Some thoughts on …….

Typos and other formatting problems on kindles. 
I’ve just finished reading a book that highlighted some of these problems for me.  I’m not a very good reviewer – I mean to write the reviews sometime, but rarely get around to it.  In the case of this book I felt the need to make a comment to explain why I hadn’t enjoyed reading it as much as I thought I should.
The size of the type through the book varied – it was possibly meant to be that way, but reading on an e-reader it makes it very odd looking to find that you read a paragraph or so in huge letters like this, then back to normal, with occasional passages written in quite a small font..
The other problem that I have come across is the number of typos.  Sometimes it is a word that has been used incorrectly - “their” “there” and “they’re” for example.    Other times it is that the author hasn’t used a spellchecker or asked someone to read through for them.  
Some readers will avoid indie authors because they think that indie = bad.  Since I discovered the UK Amazon Kindle Forum on Goodreads -( http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/51445-uk-amazon-kindle-forum ) I have been introduced to a large number of excellent indie authors, and I can say that on the whole the typos in the books that I have read have been few and far between.  
Back to my reading – I’m just going through some books that have been on my kindle for a while and then I have some new books to try out.  I will blog about them, and you never know – I might even get around to reviewing them ;)

Seeing Stars

Reviews – what do you think of them? 
My thoughts – from a reader’s point of view.
If I’m looking for a new camera. or coffee maker or a pair of binoculars then I would read the reviews on various different makes and models before I made my choice.  To me a book is different and I would rather read something that was recommended than something that had pages of reviews. Besides which some reviews are just a re-hash of the book blurb, and others go into detail of the whole plot of the book, neither of which is of any use to help me make the decision on whether or not I want to purchase that book. The blurb I have already read and the plot summary - well someone has saved me buying in that case!  
The sample function on kindle is a good way to try out new authors before buying.  I have also downloaded free books and if I have enjoyed them then I will look out for more books by the same author.
However other readers prefer to look for books that have plenty of stars and good reviews.
Someone asked me why I hadn’t given any five star ratings to books on Goodreads.
My reply was that I have given books 5 stars on Amazon - to me that is equivalent to 4 stars on Goodreads.  I made a chart comparing the different star ratings on the two sites..


So on Goodreads 4 stars are for books I have really really enjoyed.
5 stars - that would be a book that once I had read it nothing would ever compare or come close.  Rather like the Borg regarded the Omega particle in Star Trek – Perfection.

1612

 

Today I was getting ready to go down to mum and dad’s when the phone rang.  It was mum “You might want to have your camera with you when you come down”  Apparently when she was out walking the dog she noticed some artwork being done on our local hill, and she knew that I would get a good view on my way to their house. 

So why do I think it is something to blog about on a kindle/book blog?

Well the hill is Pendle and the artwork is the numbers 1612 on the hillside to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Pendle Witch Trials.

 

Both photos were taken on the same day – just to show how changeable our weather has been.

There are various books written about those events I have read several of them.

Mist over Pendle by Robert Neill is my favourite, and is one of the books that I have re-read a few times. The story is set around Pendle and the villages in that area.

The church at Newchurch is mentioned several times.  This church has a grave that is supposed to be a witches grave and a stone called the “eye of god” in the tower.

The Lancashire Witches by W H Ainsworth is a much longer book and more difficult to read partly because some of the dialogue is written in dialect, I read it some years ago and have it on my kindle now to re-read when I have time.

Another book is A Cry of Innocence by Kate Mulholland.  I’m sorry to say that although I started reading this I haven’t finished it and it has been abandoned –   I didn’t find the story easy to read as the writing didn’t flow.  

A mixture

 

When people ask what sort of books I like to read the answer is almost anything.   There are so many books available now for the kindle that I am never stuck for something to read.  The problem now is deciding between the long list of  “To be read” books.  I swap from genre to genre too. 

Over the last few weeks I have read a series of historical romances by M.C. Beaton; a couple of chick-lits by Louise Wise and Talli Roland; the first two in a series of paranormal mysteries by Terri Reid; a series of three mysteries by Karen Cantwell; the first book in a murder mystery series revolving around a scenes of crime officer by Andrew Barrett, and finally two books by Mel Comley – one a mystery/thriller and the second one was by Mel in her guise as a writer of erotica – Tiffany Towers. 

So as you can see – a real mixture..  So which ones of all these would I recommend?

 

Take your pick – all were good – these are some of the best.

The book that I read by Mel Comley was “Cruel Justice”  I have read three of the books in Mel’s mystery/thriller series now and I have one more to read in that series – until the next one comes out that is.  I read the book by Tiffany because Mel “came out” and admitted that she wrote under a different name, Tiffany Towers << this is me after reading this book.

Andrew Barrett’s book was excellent and ended on a cliff-hanger – I will have to get on with the next book in that series soon.

The paranormal mysteries had been on my kindle for a while – I should have read them earlier as they were also very enjoyable.  I read “Loose Ends” and straight away read the next in the series “Good Tidings”  There are another five books in this series for me to read, and one “in progress”  I did say my TBR list never gets any shorter!!

The two chick-lits were fun reads – I have read books by Talli Roland before but Louise Wise was a new author for me.

Karen Cantwell’s books had also been on my TBR list for a while. These were described as “cosy mysteries” or “romantic thrillers” and were about an American “mom” whose husband (unknown to her) was a FBI agent. 

M.C. Beaton has written a lot of books.  She wrote the Agatha Raisin series, Hamish Macbeth (I remember the TV series – the books are much better!) and several different historical series.  These ones were light and easy reads., which I enjoyed.

So what am I reading now?  I’m dipping into my Terry Pratchett  “Science of Discworld” and have started to read Darren Humphries’ “The Man From U.N.D.E.A.D. - Do Dragons Dream Of Burning Sheep?”  which is described as humorous fantasy – yes that does make another genre of books that I enjoy!!