New Leaf Theme Suggestion Thread

[gmw]

Originally Posted by June

Fortunately availability is in the nomination guidelines, and I sincerely hope people remember to check availability in various places (and format) when nominating I know that I would check the nominated books in my region (Europe) and would comment on it if it were not available.

Also, I do not read pBooks, except for work, too cumbersome and my eBook TBR is long enough to keep me busy

I thought I had checked availability for my nomination The Crimson Chalice by Victor Canning. When I look at amazon.com it shows up there as available, so I assumed that meant it was available in the U.S. - but apparently it wasn't.

If anyone can offer any hints as to reliable ways to check availability then please let me know, otherwise it seems to be a matter of guesswork and wishful thinking.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

That sounds as if it might fit with Bookworm-Girl’s suggestion of Help reduce my TBR pile! We could call it From my pile to yours.

That would be Anything goes.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by gmw

I thought I had checked availability for my nomination The Crimson Chalice by Victor Canning. When I look at amazon.com it shows up there as available, so I assumed that meant it was available in the U.S. - but apparently it wasn't.

If anyone can offer any hints as to reliable ways to check availability then please let me know, otherwise it seems to be a matter of guesswork and wishful thinking.

Check Amazon, B&N, and Kobo for the US and check Amazon and Kobo for other countries.

Kobo, you can click the flag and change the country. Amazon, you can just go to whichever Amazon is appropriate.

I think we should (at least) check Europe, United Kingdom, America, Canada, and Australia. If anyone has a better place to check for availability for these countries, please say so.

[Alohamora]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I have one that I think might do rather well in this sort of vein. book(s) I've always wanted to read but have just never gotten to it. Of course, if you can find a better name for that, feel free.

I have one I'd like to nominate for that category. But I'll bet many here have already read it.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by gmw

If anyone can offer any hints as to reliable ways to check availability then please let me know, otherwise it seems to be a matter of guesswork and wishful thinking.

Are you a calibre user? The "Get Books" button on the menu bar allows you to search Amazon, Kobo and other stores in multiple countries for availability. It also shows you pricing.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

That sounds as if it might fit with Bookworm-Girl’s suggestion of Help reduce my TBR pile! We could call it From my pile to yours.

Yes, these are the types of items I had in mind. Your name for it is hilarious. So true!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

We could call it From my pile to yours.

Didn't we just read a book that fits this category? In fact, the last two books fit.

But if we use this category, then we can nominate some truly awful books.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by gmw

I thought I had checked availability for my nomination The Crimson Chalice by Victor Canning. When I look at amazon.com it shows up there as available, so I assumed that meant it was available in the U.S. - but apparently it wasn't.

If anyone can offer any hints as to reliable ways to check availability then please let me know, otherwise it seems to be a matter of guesswork and wishful thinking.

Wouldn't it be a lot simpler if, when a book is nominated, people from countries other than that of the nominating person simply check for themselves and report back if the book's unavailable? And if a lot of people can't get it, it can be withdrawn.

It seems a lot to ask someone to check multiple countries and formats.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

Are you a calibre user? The "Get Books" button on the menu bar allows you to search Amazon, Kobo and other stores in multiple countries for availability. It also shows you pricing.

I just tried that, it also shows the book as available from Amazon Kindle (as well as Amazon AU Kindle, Kobo and Google). But apparently the book is not visible from Amazon if you're looking from a U.S.A. location.

Originally Posted by Catlady

Wouldn't it be a lot simpler if, when a book is nominated, people from countries other than that of the nominating person simply check for themselves and report back if the book's unavailable? And if a lot of people can't get it, it can be withdrawn.

It seems a lot to ask someone to check multiple countries and formats.

I suspect there may be little choice but to have people report back if a book is not available. It would be nice to get back the spent nomination to use elsewhere rather than have it wasted on a book others can't read.

[Bookpossum]

That sounds like a very good idea to me. When a nomination goes up, I always check its availability, both in my library and to purchase, as there is no point in voting for a book, however interesting it looks, if I can't get my hands on it at a reasonable price.

For example, a book which Bookworm_Girl nominated in February, which was a perfectly reasonable price in the USA, was almost $A20 here, and wasn't in my library. So I didn't vote for it.

gmw, I have been trapped by that with Amazon.com also: what we see here we assume to be what is seen in the US, but it has turned out not to be the case.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by gmw

I suspect there may be little choice but to have people report back if a book is not available. It would be nice to get back the spent nomination to use elsewhere rather than have it wasted on a book others can't read.

I'm new to this, so that wasn't something I thought of. But someone who's truly concerned about wasting a nomination should do due diligence to check availability. Otherwise, just let folks check availability in their own countries.

[CRussel]

I'm perfectly willing to check availability for any book that someone wants to nominate. I can check U.S., Canada, and the U.K. easily, and Australia without too much difficulty.

[gmw]

I thought I had done my "due diligence" with The Crimson Chalice, only to find I had been misled by Amazon. (Please don't get me wrong: I'm not upset; I was very happy with the other nominations; I am just trying to clarify this issue with regard to regional availability.)

Yes, I do think the nominator should take some steps to make sure a book is available in epub or mobi format. This is, after all, MobileRead. But short of various convolutions that not everyone will be happy doing, I think it will come down to others letting the nominator know if there are availability problems.

If our system would then allow a problem nomination to be withdrawn (and so become available for re-use with some other book), then so much the better ... although this doesn't worry me overly much; my brief time here makes me think there is not going to be any shortage of interesting reading material.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Wouldn't it be a lot simpler if, when a book is nominated, people from countries other than that of the nominating person simply check for themselves and report back if the book's unavailable? And if a lot of people can't get it, it can be withdrawn.

It seems a lot to ask someone to check multiple countries and formats.

Can it be withdrawn if it already has 3 nominations before it's found out not to exist in someone's country? If it can't, then that nomination has just caused at least one person to be unable to vote. So yes, I do think it's up to the person who first nominates a book to check it's availability.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

For example, a book which Bookworm_Girl nominated in February, which was a perfectly reasonable price in the USA, was almost $A20 here, and wasn't in my library. So I didn't vote for it.

But under the current rules, if that expensive book had won, you'd have had to buy it to read it.

So what should the book club do for those sorts of situations? I don't think it's fair to make someone sit out the vote. I think what could be done is when someone votes, that person can post what book(s) won't be read if won and why.