B&N has a new app called Browserly

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Alohamora

Anyone else use Amazon's reviews to choose books? I do, a lot. If there're enough reviews, I can get a pretty good view of whether or not I'll like a book.

Amazon reviews aren't bad but I tend to skip over most of the 5 star reviews. I find the 4-2 star reviews give me a much better idea of what the book is like. My experience with buying books based on 5 star reviews is that too blasted many of the 5 star reviews seems to be written by someone who has never read the book but liked another book the author wrote, was given a free copy and wrote the review before reading the book or, in my darker moments, by a descendant of Eliza.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Takes me about 20 seconds to dismiss books as dreck. I've never been a "wader"... even before the days of easy self-publishing. Cream rises, good things get talked about, voices carry--however you want to say it. The path to finding good books to read isn't any more perilous or unnavigable than it ever was.

I've said it before: very few people pick out books to read at complete random, site-unseen; before, during, or after the self-publishing explosion. Avid readers rarely grabbed a book out of hat and started reading. And of the ones that did, I doubt very highly that they've ever taken comfort in the fact that a book they picked with that method, and ended up hating, was at least competently written.

There's always been an ocean of dreck, but nobody's ever been forced to dive in it to find books.

If you only want to see books by major publishers, then browse the major publishers' websites. Problem solved. Go to your favorite authors' websites to see if their latest has been released yet. Talk to your friends. Follow people whose reading tastes you share or admire on Twitter. Hit up a book blog. Check out a "what else are you reading" thread on online forums.

There's never been a time when absolute potluck was going to get you a high rate of return on new favorite authors/books, so I fail to see why people always bring up the "more crap than ever" lament.

Never in the history of the planet has there been so many tools (easy, efficient and powerful tools) at reader's disposal to find great books to read without having to leave their homes. Yet many people want to complain that good books don't fall out of the sky into their laps any more. Well guess what? They never did. Get over it.

EDITORS NOTE: Although my post was in response to pwalker8's post, please understand that with the exception of a couple, most of my "you"s were entirely rhetorical.

Gee grandpa, you want me to get off your lawn? Is your old black and white TV with 5 channels good enough and you can't understand why someone might want a 4K smart TV and streaming video?

I can remember back in the old days where I had to visit a number of book stores to find the full array of books. The shopping mall stores didn't carry much in any one genre, so I drove long distances to specialty stores. Part of the reason that B&N and Boarders were initially successful is they had room for a much larger selection. I also remember when each book seller had a copy of Books in Print, and would pull it out if you asked for a specific book or author. Maybe you think we should go back to those days.

There are two different issues to be addressed. First is finding new authors. That's what you are talking about. That's always been a case of word of mouth. Sites like this site and Goodreads make it easier to find new authors. The second is finding out when specific authors put out new books and make back list available. That is mostly what I'm talking about.

My specific frustration is I know what is possible and I know what I want. There are a lot of things that can be done, but aren't because Amazon doesn't see it as in their interest. As I mentioned, Authoralerts was a pretty decent tool for notification until Amazon shut them down. It wasn't perfect, but it got the job done. Heck, if Amazon's author notifications actually worked, that would solve problems.

But when you control the market, there is little incentive to innovate and make things work. That's why I think that publishers should put together a consortium to build and maintain a database of available books and make that database available for innovators to access. People like the creators of authoralerts could hook into it. They might need to figure out a different monetization method, but I'm sure people would figure it out.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Gee grandpa, you want me to get off your lawn? Is your old black and white TV with 5 channels good enough and you can't understand why someone might want a 4K smart TV and streaming video?

I've no idea what the "grandpa" stuff is all about. I'm the one embracing the new reality. You're the one wanting all the self-published dreck off your lawn.

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I can remember back in the old days where I had to visit a number of book stores to find the full array of books. The shopping mall stores didn't carry much in any one genre, so I drove long distances to specialty stores. Part of the reason that B&N and Boarders were initially successful is they had room for a much larger selection. I also remember when each book seller had a copy of Books in Print, and would pull it out if you asked for a specific book or author. Maybe you think we should go back to those days.

Also .. no. Those days were awful. Did you even read my post? I think we have it way, way, way better and easier with today's system.

Originally Posted by pwalker8

There are two different issues to be addressed. First is finding new authors. That's what you are talking about. That's always been a case of word of mouth. Sites like this site and Goodreads make it easier to find new authors.

Yep. In complete agreement. But that's not ONLY what I was talking about. Remember "go the the publishers websites" and "go to favorite author's websites"? That's not just about finding new authors.

Originally Posted by pwalker8

The second is finding out when specific authors put out new books and make back list available. That is mostly what I'm talking about.

It is?! "Wading through oceans of dreck" and wanting retailers to overhaul their stores is about you having hard time figuring out when specific authors (authors you already know the names of) put out new books and make their backlist available? Heck, that stuff's easy to find out. Do a Google search.

Originally Posted by pwalker8

My specific frustration is I know what is possible and I know what I want. There are a lot of things that can be done, but aren't because Amazon doesn't see it as in their interest. As I mentioned, Authoralerts was a pretty decent tool for notification until Amazon shut them down. It wasn't perfect, but it got the job done. Heck, if Amazon's author notifications actually worked, that would solve problems.

