The 2014 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread!

[Yapyap]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

I have never personally been influenced by amazon's cover one way or the other. I see them as a automatically updating decoration. The company uses that space to market exactly the wrong type of books, I have never seen anything on that space that I am remotely interested in. IF they are trying to market books that way they are going about it all wrong.

I do not have any experience with the Kobo function that Rev Bob is talking about, however assuming that it is similar to the way that amazon uses the same space on my paper white then I would say that amazon is going about the task all wrong.

I took Rev. Bob's post to mean that his Kobo shows the cover of the currently open book as the "screensaver" (like the Paperwhite has the writing implements etc). In other words, once you're done with one book, you feel compelled to instantly choose another one (from the ones already on the device), so that the screensaver image will stop reflecting the already-finished book.

This doesn't have anything to do with the Amazon recommended books that are on the Paperwhite (this can be turned off in the menu, btw, at least on the not-sponsored version).

Of course I might have got it completely wrong, in which case I apologise for any confusion.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by Yapyap

I took Rev. Bob's post to mean that his Kobo shows the cover of the currently open book as the "screensaver" (like the Paperwhite has the writing implements etc). In other words, once you're done with one book, you feel compelled to instantly choose another one (from the ones already on the device), so that the screensaver image will stop reflecting the already-finished book.

Quite so, except that once you finish a book on the Kobo, the screen saver image becomes the most recently accessed book that you haven't completed. In the past, that's included "most recently added to reader."

That difference is one of many things I dislike about the Kindle when compared to the Kobo. Not only does the Kobo show the cover, but it does so in both sleep and power-off modes. The Kindle either shows me a pointless random image or a blank screen.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I had a spectacular August, reading 12 books and 3 shorter works. My typical rate is probably about 5 books a month. This has put me well on track to complete all my mini-challenges, but a bit of a splurge with the Kobo coupons has badly dented my TBR challenge. I'm 8 books behind, if I can resist buying any more for a while.

I had the opposite, only completing 3 books and about 75% of my monthly needed goal. Oh well. I am still on target for the year, but probably won't match last year's total which was my stretch goal for this year. I am having fun and enjoying reading though, so no worries.

[sakura-panda]

My Goodreads log says that I am six books ahead of schedule (68 out of 94) -- maybe this is the year I'll reach 100!

(I'm in the the "I'm only keeping track of my books, not trying to reach a goal" group. The 94 is the most books I've read in a year since I started tracking.)

[jbcohen]

I always say Rev Bob that there is no one best ereader only best for you and the best for you may not be the bet for me. If the screen image is something that makes a difference for you then by all means the Kobo is a better reader for you. I do not think that the screen saver is a enough to make me want a Kobo over a Kindle. I rarely ever take notice of anything that Amazon puts on the screen blanker, its simply an interesting picture that is put up there every so once in a while.

The reason I chose a kindle was because of Amazon's habit of under cutting their competition's prices on the books, and that's a behavior that I want to encourage. I noticed that there are a lot of books that were interesting to me selling for $3 or less per book on amazon's book store. Now with Kindle Unlimited last month I got $105 worth of books for $10, this month I am up to $55 worth of books for $10.

[CRussel]

I'm just at 100 books read through August. About on my revised (increased) goal. Not doing as well at keeping up my list. Hard to do on a tablet.

[Geralt]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

That difference is one of many things I dislike about the Kindle when compared to the Kobo. Not only does the Kobo show the cover, but it does so in both sleep and power-off modes. The Kindle either shows me a pointless random image or a blank screen.

Not my kindle. It always shows cover art of the last book I read. Ofc, I have screen saver hack installed on it. I never have blank screen either.
Have you looked into screensaver hack thread here on MR? There is an option to set up random images as your screensaver, but you can also set it to show cover art of the last book you've read.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by Geralt

Have you looked into screensaver hack thread here on MR? There is an option to set up random images as your screensaver, but you can also set it to show cover art of the last book you've read.

