The Reading Vent & Rant Thread

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Quoth

The Crystal Singer (McCaffrey) is one of top Arthurian titles on Amazon. Maybe someone confused it with Mary Stewart's Crystal Cave (which is part of her Arthurian trilogy). I could be misremembering but The Crystal Singer is SF (though sprinkled with Irishy place names).

The Big Publishers are as bad as some mad self pubbers now!

Seriously SF (and I really liked it). Arthurian????
There are another 2 books, Killashandra and Crystal Line.

[ownedbycats]

Skimming through the freebies on ereaderiq. That has to be the longest subtitle I've ever seen.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Skimming through the freebies on ereaderiq. That has to be the longest subtitle I've ever seen.

That is a book I would never read.

[ownedbycats]

I was also amused by this.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I was also amused by this.

I'm thinking a lot of those Amazon reviews are fake.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'm thinking a lot of those Amazon reviews are fake.

Or at the least, 'advanced reading copy in return for an HONEST REVIEW' (except the reviews aren't entirely honest because they want more free advance copies).

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

While I almost never even consciously see ebook covers any more. Precisely because I KNOW they're indicative of nothing. The old maxim exists for a reason. *shrug*

I do see covers when browsing Overdrive and consider them a clue as to they type of content. For example, if I'm browsing mysteries, the cozies usually have different cover art than the thrillers. Though i never expect the person/place/pet etc. on the cover to actually match the description of any person/place/pet in the book....


My rant is about series that I was reading on epub that go kindle-only for new books. I guess the author or publisher assumes most people are reading on tablets or phones and will use whichever app, and I know there are people who format shift their books, but some of us just want to be able to easily obtain a book as-is for our existing e-reader.

Thankfully this has only happened a couple of times (so far....)

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Or at the least, 'advanced reading copy in return for an HONEST REVIEW' (except the reviews aren't entirely honest because they want more free advance copies).

This is a problem everywhere. At The Storygraph, I've so far come across 3 critical (or rather, critique-al) reviews from ARCs of the hundreds of reviews I've checked - one was a savage 1-star review, the other 2 thoughtful 3-stars. Basically every other "in return for an honest review" is 5/5

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

This is a problem everywhere. At The Storygraph, I've so far come across 3 critical (or rather, critique-al) reviews from ARCs of the hundreds of reviews I've checked - one was a savage 1-star review, the other 2 thoughtful 3-stars. Basically every other "in return for an honest review" is 5/5

I seem to recall reading an argument somewhere that the mere fact that it's a free ARC (as opposed to paying for it) will warp your expectations, even if you are trying to being honest for the review. Unfortunately I can't find it again -- google's giving me crap like 'here's how to become an ARC reader', lol.

In any case, I don't trust those reviews much.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I seem to recall reading an argument somewhere that the mere fact that it's a free ARC (as opposed to paying for it) will warp your expectations, even if you are trying to being honest for the review. Unfortunately I can't find it again -- google's giving me crap like 'here's how to become an ARC reader', lol.

In any case, I don't trust those reviews much.

Ditto.

The first time I found a negative review (the 1-star) I actually shared it on Twitter out of sheer surprise at seeing a GENUINELY honest review. Harsh and/or analytical reviews of ARCs would incline me to pay more attention other reviews from the same person

[ownedbycats]

Also, books that were just announced getting dozens (or even hundreds) of five-star ratings, even though it seemed too early for ARCs. Weird.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Also, books that were just announced getting dozens (or even hundreds) of five-star ratings, even though it seemed too early for ARCs. Weird.

Yeah, this cracks me up. When I'm not reading, my main entertainment content is East Asian Dramas, and on one site dedicated to them announced Dramas that have not even begun filming have scores of 10/10 reviews. True fans are all precogs apparently.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Also, books that were just announced getting dozens (or even hundreds) of five-star ratings, even though it seemed too early for ARCs. Weird.

That's really annoying on Goodreads. When a book is in the system but not yet released, a lot of spammers get it in their head they they can review this book. So none of those people have read the book yet they rate it. It's been complained to the staff. Yet the staff don't care. The staff are are useless as gasoline to put out a fire.

[Quoth]

Goodreads has become useless and it's just info gathering for Amazon and one of their marketing channels.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Goodreads has become useless and it's just info gathering for Amazon and one of their marketing channels.

In your opinion, you mean. I've spent years curating a group of reading friends there whose tastes, likes and dislikes are well known to me. Their opinions on books I'm considering prove quite invaluable. Everyone's mileage will vary, of course. But these unilateral pronouncements of what is useful or not grow increasingly tiresome.

Quite simply put: if it was useless, no one would be using it.