The Reading Vent & Rant Thread

[theducks]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I once went "oh no" when I finished the author's introduction and was already 20% in.

I hope you did not pay real money for this 'sample'

[ownedbycats]

Speaking of previews: A preview for a book that never comes out.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Cactus Chef

When Kobo says you're 70% through your book and the book suddenly ends, only for you to realize that the remaining 30% is a publisher's "preview" of the next book in the series (which you already own).

Not to mention every other ebook vendor doing the same thing. Do I need a sample chapter of the next book in the series? Do I need random chapters from other authors from the same publisher? Do I really need any of the crap that is used to bulk up the page count?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Speaking of previews: A preview for a book that never comes out.

Even worse for me are the reviews of books that have not been published yet. GoodReads is likely the "best" source for these but I've seen them on quite a few other sites. The sort of review where the author passed away 15 years ago and the chances of the book being written is pretty close to negligible but someone has written a 5 or 1 star (about a 4 to 1 split) review.

[Sirtel]

I just delete all reviews, previews, sample chapters, ads, lists of other books and other crap that has nothing to do with the actual content, before I load the book to my Kobos. I can't stand the padding.

Yes, by sideloading everything I lose the ability to sync the reading progress between my two Kobos, but IMO that's a small price to pay for all the advantages I get (removing all the superfluous padding, adjusting the formatting to my liking, automatic collections, real synopsis without praises/raves/other needless crap and so on).

[DrNefario]

I don't really mind the back matter: it adds an element of surprise, where you're not really quite sure how much of the book is left. Although I never read any of it. And I do still feel I have to page through all of it until the book is at 100%.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I don't really mind the back matter: it adds an element of surprise, where you're not really quite sure how much of the book is left.

Why would I want that? I most certainly want to be sure how much of the book is left. But then, I don't want any surprises in my books not having to do with the plot itself - I want the same formatting and I want to know the exact length before I start. That's why I sideload.

[nana77]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Why would I want that? I most certainly want to be sure how much of the book is left. But then, I don't want any surprises in my books not having to do with the plot itself - I want the same formatting and I want to know the exact length before I start. That's why I sideload.

Sorry but (also for @Catus Chef) on Kobo it just needs to click the chapters, showing the index from the bottom icon, and see the appendix, postfaces, or when wathever in there starts.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by nana77

Sorry but (also for @Catus Chef) on Kobo it just needs to click the chapters, showing the index from the bottom icon, and see the appendix, postfaces, or when wathever in there starts.

It's easier just to remove all that crap. Well, for me, anyway.

[nana77]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

It's easier just to remove all that crap. Well, for me, anyway.

Ok! But it's not like it's not possible to check how many pages remains for the book itself, while it's just one click on the index; I was to mention just this.
I appreciate that mood to edit everything before sideloading, and having it super organized, hopefully I will learn it.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by nana77

I appreciate that mood to edit everything before sideloading, and having it super organized, hopefully I will learn it.

There's no need to learn it if you like direct downloading more Plenty of folks don't want to bother with calibre and stuff, or just want to be able to sync over wifi. Both methods have their downsides - when you download your books directly from Kobo, you'll have to put up with everything authors or publishers saw fit to include in the book, plus any awful formatting ideas; when you sideload, you can't sync (on a Kobo, at least) and organizing everything in calibre is pretty time-consuming.

So you just choose the method that suits you best.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Even worse for me are the reviews of books that have not been published yet. GoodReads is likely the "best" source for these but I've seen them on quite a few other sites. The sort of review where the author passed away 15 years ago and the chances of the book being written is pretty close to negligible but someone has written a 5 or 1 star (about a 4 to 1 split) review.

GoodReads is the worst site for this. I've seen many complaints and yet the staff doesn't care. The problem is that you need many many reviews and the people who wrote the crap reviews to write proper reviews. And as for the stars, that's all crap until they get sorted out which is not going to be any time soon.

It's basically a steaming pile.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

It's easier just to remove all that crap. Well, for me, anyway.

I too remove all the crap that gets added to eBooks. I like a more accurate page count (ADE style).

[nana77]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I too remove all the crap that gets added to eBooks. I like a more accurate page count (ADE style).

Maybe I'm lucky, as the serie I read (currently flexitarianly) has on those sections, other than the index, 2 or 3 pages promoting a book (the same into the vary montly releases), some pages mentioning the editor choices from a specific year (1981/2/3/4...), them plot and his personal thoughts, and them reviews by goodreads' statistics percentages.
Sometimes there are plus like the auditions for SF short novels, or interviews like the one from the author of the series' covers since more than 25 years.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by nana77

Maybe I'm lucky, as the serie I read (currently flexitarianly) has on those sections, other than the index, 2 or 3 pages promoting a book (the same into the vary montly releases), some pages mentioning the editor choices from a specific year (1981/2/3/4...), them plot and his personal thoughts, and them reviews by goodreads' statistics percentages.
Sometimes there are plus like the auditions for SF short novels, or interviews like the one from the author of the series' covers since more than 25 years.

I don't consider an author interview to be crap.