All in all, I prefer to just standardize on EPUB and use my Kobo. The fact that my Kobo's a Glo and my Kindle's a Touch is another big factor; I use the Kindle exclusively for a handful of things that won't convert to EPUB (Topaz format, IIRC), as well as a few disposable freebies that I don't want to bother converting. On balance, I regard the Kindle as a mistaken purchase on my part, except that it'll serve as a test platform for forthcoming projects that I get paid to format. I don't even remember how long it's been since I turned the Kindle on.

[Luffy]

I've reached my goal of 100 books. I eased up on my reading schedule, and to my surprise, I am, for the first time, juggling three books at once, something which I had consciously been avoiding. I've also been experimenting, and though the usual degree of familiarity is not assured with books outside of my favorite genre, the benefits of discovering different authors outweighs the comfort of familiar books.

[Tarana]

I don't even remember how long it's been since I turned the Kindle on.

Put something like magazines on your kindle to use it regularly or the battery goes bad. My bro hadn't used his kindle in a long time due to a stroke and even though we bought them at the same time, his doesn't hold a charge very long compared to mine. I have 3 kindles (don't ask..gadget freak), and one is now dedicated to scifi/fantasy and mystery magazines. That is my take-a-long Kindle now.

I'm caught up for total books according to my Goodreads goal. In fact, a little ahead which is good. Long books always put me behind my total and I'm currently listening to Royal Assassin (Robin Hobb) at over 29 hours and reading Under the Dome (Stephen King) ,on my new NookGlo, which is a traditional doorstop.

[Luffy]

That's a pretty useful thing to know about the kindle. In the first year when I bought mine, I used it only occasionally. Thankfully I picked up reading for long hours later. It's details like this that makes this site valuable and resourceful.

[jbcohen]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

All in all, I prefer to just standardize on EPUB and use my Kobo. The fact that my Kobo's a Glo and my Kindle's a Touch is another big factor; I use the Kindle exclusively for a handful of things that won't convert to EPUB (Topaz format, IIRC), as well as a few disposable freebies that I don't want to bother converting. On balance, I regard the Kindle as a mistaken purchase on my part, except that it'll serve as a test platform for forthcoming projects that I get paid to format. I don't even remember how long it's been since I turned the Kindle on.

Like I always say there is no one best ereader, just best for you. It was not the reader itself that got me to chose Amazon, it was Amazon's habit of under cutting their competition's prices on ebooks. That's a behavior that I want to encourage. I will ned to do a price comparison on one of the NY Times best sellers.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Luffy

That's a pretty useful thing to know about the kindle.

It is the same with any device that uses Li-ion batteries. Those batteries are made to be used; if you keep them either full or empty all the time, the battery will die. It will last longest if you keep the battery at 50% while storing the device, but this will still be worse than just using it.

[jbcohen]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

Quite so, except that once you finish a book on the Kobo, the screen saver image becomes the most recently accessed book that you haven't completed. In the past, that's included "most recently added to reader."

That difference is one of many things I dislike about the Kindle when compared to the Kobo. Not only does the Kobo show the cover, but it does so in both sleep and power-off modes. The Kindle either shows me a pointless random image or a blank screen.

I can see where that would be handy however I typically prefer to be looking forward to the next read rather than the last book I read.

[Tarana]

I typically prefer to be looking forward to the next read rather than the last book I read.

If you know what you are going to read, it wouldn't be much effort to just select it so that it's pretty cover shows up.

I'll have to go search out the Kindle Forum to find out how to jailbreak and change it so that it shows the cover of the current reading item.

As to the kindle battery, yes indeed, this is true of most of our gadgets, not just kindles. Same thing goes for Ipods. If you aren't using it any more, best to sell it while the battery is still good because sitting in the drawer will just kill it. I'm betting most ereaders and tablets run the same sort of battery and need to be used regularly or they go bad.

Anyway, sticking to topic a little here, how many of you are reading new-to-you authors this year? I found myself in a rut last year and didn't read many new authors, while this year, the majority of what I'm reading are series by authors I had not previously read.

Finally, I love to hear why people like their current ereader. I'm regularly asked about ereaders and it helps to know what people like about say their Aura since I don't have one of those. Since I know our library lets you download to an Aura, I can then tell them the differences so that they can make a choice better suited for them. Sony, of course, is out of the running now.