Buying books: words or phrases that can turn a 'yes' into a 'no'?

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Camellia

I don't like being told that there's a twist, and I won't buy a book if the blurb or cover praise talks about a twist. That's supposed to be a mystery!

I'd be disappointed if there wasn't a twist. So in that light it's a bit like being told: "There'll be sentences in this book."

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by gmw

I'd be disappointed if there wasn't a twist. So in that light it's a bit like being told: "There'll be sentences in this book."

This book contains punctuation!

[gmw]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

This book contains punctuation!

Hmm... well, for some authors such a comment could indeed be a good recommendation.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

Multi-generational (spanning generations) doesn't work for me.

Originally Posted by issybird

You beat me to this one.

Funny, one of the best books I've read this year (Rebecca Makai's The Great Believers) jumps back and forth in time for a few generations of the same family. It did so admirably, in my opinion.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

Funny, one of the best books I've read this year (Rebecca Makai's The Great Believers) jumps back and forth in time for a few generations of the same family. It did so admirably, in my opinion.

Well, tastes differ. Merely reading the synopsis of the said book made me nod off.

[ApK]

Apologies if this is covered in some of the pages I've not caught up on, but I don't really get:
"A book that says it is perfect for fans of XXX (in a blurb, it's different)."
What's a blurb different from in this context? Is it a matter of the author themselves saying it vs. a reader/reviewer saying it?

Also: As a firearms enthusiast, I have only heard the term "gun porn" applied to pictures, same as "food porn" or "guitar porn."
When the details of firearms are discussed in the context of stories, I just consider it a type of technical fiction---the "tech" in "techno-thriller"----same as if there were details about naval operations, computers or similar.
That's a style I really like....when done well, and like any niche expert, really hate when done badly.
That assumes, of course, the story is a military, action, thriller type thing. Such tech detail in a P.G. Wodehouse-type novel would be really weird.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by ApK

Apologies if this is covered in some of the pages I've not caught up on, but I don't really get:
"A book that says it is perfect for fans of XXX (in a blurb, it's different)."
What's a blurb different from in this context? Is it a matter of the author themselves saying it vs. a reader/reviewer saying it?

A blurb from a reviewer is different than the author/publisher themselves making the claim.

The author has no control over what the blurber is saying (in theory). When the author/publisher says it, it feels like they are leaping on a bandwagon.

[MarjaE]

Since Smashwords, Bold Strokes, Amazon, etc. don't allow readers to exclude search terms, and Smashwords defaults to OR search if we're not using tags, has anyone found a way to sift through results?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by MarjaE

Since Smashwords, Bold Strokes, Amazon, etc. don't allow readers to exclude search terms, and Smashwords defaults to OR search if we're not using tags, has anyone found a way to sift through results?

I just browse my favorite genres sorted by newest. It's pretty easy to exclude erotica and/or romance, for example, going by their covers or titles or both. Of course it would depend on what you want to exclude. But all in all, I prefer to go over the search results personally. Automatic exclusion would probably exclude too much, at least for me.

[MarjaE]

Ah. I prefer some combination of science fiction and/or speculative fiction, lesbian fiction, disability fiction, and non-magical transformation fiction. With my chronic illness, a robot or virtual body is appealing.

... Erik Schubach tends to write these things, so I'm planning to read *Fixit* soon, and might read *A Deafening Whisper* among others later.

But this gets scattered among many categories. Lesbian, gay, bi, and/or trans science fiction is usually treated as a single category. Smashwords doesn't allow searches within a category. Amazon does but more detailed searches turn up het space opera (the Rika series, which was dark but enjoyable) and a lot of het (?) alpha male cyborg romance (which I've avoided). Disability fiction isn't usually treated as a single category, it's scattered all over.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by MarjaE

Ah. I prefer some combination of science fiction and/or speculative fiction, lesbian fiction, disability fiction, and non-magical transformation fiction. With my chronic illness, a robot or virtual body is appealing.

... Erik Schubach tends to write these things, so I'm planning to read *Fixit* soon, and might read *A Deafening Whisper* among others later.

But this gets scattered among many categories. Lesbian, gay, bi, and/or trans science fiction is usually treated as a single category. Smashwords doesn't allow searches within a category. Amazon does but more detailed searches turn up het space opera (the Rika series, which was dark but enjoyable) and a lot of het (?) alpha male cyborg romance (which I've avoided). Disability fiction isn't usually treated as a single category, it's scattered all over.

Perhaps Goodreads would be a better place to find what you want, then. There are all kinds of lists and recommendations there. (Don't really use it myself, it's just the impression I've got).

Edit: have you read the Vorkosigan books by Bujold? It's science fiction and the (male) protagonist has a physical disability. He's straight, though.

Don't know if you read mysteries, but the Lincoln Rhyme detective series by Jeffery Deaver has a paraplegic protagonist (male again, and straight, but still.)

[MarjaE]

Thank you, I'll look into Goodreads. I've enjoyed a lot of stories which involve 2 or 3 of those themes.

P.S. Gah! I can't get Goodreads to work on Firefox with some safety/accessibility fixes.

I'm supposed to start by rating books. So I pick out a book. They don't list it. Another. They do, and I can add it to my to-read list, but I've already read it and am trying to rate it. I go to help. "How can I rate a book?" No results. "How can I search for help on this site?"

P.S. Also looking here: https://queersff.theillustratedpage.net/

P.P.S. Can rate from elsewhere in the site, but it has a lot of text overlap issues.

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

Unfortunately book descriptions often don't indicate "includes recipes" or "includes craft tips" so you don't find out until you download and start reading.

If there is any mention of Debbie Macomber or HallMark Mystery either recipes or craft tips or both are going to come up somewhere.

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by MarjaE

Thank you, I'll look into Goodreads. I've enjoyed a lot of stories which involve 2 or 3 of those themes.

P.S. Gah! I can't get Goodreads to work on Firefox with some safety/accessibility fixes.

I'm supposed to start by rating books. So I pick out a book. They don't list it. Another. They do, and I can add it to my to-read list, but I've already read it and am trying to rate it. I go to help. "How can I rate a book?" No results. "How can I search for help on this site?"

P.S. Also looking here: https://queersff.theillustratedpage.net/

P.P.S. Can rate from elsewhere in the site, but it has a lot of text overlap issues.

The short answer is that when you add a book you can choose a status of either: to read, currently reading or read. In your case, you can change the status to read, where the option "write a review" should be available.