The Reading Vent & Rant Thread

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

32 GB would not be enough for my whole library, but then I don't want to keep my whole library on an ereader. My backup libraries are on external drives and for off-site backup also in Dropbox.

I think my eReader would crash if I tried to load my entire library on it. Especially if I tried to stuff all my physical books into the SD card.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

...I don't want to keep my whole library on an ereader. My backup libraries are on external drives and for off-site backup also in Dropbox.

Of course, if you did load your whole library onto an ereader, then it would serve as off-site backup.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

A rant, related to fanfics: Authors tagging a character who only appears for half a paragraph and says one line. Or even worse, only appear in a mention.

I hang around a lot of fanfic forums, and while many see 'tag walls' as a problem, others see it as a 'selling' point and encourage other writers to do so.

Drives me crazy. You can't find anything if everything is listed. I remember when Amazon and eBay sellers went through that phase, where they wanted their item to show up on as many searches as possible. I was SO glad when they cracked down on that.

I think too many fanfic writers are focusing on every type of writing 'hack' to get attention, tag walls, number count, 'face claims'... rather than working on what really needs work. Actual story telling.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Of course, if you did load your whole library onto an ereader, then it would serve as off-site backup.

Nope. I only read at home.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Nope. I only read at home.

You don't need to plan to read them on that device for them to be a backup. I always get the most storage on a device I can afford, then load my ebooks and family pics on them. I don't read on my iphone, but have a full back up of library and kids pics. What ever I might be carrying outside the house. The house burns down, I have backup copies with me.

There's only one time I had to evacuate, and that was years ago. Apartment down the hall caught fire, and I grabbed my 3 month old and the diaper bag with my wallet and car keys inside. It was all I had for 2 days before they let us back in with escort for 20 minutes to grab what we could grab. All together, we were out of the apartment for a week.

As long as I have my phone, I have a backup handy even if I don't read on it. Same with what I can carry on any of my ereaders. I got the space, I'm using it for something.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DuskyRose

You don't need to plan to read them on that device for them to be a backup. I always get the most storage on a device I can afford, then load my ebooks and family pics on them. I don't read on my iphone, but have a full back up of library and kids pics. What ever I might be carrying outside the house. The house burns down, I have backup copies with me.

There's only one time I had to evacuate, and that was years ago. Apartment down the hall caught fire, and I grabbed my 3 month old and the diaper bag with my wallet and car keys inside. It was all I had for 2 days before they let us back in with escort for 20 minutes to grab what we could grab. All together, we were out of the apartment for a week.

As long as I have my phone, I have a backup handy even if I don't read on it. Same with what I can carry on any of my ereaders. I got the space, I'm using it for something.

But I don't carry my ereaders with me. I have no car and I don't want to lug them with me in the public transport. Dropbox is more useful for me, as I can store many other things there that wouldn't fit anywhere else, even on my phone.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by DuskyRose

I hang around a lot of fanfic forums, and while many see 'tag walls' as a problem, others see it as a 'selling' point and encourage other writers to do so.

AO3 semi-recently limited stories to having some 75 tags because of one author who felt it was funny to use literally thousands of tags. (Thankfully, it didn't automatically remove anything on fics posted before the change; instead, it made the author manually remove excess ones in order to update fics.)

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

AO3 semi-recently limited stories to having some 75 tags because of one author who felt it was funny to use literally thousands of tags. (Thankfully, it didn't automatically remove anything on fics posted before the change; instead, it made the author manually remove excess ones in order to update fics.)

I know they have 'tag wranglers' who try to keep the tags under control. I'm glad they've done something.

It's one of the reasons there are some fandoms I just won't go to, since they have a ton of characters. People were tagging characters that were just mentioned, or had no lines or purpose to a story. Hard to find the stories about the characters I was interested in when they're all listed as if they were MC's to the story.

And too many of the tags were just useless chit-chat from the author. I guess they thought it made the story look cute or something.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

But I don't carry my ereaders with me. I have no car and I don't want to lug them with me in the public transport.

Man, public transport is exactly when I would want to have my reader. But what do I know?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Man, public transport is exactly when I would want to have my reader. But what do I know?

Well, people are different. I can't read a book when I'm surrounded by other people; I need to be alone (cats don't count).

[Renate]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

But I don't carry my ereaders with me.

Me neither. But I usually have the old cell phone with me and I keep it synced so it has my current book (as well as a gajillion others).

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Renate

Me neither. But I usually have the old cell phone with me and I keep it synced so it has my current book (as well as a gajillion others).

I can always download a book from Dropbox in the unlikely case I want to read on my phone.

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Man, public transport is exactly when I would want to have my reader. But what do I know?

Yeah, this times 100! This morning I forgot my headphones so I couldn't listen to my tunes, but thank god I have my library on my phone as well as my music so I could still read. This is all that saves my sanity when I'm commuting!

I make sure I keep all my books on all my devices and back up regularly to a back up drive as well.

[Apache]

My book goes everywhere with me. If I have 5 free minutes, I will get it out and read. I have always done this. When I read, I am oblivious to those around me.
Apache

[ownedbycats]

I take my eReader to medical appointments. Once I didn't, thinking "oh I'm the first one in, so I won't be waiting more than 15 minutes," and the doctor was late due to a traffic accident.