On Goodreads: The Gamification of Reading Is Changing How We Approach Books

[Renate]

I find myself very slow to DNF something so I don't want to set any more barriers with competition (even with myself).

I do find finding a book to be the most onerous part of reading.
I wish that I had a "Royal Reader" (whether that actually ever existed or not).
I dunno, it seems like novels rule the roost in most libraries?
Just look at "most popular" or even "recent additions"

In a perfect world I would read F/NF/F/NF...

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

A lot of that was due to Amazon actually. Years ago they were merging their metadata or whatever over from their site, so many books had their blurbs auto-replaced, and I remember the librarians trying to catch and fix what they could. That's why you still randomly find an old book that says 1.99 used or something as its blurb

Sometimes review bits in there are intentional, but not always.

I agree it's annoying too though

It's not that. It's this. Bold is the review garbage. Notice how they weave it into the blurb. It's nasty (IMHO).

An astronaut’s interstellar mission is a personal journey of a thousand second chances in an exhilarating short story by James S. A. Corey, the New York Times bestselling author of The Expanse series.

Roy Court and his crew are taking the trip of a lifetime—several lifetimes in fact—duplicated and dispatched across the galaxies searching for Earthlike planets. Many possibilities for the future. Yet for Roy, no matter how many of him there are, there’s still just one painful, unchangeable past. In what world can a broken relationship be reborn? The universe is so vast, there’s always room for hope.

James S. A. Corey’s How It Unfolds is part of The Far Reaches, a collection of science-fiction stories that stretch the imagination and open the heart. They can be read or listened to in one sitting.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

but people behind the Iron Curtain had a lot fewer cars back then and the cars themselves (mostly Russian brands) were a lot slower.

Some were even made of cardboard with 2 stroke engines?
Or like it.
I saw one in the 1990s someone had brought to Limerick, Ireland, and one day it burnt down.
But in 1970s East Germany was exporting Wartburgs to UK. No reverse gear. A 2 stroke that could be started in reverse due to 2nd set of points. Very ingenious. Wartburgs were metal.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Some were even made of cardboard with 2 stroke engines?
Or like it.
I saw one in the 1990s someone had brought to Limerick, Ireland, and one day it burnt down.
But in 1970s East Germany was exporting Wartburgs to UK. No reverse gear. A 2 stroke that could be started in reverse due to 2nd set of points. Very ingenious. Wartburgs were metal.

The most common brands here in the 70s-80s were Zhiguli and Moskvitch; there were also a few Volgas and Zaporozhetses. Possibly something else I can't remember right now.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

As to crime, perhaps you're right; but traffic is definitely ten times as dangerous now as it was in my childhood. It may have been different in the US, but people behind the Iron Curtain had a lot fewer cars back then and the cars themselves (mostly Russian brands) were a lot slower.

Well sure, and there are more issues with texting and driving than there were in the '70's. But that seems like a silly comparison.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Well sure, and there are more issues with texting and driving than there were in the '70's. But that seems like a silly comparison.

Why? There are certainly more chances for a kid to get in a traffic accident than to get kidnapped and/or murdered. And traffic accidents were less likely to happen when I was a child, at least where I lived. Simply because there were a lot fewer cars around. These days practically every adult has a car, often several per family; it was not this way in my childhood.

[DNSB]

My memory may be faulty but as I recall it, years back, pedestrians seemed to be more careful. The stop and look both ways before stepping off the curb to cross the street mantra. Now, I've had to brake hard when someone staring at the cellphone decides to step off the curb on a red light. I don't mind so much that they are feeling suicidal—it's their life, I just wish they wouldn't have some poor driver blamed for their death.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

But the perception that things are more dangerous now than they were in the sixties, seventies or eighties is false. If anything, we are safer now than we ever have been.

It's sensationalism in the news and John Walsh's promotion of the Adam Walsh story that makes us think things are more dangerous now.

