The Reading Vent & Rant Thread

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

You would, but I wouldn't. It just takes me out of the story, and what's worse, I lose any desire to continue. For me that's lazy, inattentive writing. An author should know how to use alternative wording appropriate to the time period, or write modern stuff instead.

Hundreds of fantasy authors have been capable of writing their books without mentioning modern scientific terms.

IMHO, it depends on what's being talked about.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

I've tried a couple of Georgette Heyer books set in the Regency era and found them frustrating because it feels like the author tried too hard to make them sound like they are from another time. All the slang is really annoying to me. I find it easier to read the works of Jane Austen, who actually lived and wrote in the period.

It must be difficult for a writer to try to make language sound authentically from a different time.

Patrick O’Brian. Books set during the Napoleonic Wars and every bit as readable as Jane Austen and with distinct period flavor. I agree with you about Heyer; she’s screaming, “Look at all the research I did!”

[ownedbycats]

Every so often, Kobo sends me a "new releases we've selected for you" email... except that the books are near always ones I'd never read. So I wonder where the 'selected for you' bit comes from.

The 'Top Recommendations' are often weird too, but at least tangentially related?

[gmw]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Every so often, Kobo sends me a "new releases we've selected for you" email... except that the books are near always ones I'd never read. So I wonder where the 'selected for you' bit comes from.

The 'Top Recommendations' are often weird too, but at least tangentially related?

I've wondered about this sort of thing too. Just the other day I got an email in which the top three recommendations were all recent purchases. If their algorithm truly didn't know about the purchases then that was amazingly accurate, but if it did know then what do they think they're doing?

[theducks]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

When I was a kid, I read a book written at a time when slide rules were still in widespread use, but computers had been invented (and were huge power hungry monsters).

In the book, a spaceship pilot was doing complex interstellar navigation calculations with a 3 foot diameter circular slide rule.

I still have my 5" one. Guess I better not go into space. Wait I have a HP11C, maybe that would do better.

[4691mls]

I just realized I haven't seen any emails from Kobo for a while. I wonder if I accidentally unsubscribed to all somehow.

I don't like the kind of emails Ownedbycats described but I don't mind getting notified when there's a big sale.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Every so often, Kobo sends me a "new releases we've selected for you" email... except that the books are near always ones I'd never read. So I wonder where the 'selected for you' bit comes from.

The 'Top Recommendations' are often weird too, but at least tangentially related?

Sometimes these sorts of recommendations can be made from eBooks you've looked at even if you didn't buy any.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Sometimes these sorts of recommendations can be made from eBooks you've looked at even if you didn't buy any.

Oh, lord, I get whacko recs all the time, due to my line of work. Whether it's in my office, or donating time at the KDP forums, I'm constantly looking at books that I would never, never read and my recommendations after that are...well, pretty worthless. I have to purge my browsing history like crazy, with Zon and Kobo, etc., to get anything worth a damn.

Hitch

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Oh, lord, I get whacko recs all the time, due to my line of work. Whether it's in my office, or donating time at the KDP forums, I'm constantly looking at books that I would never, never read and my recommendations after that are...well, pretty worthless. I have to purge my browsing history like crazy, with Zon and Kobo, etc., to get anything worth a damn.

Hitch

What sort of books do you get recommended?

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Sometimes these sorts of recommendations can be made from eBooks you've looked at even if you didn't buy any.

This is why I use Incognito mode and don't login. Theoretically, they could still track by IP address, but I haven't actually seen that in practice.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

This is why I use Incognito mode and don't login. Theoretically, they could still track by IP address, but I haven't actually seen that in practice.

Tracking by IP doesn't always work. The problem is that you could have one IP one day and a different IP the next.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

This is why I use Incognito mode and don't login. Theoretically, they could still track by IP address, but I haven't actually seen that in practice.

You'd need to block cookies and also change the signature that your browser presents, not just user agent. Unfortunately even on private/incognito mode a browser exposes too much about the system it's running on.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Quoth

You'd need to block cookies and also change the signature that your browser presents, not just user agent. Unfortunately even on private/incognito mode a browser exposes too much about the system it's running on.

That's my experience. Using an Incog doesn't seem to solve the problem, going by my adventures in recommendations. :-)

Hitch

[ownedbycats]

I should probably have noted that I use the Vivaldi browser and Privacy Badger, which both block trackers. So that probably helps.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Tracking by IP doesn't always work. The problem is that you could have one IP one day and a different IP the next.

Maybe if you only use Public WiFi.

Mine has been the same since I replaced my router almost a year ago. Theo one before, never change in the 2 Y I had it.

Before I moved, I had a Static IP (deliberate. When I signed up, they asked did I...)