Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

how do you you use this feature on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ?

do you find it useful, fascinating, irrelevent, or misleading?

perhaps this question is irrelevant... but I need to say that this feature of GR has provided me with endless delight. Of course, it is only an indicator, and often absurdly presumptive. I have been told: you and x have nothing in common. I have also been told I am extemely compatible with someone who has in common only the most basic childhood books.

But when I compare my shelves to those whose shelves are bulging and whose reading experience is broad, like you my GR friends,it's so fascinating to me, and stimulates such a curious and hilarious thought process. In addition to some great suggestions.

I really don't use the compare books feature much at all. I find it more useful and enlightening to browse someone's bookshelves. If they have shelved a lot of books I like, I'll recognize them and don't need a gadget to tell me. And it's interesting to discover how people categorize books, and what authors are predominant, and if they stick primarily to one genre or read "across the board," etc.

I use compare books a lot. It's one of my favorite toys. When I have time-which is hardly ever right now-I browse shelves but compare books is a cheat sheet way to go.

Ellie wrote: "I use compare books a lot. It's one of my favorite toys. When I have time-which is hardly ever right now-I browse shelves but compare books is a cheat sheet way to go."


:)it kinda dives right in to the heart of the matter

I use compare initially out of interest.

I would get lost in other people's bookshelves (trying not to mention someone who lives in NY !)

Hm?

Hm ..... right - the categorisation is useful for 'research', however I do just tend to ask outright.

Where on the line between our own use of booksheves, and usefulness for others do we wish to place ourselves, or is this something acheived through group bookshelves.

I haven't thought of it as being useful to others but with the number of books I have, I think many sub-categories are helpful. How else would anyone (including myself) access books?

Complexity or Simplicity - its equivalent to creating our own library on public display.

I struggle for simplicity but am so drawn into complexity. I'm just a Baroque kind of girl.

And hence, I suppose, why I love steampunk. That's anything but simple. It positively thrive on superfluity, redundancy, and elaboration.

Ellie wrote: "I struggle for simplicity but am so drawn into complexity. I'm just a Baroque kind of girl....

it seems to me that in this multi-convoluted world, maintaining simplicity is a complex thing.



interesting that you note this Ellie. Personally, I cannot abide superfluity or redundancy, but I don't mind sidetracks and love elaboration, unfolding, conflicting points of view....and steampunk.

When I talk about superfluity or redundancy, I'm thinking from a utilitarian point of view. I like 19th century, even 18th century prose which luxuriates in the language for its own sake or following a thought for the pleasure it yields even when it's not strictly necessary for the sake of the text.

I also enjoy work in which every word counts so I guess I'm just a walking contradiction.

But I loved your post. :)

Been thinking about the question that began with Ice's message 10,and Ellie's response.My thoughts circle rather aimlesslessly like this: superfluity is redundant, not elegant or precise. Utilitatarian is more the latter than the former. The writing I love the most is never ornate or frilly.Each word and it's placement is meaningful. There is nothing superfluous about it, especially if it is a complex work, simplicity is mandatory for me to stay with it, I don't want my ideas tarted up.
AND YET when I look, as I just did again, at our book comparisons, Ellie seems to be the one with the most similar taste in books if in no other way, of all my GR friends, even tho I can't bear that ornate style of the 18 & 19 Century.

AHA! Ellie... I am also a walking contradiction, that may be a key. Neither of us, I am thinking, care much about where the herd is going. We will always find our own path, overgrown with nettles usually, but if you and I are really alike in these ways,we need the freedom to make our own choices and can accept the consequences. Am I presuming too much in concluding that most of us who have been active in Flight Paths have a similar profile?

What I am trying to cultivate in my life right now is equanimity. I want to retain my ability to care, but I don't want to be unhinged by it.

Your post could have been written (though not so well) by me. I was afraid when I joined GR that it would just be another place I would be different in but I have found enough people who share my tastes to make me feel like I belong!

I too am a walking contradiction. I love books in which the language is precise and yet I love books in which the author luxuriates in languages, just rolls it out in profusion as well. I blame my finally being able to read The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman for that. hehehehe

But seriously Joyce is as much about language as anything else, especially by the time you get to the Wake which is barely about anything else (although it actually is also about the history & mythology of Ireland and the philosophy of Vico).

I would love to achieve equanimity. I don't think I'll live long enough but any progress I make towards it is for the good. It's why I meditate.

Ellie wrote: "I was afraid when I joined GR that it would just be another place I would be different in but I have found enough people who share my t..."