Sorry, I don't buy that. I watch videos of stores being looted (and sometimes burned) in broad daylight — which is almost a norm now. That would have never happened (except during rare riots) when I was a kid. Even in small towns now, drugs and the thugs who push them on kids is much more prevalent. And I don't remember ever reading about carjackers forcing old people out of their cars and sometimes killing them (again in broad daylight). This just scratches the surface.

I think there is a tendency by modern pyschological writers to "poo poo" more peaceful times. I know that people, when I was a kid, weren't afraid all the time — most of them didn't even lock their doors.

If you had 10 and 12 year-old kids now, would you let them hitchike?

[DNSB]

Locally, the number of murders has about doubled over the 1970s, OTOH, the number of murders per 100,000 has actually dropped by ~50%. The majority of the murders now also seem to be gangland hits (most commonly, someone gets shot and the police find a SUV a few kilometres away that is a burnt out shell).

Of course, now we also have the homeless encampments which are a source of a lot of calls for police, fire and ambulance.

The residents of an encampment in Crab Park are demanding the city of Vancouver fix up a nearby parking lot which belongs to the Port of Vancouver with tiny homes so they can be more comfortable during the winter. An idea which is not gaining all that much traction in an area where few can afford to purchase a home or even rent a apartment on their own. Not to mention that the Port of Vancouver which is federally controlled is restricted from allowing residential development on their property.

[Renate]

Lol, I went bactk to read this thread and I thought it was complaining about the gentrification of reading.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by rcentros

If you had 10 and 12 year-old kids now, would you let them hitchike?

It has never been safe for 10 and 12 year-old kids to hitchhike. Ever. Your past lucky streak doesn't change that.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It has never been safe for 10 and 12 year-old kids to hitchhike. Ever. Your past lucky streak doesn't change that.

I would have been a LOT "luckier" now if I was still 12 and hitchhiked today. My father hitchhiked all over the country when he left high school from about 1949 into the early 50s.

I lived when it was safer for kids in this country. So I know reality vs. selective stat gathering from those with an agenda.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by rcentros

...I watch videos of stores being looted (and sometimes burned) in broad daylight — which is almost a norm now.

Oh come on. Yes, it grinds your gears when you see it on the news. But to say it is the norm now? Get real.

...I don't remember ever reading about carjackers forcing old people out of their cars and sometimes killing them (again in broad daylight).

Here you go: Carjacking Victimization, 1995–2021 (this is from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. A boring government group):



Fun anecdote: The other day we watched the Brady Bunch Movie from 1995 with my 12 year old. The car jacking scene linked below baffled her. She had no idea what that was or what was happening. In 1995 it was mainstream enough to be used as a joke in the movie.

I know that people, when I was a kid, weren't afraid all the time — most of them didn't even lock their doors.

Yes. Because the news was a loss leader that was only on a couple of times a day instead of competing 24 hour news channels sensationalizing everything to raise ad revenue.

If you had 10 and 12 year-old kids now, would you let them hitchike?

Hell no. Because like my parents and grandparents I have common sense. If I would have hitchhiked as a kid I'd still have trouble sitting down today from when my mom would have found out.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I lived when it was safer for kids in this country. So I know reality vs. selective stat gathering from those with an agenda.

Here's a report I pulled from the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. It's kinda fun. You should mess around with it. It would only let me select three crime types (from the many listed), so I chose homicide, aggravated assault and since you were talking about leaving doors unlocked, burglary. I went back to 1986 as that is as far as the tool could go:



I won't keep derailing this topic arguing with you. I just have an interest in this since I heard a theory about how violence in the US dropped when lead was removed from gasoline.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's not that. It's this. Bold is the review garbage. Notice how they weave it into the blurb. It's nasty (IMHO).

How about when the book title at Amazon contains a description?

The Girl Who Sat On A Tuffet: An unputdownable domestic crime thriller with a shocking twist that will leave you breathless

I understand why lesser known authors do it. But I still don't like it.