to like it, even though in fact he did like it :)...."I kept meaning to come back to Michal's above comment. Finally remembered.
No, he didn't forget. He doesn't 'like' reviews unless they are 5 (and sometimes 4). I see authors doing it all the time. I was surprised to see him do it, but i don't feel badly towards him for it. It seems pretty common. many authors do have a tendency to only feel grateful to reviewers if they are kissing their arse. LOL!
And I am not reknowned for my arse kissing abilities. I should probably learn to kiss arse more. To keep everyone happy. :D
That to Michal and then these thoughts thrown into the discussion we were having the other day.
I think my point wasn't entirely made properly. I lay the words down, but sometimes don't transmit my message. :)
I wasn't being negative towards Gordon. What I was trying to say was in relation to the conversation we were having about authors harassing reviewers over 3 star reviews.
Some of our author members were saying that they are happy with a 3 star review and that it is ridiculous that some authors target reviewers and harass them because they got a 3 star review.
So, I brought up the Gordon example. As a case study to show that, whilst a very nice fellow, authors do tend to only want 4 or 5 star reviews. There is a culture of thinking amoung many authors, where 3 stars are unwanted. 3 star shouldn't be lumped with 1 or 2 star ratings.
3 stars to me does mean 'liked it' in most cases, and that there were some things the reader didn't like. And in most cases some of those things are excellent feedback for authors. Because many of those reviewers have had the guts to take the time and speak about the negatives as well as the positives.
Authors who only want to hear positives and never any negatives tend to be far too over sensitive...or ego driven. or both...usually both I think. ;)
I want to go on the record to say that I don't care if an author clicks 'like' my reviews. :) It was just that I was observing (indirectly) via this particular author's update feed, all the 'likes' our group readers were getting for their 5 star reviews, and yet those few who gave it 3 stars did not get a 'like'. I noticed this especially as we were reading the book as a group. I wouldn't really notice it otherwise.
The author should be happy with 3 star reviews and feel the need to express a 'thanks for the review' to the 3 star reviewer as much as he or she would to a 4 or 5.
yes, the opinions within the 3 star review may not always sit well with the author, but the reader took the time to read the book and review it.
So if the author is splashing 'likes' around, he or she should be thanking 3 star reviewers too. Unless the review is really rude and disrespectful.
Authors need to evaluate why they are doing it. Are they doing it because they are grateful for reviews? (Because if they are then they should 'like' a 3 star also). Or are they 'liking' reviews and keeping it to 4 and 5 because those reviews are pandering to their egos. The reviews are telling the author what they want to hear as opposed to what they don't want to hear.
That is how reviewers get targeted by aggressive and wildly insecure authors when a quite innocent 3 star review is left on their book.
Those looking for ego stroking reviews are appalled, it would seem, that someone would dare to say anything bad about their book.
When that ego isn't stroked, some can get quite nasty.
As evidenced over and over on this site.
I am just glad you authors aren't all like that. Boy it would make things sticky if ego driven authors were the rule not the exception on this site,:)
Speaking of how long is a piece of string....that post I just did was a fairly long piece of string...:DDidn't notice until i had posted it.
I agree with you about three-star reviews, Terri. They can be very useful to both authors and fellow readers, if they spell out exactly what the reviewer liked and did not like about the book (to be fair, reviews with any number of stars can be helpful if they do more than say "I loved everything" or "I hated everything").One of the best reviews I received (in addition to Bryn's, of course :-D) actually gave my first book two stars. That sounds odd, with all the hysteria people kick up about even four-star reviews, but this reader didn't like the book because it was itself, and not a different kind of story entirely, and s/he was very specific about why. So people who would be looking for that kind of book would know not to read mine, and those who weren't would know to give it a shot. That's the point of the whole process, isn't it?
Contrast that with an author whose book I gave a high four stars, who then went out of her way to try to convince me that the one objection I raised was wrong. She didn't succeed. Instead, I decided never to read another book by her. It's just not worth the trouble. So she's lost a reader over a review that I'm sure did her no damage whatsoever. A Pyrrhic victory if I ever saw one!
Ha! Glad you stood your ground on your four star. I don't think many authors have been able to make reviewers change their minds on negatives, but boy, some like to try!There sure are some silly reviews though. Truly unfair ones. I remember Robert Low telling me once that someone gave his book one star and trashed purely because the book came in the mail - from the reviewers chosen bookseller - with a crease in the cover!
I assured him that on GR a review like that would be flagged by members and removed by GR lickety split.
Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction
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I do too. I try to stay on the GR meanings of the stars.
As to 3 stars being negative. I read some research results from Goodreads somewhere recently. i cannot remember where it was. Racking my brain...can't recall.
Anyways, the research said that 3 star reviews have more influence on people trying books and talking about books than 4 or 5 star reviews do.
I can actually understand this and have seen it myself.
Oddly 3 star reviews stimulate a lot more conversation than 4 or 5 stars.