The Reading Vent & Rant Thread

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Luffy

Did you read any of the books in this series?

I have read The Name of the Wind.

[issybird]

With Kobo, tapping in the middle of the page brings up the menu and tapping at the top goes back a page. With Kindle, tapping at the top of the page brings up the menu and tapping in the middle goes forward a page.

It’s too much for my coping skills.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

With Kobo, tapping in the middle of the page brings up the menu and tapping at the top goes back a page. With Kindle, tapping at the top of the page brings up the menu and tapping in the middle goes forward a page.

It’s too much for my coping skills.

Unless you change the tap zones layout on a Kobo. You have 4 choices. I do like the default tap zones the best. I also prefer Kobo's default to Amazon's. When you tap ion the middle, that's neither forward nor back.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Unless you change the tap zones layout on a Kobo. You have 4 choices. I do like the default tap zones the best. I also prefer Kobo's default to Amazon's. When you tap ion the middle, that's neither forward nor back.

I like the second option, where the 'open menu' is limited to a small section of the bottom middle. It leads to the least inadvertent opening of menus when my tremours are acting up.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I like the second option, where the 'open menu' is limited to a small section of the bottom middle. It leads to the least inadvertent opening of menus when my tremours are acting up.

I swipe. So the tap zones only really affect bringing up the menus. I have the settings set to swipe to change the page.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I swipe. So the tap zones only really affect bringing up the menus. I have the settings set to swipe to change the page.

I also have the tap to turn the page disabled, but that's because I use the buttons for this.

[John F]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I like the second option, where the 'open menu' is limited to a small section of the bottom middle. It leads to the least inadvertent opening of menus when my tremours are acting up.

I like this option. Plus I use the patch for tapping anywhere (except for the menu areas) advances the page. I swipe to page back.

And on the Forma, the setting picture shows the bottom middle, but tapping on the top of the screen also brings up the menu.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by issybird

With Kobo, tapping in the middle of the page brings up the menu and tapping at the top goes back a page. With Kindle, tapping at the top of the page brings up the menu and tapping in the middle goes forward a page.

As the others have said, Kobo has several tap-zones that can be configured. The default is three equal sized vertical stripes and they map to page back, menu and page forward. There is a picture of each of the tap zones on the Reading settings page. But, what is not shown in the pictures, is that the top of the screen for all tap-zone settings will show the menu. It wasn't always like that, but, it has been that way for a few years now.

Of course, there is another exception. Tapping the top-right corner creates or removes a bookmark for the page.

[Uncle Robin]

Returning to "an oldie but a goodie" - anachronisitc writing. I just DNF'd a book at The Storygraph after having had enough of the two leads using late C20/early C21 Standard English. The real kicker came courtesy of a review at Goodreads, which commented on the female lead's assertion on her appearance in the story that she had an honours degree from Girton. Quite a neat trick since the story is set more than 50 years before Girton awarded any. That's just lazy!

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Returning to "an oldie but a goodie" - anachronisitc writing. I just DNF'd a book at The Storygraph after having had enough of the two leads using late C20/early C21 Standard English. The real kicker came courtesy of a review at Goodreads, which commented on the female lead's assertion on her appearance in the story that she had an honours degree from Girton. Quite a neat trick since the story is set more than 50 years before Girton awarded any. That's just lazy!

Yeah. The language doesn't really bother me (except when it uses words that should be clearly unknown in the time period/fantasy world - adrenaline crops up pretty often, for example). What bothers me the most in historical fiction is characters thinking and behaving like modern people and spouting modern values at every step. That's just plain wrong. If I wanted to read about modern people, I would read a novel set in modern times.

And sometimes there are really egregious factual errors like medieval European peasants eating potatoes and tomatoes. Not often these days, but they still happen sometimes. Smaller mistakes I can forgive if the story is good, but not this level of ignorance.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Yeah. The language doesn't really bother me (except when it uses words that should be clearly unknown in the time period/fantasy world - adrenaline crops up pretty often, for example). What bothers me the most in historical fiction is characters thinking and behaving like modern people and spouting modern values at every step. That's just plain wrong. If I wanted to read about modern people, I would read a novel set in modern times.

Exactly this. In the book in question, one of the vocab/attitude red flags was the female lead talking about "sexual predators". Not a term that sounds very Victorian to me.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Exactly this. In the book in question, one of the vocab/attitude red flags was the female lead talking about "sexual predators". Not a term that sounds very Victorian to me.

Ugh, no.

Just from curiosity, what book is it? I have many still-unread Victorian-era mysteries in my library, it would be nice to be forewarned.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Exactly this. In the book in question, one of the vocab/attitude red flags was the female lead talking about "sexual predators". Not a term that sounds very Victorian to me.

And it happens constantly today. If you're reading a novel set in, say, 1810, the characters will look/speak/act as though they are in 2022. It's...frustrating. I don't mind the author "softening" what would be infuriating attitudes, for the reading audience, a bit or rather, tamping them down, but pretending that they don't exist? Nyah.

Hitch

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Ugh, no.

Just from curiosity, what book is it? I have many still-unread Victorian-era mysteries in my library, it would be nice to be forewarned.

Happy to help

Murder at the Fitzwilliam, by Jim Eldridge

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Happy to help

Murder at the Fitzwilliam, by Jim Eldridge

Oh yeah. I have this one, unfortunately. But fortunately it's not marked with the tag "Soon", which means to be read soon. And I guess now it won't ever be marked as such.