Ellie, you may be interested if you havent already noted discussion on Joyce in its own thread under authors.
Seems I got sidetacked here because this was an interesting discussion that I would like to carry on and open up even.
I am interested in how people rate books and in the question of how we can really compare books at all.The variety of comments and reactions indicates to me that we may have read the same book, but that doent necessarily put us on the same page.

If a book is a window into a world, reading the same book we get a glimpse into the same world. YET we are not the same person, each reader brings a certain perspective that is unique and personal.This will affect not only what each reader will focus on but more importantly, the resonance between reader and book.
While we may be able to inhabit the same landscape, our postion will always vary.Sharing the difference builds on our understanding and enriches our experience.

And on the radio, the all night unmoderated stream(CBC, Nightstream) 1:35 am this song
>>>you're the story in the book....
maybe we need a thread for synchronicities?

:)

I so agree.

But it's good to hear it from someone else!

I'm slowly finding other readers with tastes similar to mine, somewhat here on GR, more so with bloggers. When I first entered the online book world, I was horrified by the number of people who were focused on PNR, bodice rippers, and genre fiction. Fortunately, I've been able to sift through all that to find more like-minded folks.

Her Royal Orangeness wrote: "I'm slowly finding other readers with tastes similar to mine, somewhat here on GR, more so with bloggers. When I first entered the online book world, I was horrified by the number of people who wer..."

I struggled with the fight between the desire to keep my ignorance hidden & curiosity but of course curiosity won: what's PNR? Please No Resuscitation?

I hope I'm not drinking it by mistake! :O

Pleasantly Nodding Resisters
Pushy Nannies Resting
Prime Numbers Rounded

For some reason, I like my last offering. Probably because it's 5:42 am & I've only had 1 cup of coffee so far.

Last day of work & then some vacation! Yay!!

Well, we had plans to go away-Jersey shore-but Katie got a job which after 2 years really was more important. So I'm hoping beach days & maybe an overnight.

Some cleaning, some lesson planning (big hopes!) but mostly sleep & read. And I do hope lots of beach.

And trying hard not to think of the year ahead!

Kinkajou wrote: "Yipee! Vacation!! I hope you have a great time off! Any plans, besides reading?"

thats great about Katies job, that she persevered and found something that I hope she is pleased with. How's the commute?

Here's to dozing over a book at the beach!!!
a Plump Naughty Risque book, if you like

PNR = Paranormal Romance

Twilight, and all the 8,304,139,442,048 Twilight wanna-bes that have been published in the last 3 years.

Kinkajou wrote: "I wouldn't touch Twilight with a ten-foot pole. Although there's a great web site called Reasoning With Vampires that's a hoot."

That site is hysterical! Wasn't me who originally posted it, but kudos to whoever did. :)

I have to check out RWV-sounds hilarious.

I had never even heard of Paranormal Romance before GR. I'm not sure if that was a bad thing.

well i've never heard of a Normal Romance either, and people seem to think its a good thing....

Oops ... I'm late to the discussion, again.

I use the compare feature all the time. It's how I select the strangers who will soon be friends. If we're 80% compatible, we're golden!

:-)

I've had as high as 83% (once). I also like to look at the lists-some books matter more to me than to GR, although I find their criteria pretty good.

Magdelanye wrote: "well i've never heard of a Normal Romance either, and people seem to think its a good thing...."

Well Magdalenye, it took me long enough to "get" this comment-I just did! (Can you believe it?)

I know nothing of "normal" romance. I think there's a definition provided by match.com

I did a snapshot review and came up with a narrow range of 72-75%.

Even KJ came within that range, so I guess that's friendship out of the question !!

Ellie wrote: "Magdelanye wrote: "well i've never heard of a Normal Romance either, and people seem to think its a good thing...."

Well Magdalenye, it took me long enough to "get" this comment-I just did! ..."

For some reason I'm afraid to check out the link you are recommending but I will be laughing my way out of here.

I dont have the time now, but it shouldnt be hard to do a recompare with everyone here, who obviously passed all my tests! Ice is onto something with this stat because I find thats about my range, up to in the 80;s which makes you sit up and take notice.

Ellie, we are 82% in accord here!

However these ratings are rather skewed. I once got a very high compatababilty rating merely because of childhood faves....we had hardly any books in common on our shelves bit these, on which we did agree.

lol

I think in our case we do have similar tastes but it's true-I have found that some of my highest compatibility has come from either childhood reads or sometimes a particular favorite genre that only reflects a small & not very representative facet of my taste (does that even mean anything- "facet of my taste"? I hope you know what I'm trying to say!)

But then when I look at what the personal most often reads & gives high scores to are books/authors I would maybe even actively avoid.