But when you control the market, there is little incentive to innovate and make things work. That's why I think that publishers should put together a consortium to build and maintain a database of available books and make that database available for innovators to access. People like the creators of authoralerts could hook into it. They might need to figure out a different monetization method, but I'm sure people would figure it out.

Your specific frustration with Amazon doesn't interest me. I don't limit myself to any one site for locating, browsing, researching, or buying new books/authors. Why would I when almost every resource available is at my disposal?

[pwalker8]

You can't figure out what the grandpa stuff is about? Innovation occurs when people say there has to be a better way, not when people say "It's good enough for me, it ought to be good enough for everyone else".

I don't go wading through the dreak looking for new authors. I go wading looking to see if any of my favored authors have anything new. Once you get past a hand full of authors, doing google searches on more than a hundred names gets more than a bit tedious.

Gee, I'm sorry I posted something that isn't of interest to you. Well, actually no I'm not, I was just being sarcastic. I think it's perfectly reasonable to point out the inadequacies of what is currently available and to talk about what features I would like to see. If you don't want to change the way you do things, that's fine. There are plenty of times that I find someone else's interest in something a bit boring. I just don't feel a compelling need to say so.

[crossi]

I use Amazon reviews as a last filter when deciding if I should click the buy button.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

You can't figure out what the grandpa stuff is about? Innovation occurs when people say there has to be a better way, not when people say "It's good enough for me, it ought to be good enough for everyone else".

Your assumption that I'm not in favor of innovation, or that "It's good enough for me" are sadly mistaken/misguided. I love every innovation we've had in e-reading and e-purchasing we've had so far. I'm not wanting it to stay static. I'm just capable of rolling with all the changes that have come, is all.

I have the ability to work within the framework of any system (especially one that doesn't require me to leave my seat). I don't need them to cater to my every whim in order to easily find good books to read, even in this, the age of everything-gets-published (a fact that I love, by the way).

You're the one who wants to return to the glory days of only seeing big box publishers when you search for books/authors, but I'm the stagnating, innovation-eschewing grandpa? Whatever.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Your assumption that I'm not in favor of innovation, or that "It's good enough for me" are sadly mistaken/misguided. I love every innovation we've had in e-reading and e-purchasing we've had so far. I'm not wanting it to stay static. I'm just capable of rolling with all the changes that have come, is all.

I have the ability to work within the framework of any system (especially one that doesn't require me to leave my seat). I don't need them to cater to my every whim in order to easily find good books to read, even in this, the age of everything-gets-published (a fact that I love, by the way).

You're the one who wants to return the glory days of only seeing big box publishers when you search for books/authors, but I'm the stagnating, innovation-eschewing grandpa? Whatever.

I'm the one who wants searches that filter out the garbage, rather than have to wade through page after page of scam artist trying to get paid for porn or PD books and self publishing author want-to-bes. Amazon's business model pushes the expense of maintaining their database to the publishers, which means there is no vetting. Filtering on recognized publishers such as Tor or Baen, while not perfect, would at least get rid of that layer of garbage. It would mean that someone, somewhere along the line vetted the books.

Of course in theory on can use Amazon's search engine for advanced filtering, but then again, Amazon's search engine appears to think that Roger Zelazny and Larry Niven are the same person, or at least when I search for Roger Zelazny, I get Roger Zelazny books along with Larry Niven, Walter Jon Williams and Kathryn Le Vegue books and that's just on the first two pages. But I'm sure you are right, it's absolutely perfect and anyone who wants improvement should be sneered at.

[DiapDealer]

Why are you still talking about Amazon?? I'm not.

[Alohamora]

Originally Posted by kcladyz

To compete with goodreads.com. It seems like a good way to discover a new book. For instance it asks for books that were so good you read in 1 day and you can see recommendations with book cover thumbnails submitted by other users.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/h/about-browsery

Is this only available through an app, no web page interface?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Alohamora

Is this only available through an app, no web page interface?

Everything I see points to app-only. That's why I'm having a hard time with the Goodreads comparison.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by Alohamora

Anyone else use Amazon's reviews to choose books? I do, a lot. If there're enough reviews, I can get a pretty good view of whether or not I'll like a book.

Me Too! I never use Good Read. I don't see how listing every book I read benefits ANYONE. If I like a book enough to share it with others, I'll write about it here and cross post the review to that book's Amazon user review page.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Everything I see ponts to app-only. That's why I'm having a hard time with the Goodreads comparison.

Yeah, sounds like data mining to me! Check the permissions required if you're using Android.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

Me Too! I never use Good Read. I don't see how listing every book I read benefits ANYONE. If I like a book enough to share it with others, I'll write about it here and cross post the review to that book's Amazon user review page.

It doesn't do much for me either. I suspect it appeals to the book club types, i.e. those who join a book club to talk about various books.

[DiapDealer]

Never joined a book club in my life, but I use Goodreads pretty regularly. I don't use it for book discussion at all. It's just an easy way for me to see what people, whose tastes in books are well known to me, are reading. I'm familiar enough with their likes and dislikes to be able to use their ratings/reviews to help make decisions on whether or not I want to give a book/author a shot. I don't waste time with anonymous reviews, or the reviews of people whose tastes I'm not at least passingly familiar with.

[Alohamora]

I took a quick look at the app. It doesn't look like they are trying to copy goodreads. Rather more of a bulletin board to post questions and get answers.

From what I saw, I have no idea why it needs an app instead of a website.