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Re: Shelfari

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 2:26 am
by Apocalyptus
That's weird, I haven't had any problems with it since I changed the permissions.

Re: Shelfari

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 2:31 am
by Lethal Interjection
So I've been thinking about adding that app for a while, and finally did.
And of course, all of the "popular" books on the main page are written by either Rowling or Meyers. Ugh.

Re: Shelfari

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 2:38 am
by LordRetard
I have nothing against Rowling! Her writing's not exactly amazing but it's entertaining and they're some of the first books that I enjoyed reading as a kid. I will not say the same for Meyer.

Re: Shelfari

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 2:44 am
by Euclidthegreek
Hey! Don't insult Harry Potter. I was also not aware that Mike Meyers had written books.

Re: Shelfari

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 2:46 am
by LordRetard
Nice try Euclid, but it's Mike Myers.

Re: Shelfari

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 12:38 pm
by Lethal Interjection
I'm not insulting Rowling, exactly. I have some respect for the Harry Potter deal, even if I have little desire to read them.
Merely stating that there is much better literature out there, and that the entire list is made up from those two authors shows the calibre of the majority of people using the application.

Re: Cool website

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 2:46 pm
by uncleop
I like reviving old threads. I'm an LT user, but don't have much of my library entered there yet.

See My Book Catalog: http://www.librarything.com/home/uncleop22

Re: Cool website

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 2:54 pm
by Cirtur
I got redirected. Maybe I have to be a member?

Whatever, it sucks is what I've decided. How hard can it be to make sure you don't accidentally read the same book twice?

Re: Shelfari

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 3:52 pm
by LordRetard
It's probably because there's no other single author that readers on facebook could consistently agree upon.

Re: Internet Bookshelves

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 7:49 pm
by AHMETxRock
I like Harry Potter. It was fairly original, and the fact it's written at a low reading level cannot be held against it because it's demographic was children. The lust vampires are a different matter entirely, and the concept of a vampire was not just added to or innovated, but rather completely destroyed. I believe we are all familiar with why. The fact that it is a love/romance novel also means there won't be terribly much going on, except for a perfect guy not shagging the girl's brains out until he does enough perfect things so that he does get to shag her brains out. Sometimes they pull a twist and she shags someone else, or they stop shagging for a while, or if they are really risky they shag multiple people during the course of one story, but there's no real substance and the developement of characters almost always takes a backseat to RAUNCHY COVERS and STUPID TITLES.

Anyways, I've expressed the idea that I think digital reading can be awesome as long as companies don't pull the same shit as video game companies and tell us we don't actually own the copy of the story we have. I should do more reading to be honest, I don't feel I have stimulated my mind enough recently. I will not try any dumb facebook things, however. I like my privacy, and somehow there are going to be target adds or something. No thank you.

Re: Shelfari

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 8:29 pm
by Lethal Interjection
LordRetard wrote:It's probably because there's no other single author that readers on facebook could consistently agree upon.
Well, I don't know about that. I think it is simply that it is pop fiction and the world is getting increasingly illiterate, at least when it comes to print.

Re: Internet Bookshelves

Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 1:39 am
by LordRetard
Well yes, it's pop fiction, exactly, in the same way that if you tried to find out what was "popular" music you might end up with something a little more tasteless like Lady Gaga.

Another way to look at it: Even if you have both well-read and not-well-read people using the application, people from both groups will have read Harry Potter, whereas only people from the former group will have read something that's well-written but lesser-known. Furthermore I think well-read people will disagree more about their favourite books except when it comes to pop literature. So, it's still hard to say what the proportions might be. Also it's a facebook ap so quit complaining it's not like the average facebook user even reads goddamn books.

I really do have a contention with this point, anyway; I don't really suspect that the world is getting "more illiterate", literally or figuratively. I suspect that, just like it has been for ages, you'll have people who want to read and learn and people who really don't give a shit. What's so surprising about that?

Re: Internet Bookshelves

Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 3:08 am
by Lethal Interjection
LordRetard wrote:Well yes, it's pop fiction, exactly, in the same way that if you tried to find out what was "popular" music you might end up with something a little more tasteless like Lady Gaga.

Another way to look at it: Even if you have both well-read and not-well-read people using the application, people from both groups will have read Harry Potter, whereas only people from the former group will have read something that's well-written but lesser-known. Furthermore I think well-read people will disagree more about their favourite books except when it comes to pop literature. So, it's still hard to say what the proportions might be. Also it's a facebook ap so quit complaining it's not like the average facebook user even reads goddamn books.

I really do have a contention with this point, anyway; I don't really suspect that the world is getting "more illiterate", literally or figuratively. I suspect that, just like it has been for ages, you'll have people who want to read and learn and people who really don't give a shit. What's so surprising about that?
I think what really bothers me is that it is two authors. It is just such a meaningless list if all it does is list the books written by two people.

Re: Internet Bookshelves

Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 3:54 am
by LordRetard
That I can understand very well. I'd definitely prefer it if they made it so that an author had at most one book on the list. In my mind it's kind of like "okay, it's there because everyone reads Rowling and Meyer, but why is it there if everyone already reads Rowling and Meyer?" It's just kind of useless, especially since one recommendation from an entire series is as good as any from that series.

Re: Internet Bookshelves

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 4:56 am
by carbonstealer
Then again you can't talk about popular literature without mentioning them. Harry Potter was really quite unique in its level of success, and twilight tapped into that hype, when people needed something to latch onto now that the Harry Potter books are over. In defense of Rowlings, at least she hasn't proposed making money out of writing a book with exactly the same storyline as one of her other books but from the perspective of a different character. HOW RIDICULOUS IS THAT CONCEPT.

*Ahem* sorry, that makes me mad. That facebook application sounds groovy, where is it to be found?