Also, books that we have both rated as "interested in" or "TBR" get marked as compatible which makes a certain kind of sense, in that it might indicate where interested in the same kinds of reads.

However, I'm generally "interested in" reading a whole lot of stuff that I've heard about but might end up hating or at least not much caring for & the other person might love. Lots of my "interested in" reads reflect what I'd like to interested in or think I might some day be interested in as much as what I actually am interested in reading at this moment.

'Cause then it goes onto my TBR shelf.

"Ellie wrote: Lots of my "interested in" reads reflect what I'd like to interested in or think I might some day be interested in as much as what I actually am interested in reading at this moment.

oh yes, there is that.

Also, its often true that we sometimes need to read about things that we are NOT interested in, like rape,war,environmental issues,health scares,sexual slavery, sado-masochotistic stuff, gender equity, death.
well actually i am interested in death, but not in feeling scared, bullied, patronized or furious. In the past I have forced myself to finish reading books that made me sick. I wont do that any more if I can help it, and I can, by choosing what I read carefully and being well prepared for a book that I know is going to hurt me. I am not talking fiction here, I'm talking about eyewitness accounts, crimes against humanity, the aids epidemic, prisons,politics, addiction....

To be more clear about what I mean by this,an example: I love reading about the world, and I hardly see the point of forcing myself to continue read about stuff am already aware of (unless of course its put way better than I ever could) when theres so much I dont know, and need to know. And yet, if my reading is not just a distraction, I need to know things too that take me way out of my comfort zone

Thats not actually that clear...do you catch my drift?

Judy wrote: "I think the compatibility rating is useful, but I've also found some of the funnest (and sometimes educational) discussions come from people who don't feel the same about a book. I look to see if s..."

Oh yes, I do get a laugh from some of the assessments.
There is somebody on GR (Im sorry I forget who) that I was told 'you have nothing in common'. Then there is the guy who I in fact had 2 books in common: one was to kill a mockingbird and the other the Hobbit. we were given an absudly high rating, but in fact he had only entered a few books.

I dont get these people that only enter a few books, or the ones with hundreds of friends. How the heck do they keep track?
Yet I must confess,I myself havent found the time to fill out my shelves. I have been here long enough now, and I still havent consulated my old journals or my bookshelves other than the one by my bed.

And it is indeed fun to spar with someone who hates the book you love (the swimming pool library dialogue was joined by many and very lively) or who loves a book you hate (the Kite Runner) there are some people I have found who could write a fascinating review about a shoelace. I have been provoked, amused, moved to answer

My own shelves are skewed by my organization of them and yet what I have entered from memory is representative I suppose of my actual shelves and my general preferences in reading.

I have in fact wondered about how I must appear to others from even a casual study of my shelves. And what 20 books has GR picked out for me when people scroll through that additional bit at the bottom?

Judy wrote: "Thats not actually that clear...do you catch my drift?

I'm not sure. Were you saying about being interested in those things because of my comment about looking at how much non-fiction vs. fiction..."

Actually, when I logged on there were 2 posts. By the time I finished responding to Ellies comment about interests, it was so long that I just posted it and addressed the main issue on discussion which you were commenting on in your post.

I feel like I have all the friends I can meaningfully handle, especially if I include the handful of their friends that I am following their reviews. We dont have identical tastes, but there are some brilliant, hilarious, provocative and thoughtful analysis and among us we cover all my bases.

re|what people think when they look at my shelves, more specifically I meant, can you tell me what my main interests are by what I have put out there? I was taking some responsability for the answer,no, and resolving to rectify that.
and I was wondering what 20 books appeared in the quiz at the bottom.

The 20 books are the samples they show you that you can say, Oh yes I read this one or "SKIP". I also would love to know how they choose them.

Another feature that kind of goes with the Compare Books is the compatibility list. I like that too sometimes when I'm trying to figure out where my common interests lie with someone. Is it only my lightest reads? Or my most eccentric (a better sign for me) & is there a huge love/loathe gap in any of the books that matter to me (You love that? *gasp of disbelief* Or "How could you possibly hate what may be the greatest book ever written that also happens to completely reflect my character, my thoughts & my outlook on life. *double gasp bending over in pain*)

That kind of thing.

Ellie wrote: "The 20 books are the samples they show you that you can say, Oh yes I read this one or "SKIP". I also would love to know how they choose them..."

Yes, thats what I was also wondering .
Plus, I am very curious as to what books it has sampled for me. I can see yours, but I can't see mine. How representative are they I wonder of my taste?

The compatability list seems pretty useless to me. Check out their genres. Until the comparisons are more intelligent, I'd rather just peruse the others shelves.

the love/loathe gap!
I sometimes straddle it.

