The StoryGraph challenge GoodReads with quality recommendations, unfocus on ratings

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

Books read and rated by my GR friends are by far the best source of recommendations, but my front page at GR is now so crowded with extraneous matter that I have to dig for them and I mostly don’t. I’m doing this for the giggles, but I’m not expecting much, but more power to them if they pull it off.

You’ve mentioned one of my GR pet peeves, though, and it’s all on the members. The ridiculous length of people’s TBR lists makes comparisons useless and it also means I don’t care to see their feed. I don’t get it, myself. What’s the point of a TBR with thousands and thousands of books? I’ve got one friend who’s over 70 with some 7,000 books on her want-to-read list.

I use GR for my own purposes and I try to limit the useful information I provide, i.e., I don’t link my Amazon account. It’s not as if they use my data to make reasonable recommendations; it’s all marketing.

My biggest peeve with GR is that they allow people to comment and rate books before they are released even if you've not read a review copy or ARC. So you get ratings that are useless and will be useless for some time. So fora new book, using GR to check how others who have read it liked it is worthless as those bogus ratings are still there. This could be somewhat fixed by making new books of a certain time have to have the line in the review that the person has read it.

"I have read this book" and if it turns out they then go on to give their blather (like they do before it's released), report it so the review/rating can be deleted.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I did try LibraryThing. But when I reported a rather blatant error, it was ignored and not fixed. So I left for Goodreads.

I'm curious: what was the error?

I far prefer LibraryThing to GoodReads. I used to be a regular user there that I sort of drifted away from when I moved to ebooks.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

My biggest peeve with GR is that they allow people to comment and rate books before they are released even if you've not read a review copy or ARC.

I don't like reviews on GoodReads loaded up with GIFs. If I see a couple of those on a book, I assume the book likely isn't for me.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I don't like reviews on GoodReads loaded up with GIFs. If I see a couple of those on a book, I assume the book likely isn't for me.

I must be reading the wrong sort of books. I’ve never seen a GIF-laden review.

My main complaint about GR is that there have been very few improvements over the years. But I’m lazy, and am not prepared to abandon it and the associated integration with Kindle platform (accounting for 95% of my reading).

[shalym]

Originally Posted by Quoth

<snip>

Also Amazon refuses to remove listings for totally withdrawn novels. It's reasonable that they should keep listings for merely out-of-print novels.

I'm not sure why you think they don't remove listings for withdrawn books--this is an example of a book that used to be available (I own it) but was taken down by the author:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UI6UI4/
Here's another:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N6W3CI6/

I'm sure that there are many more.

Shari

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by tomsem

I must be reading the wrong sort of books. I’ve never seen a GIF-laden review.

You are reading the right sorts of books. I was going to link to one, but since I take those as a warning, I can't find a good example. There are a few on Twilight and Children of Blood and Bone though.

I may be a snob, but I think GoodReads attracts a dumber crowd than LibraryThing.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by shalym

I'm not sure why you think they don't remove listings for withdrawn books--this is an example of a book that used to be available (I own it) but was taken down by the author:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UI6UI4/
Here's another:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N6W3CI6/

I'm sure that there are many more.

Shari

I don't see the listings for those books. I get the Sorry page meaning the link isn't working.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I don't see the listings for those books. I get the Sorry page meaning the link isn't working.

I’m guessing that only customers who bought the book can still see the listing. At least it would be reasonable to hide it if it cannot actually be purchased.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by tomsem

I must be reading the wrong sort of books. I’ve never seen a GIF-laden review.

My main complaint about GR is that there have been very few improvements over the years. But I’m lazy, and am not prepared to abandon it and the associated integration with Kindle platform (accounting for 95% of my reading).

Companies only put money into development when they have to. I suspect that Amazon's approach to GR is the same as their approach to their ebook store, why put significant effort into improving it when there is no real competition?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by shalym

I'm not sure why you think they don't remove listings for withdrawn books--this is an example of a book that used to be available (I own it) but was taken down by the author:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UI6UI4/
Here's another:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N6W3CI6/

I'm sure that there are many more.

Shari

Obviously they are inconsistent. Or perhaps because the ebook exists but not paper?
Amazon specifically told us they would not remove listings.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Obviously they are inconsistent. Or perhaps because the ebook exists but not paper?
Amazon specifically told us they would not remove listings.

But it makes sense for owners to see the listing and the rest of us not seeing the listings.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I don't see the listings for those books. I get the Sorry page meaning the link isn't working.

That's exactly my point. Quoth made a statement that Amazon refuses to remove listings for books that have been withdrawn. These links show that this is not actually true. There used to be listings for these books, but there aren't any longer, because the author removed the books from sale.

Shari

[shalym]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Obviously they are inconsistent. Or perhaps because the ebook exists but not paper?
Amazon specifically told us they would not remove listings.

If there were ever paper books for sale, then they can be sold second hand, making them no different from books that are no longer in print. In your post discussing this, you said "It's reasonable that they should keep listings for merely out-of-print novels."

If there were only digital versions sold, then Amazon can remove the listing, as those books can not be sold second hand.

Shari

[shalym]

Here's another example of a book that I own in ebook form, where the book was pulled from Amazon and the paper format is no longer in print. Notice that there is no listing for the ebook, but they still list the paperback because it is still available to buy second hand from other sellers.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1937041115/

Shari

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by shalym

Here's another example of a book that I own in ebook form, where the book was pulled from Amazon and the paper format is no longer in print. Notice that there is no listing for the ebook, but they still list the paperback because it is still available to buy second hand from other sellers.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1937041115/

Shari

And there is no way that book is worth $74.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

And there is no way that book is worth $74.

I don't think it is, either, but that's really not the point, is it?

Shari