It would actually be extremely cool to be able to see the books that were chosen for me-I would love to know what was considered most representative.

I might have to redo my shelves.

Or maybe myself.

it would be a bit tedious, but i bet we could help each other out with this because I am very curious too

I was thinking the same thing!

ok lets do it!
I am off to work just now but will make a first effort when I get home. See what you can do in the meantime, dont sweat it.

book title
Novels by George Macdonald: Lilith, the Princess and the Goblin, at the Back of the North Wind, Mary Marston, David Elginbrod, Phantastes
by Books LLC

Whee! We, Wee All the Way Home: A Guide to Sensual Prophetic Spirituality
by Matthew Fox

On Becoming a Musical, Mystical Bear: Spirituality American Style
by Matthew Fox

A Spirituality Named Compassion
by Matthew Fox

Archetypal Psychology
by James Hillman

The Princess and the Goblin / Princess and Curdie (Oxford World's Classics
by George MacDonald

Works of Fyodor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov, The Gambler, The Devils, The Adolescent & more
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality Presented in Four Paths, Twenty-Six Themes, and Two Questions
by Matthew Fox

Will There Really Be a Morning?
by Frances Farmer

The Mind-Body Problem
by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein

Sexual Politics
by Kate Millett

The Atlas
by William T. Vollmann
interested-in
City of Darkness, City of Light
by Marge Piercy

The War: A Memoir
by Marguerite Duras

The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations
by Christopher Lasch

A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry
by Czesław Miłosz (Editor)

Sonnets to Orpheus Bilingual Edition
by Rainer Maria Rilke

The Broken Cord
by Michael Dorris

The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony
by Roberto Calasso

The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke
by Theodore Roethke

SCUM Manifesto
by Valerie Solanas

The Storyteller
by Mario Vargas Llosa

Dark Night of the Soul
by St. John of the Cross

Living My Life
by Emma Goldman

Seven Gothic Tales
by Karen Blixen

The I Ching or Book of Changes
by Richard Wilhelm

The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion
by Mircea Eliade

When God Was a Woman
by Merlin Stone

Escape from Freedom
by Erich Fromm

The Female Eunuch
by Germaine Greer

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
by William Blake

New and Selected Poems: Volume One
by Mary Oliver

The Dhammapada
by Anonymous

The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens
by Wallace Stevens

The Famished Road
by Ben Okri

The Varieties of Religious Experience
by William James

The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism
by Fritjof Capra
*
The Seven Storey Mountain
by Thomas Merton
tbr-bio-memoir
The Gnostic Gospels
by Elaine Pagels

Four Quartets
by T.S. Eliot

Black Elk Speaks
by John G. Neihardt

The Fire Next Time
by James Baldwin

The Last Temptation of Christ
by Nikos Kazantzakis

The Last Enchantment
by Mary Stewart

The Painted Bird
by Jerzy Kosiński
*
The Hollow Hills
by Mary Stewart

Songs of Innocence and Experience: Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul, 1789-1794
by William Blake

The Bone People
by Keri Hulme
to-read
The Sheltering Sky
by Paul Bowles
*
Les Fleurs du Mal
by Charles Baudelaire

The Lover
by Marguerite Duras

Go Tell It on the Mountain
by James Baldwin

Love Medicine: Newly Revised Edition
by Louise Erdrich

V.
by Thomas Pynchon
to-read
The Feminine Mystique
by Betty Friedan

The Glass Bead Game
by Hermann Hesse

Walden and Civil Disobedience
by Henry David Thoreau

The Hero with a Thousand Faces
by Joseph Campbell

Narcissus and Goldmund
by Hermann Hesse

Metamorphoses
by Ovid

The Crystal Cave
by Mary Stewart

The Reluctant Fundamentalist
by Mohsin Hamid

We
by Yevgeny Zamyatin
someday-maybe
The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays
by Albert Camus

Bee Season
by Myla Goldberg

Howl and Other Poems
by Allen Ginsberg

Invisible Cities
by Italo Calvino

Tao Te Ching
by Lao Tzu

Gravity's Rainbow
by Thomas Pynchon
tbr-next
Steppenwolf
by Hermann Hesse

Notes from Underground
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

A Survivor's Tale. Maus #1: My Father Bleeds History
by Art Spiegelman

The English Patient
by Michael Ondaatje

The Divine Comedy
by Dante Alighieri

The Idiot
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Suite Française
by Irène Némirovsky
interested-in
Waiting for Godot
by Samuel Beckett

The Secret History
by Donna Tartt
*
To the Lighthouse
by Virginia Woolf

Norwegian Wood
by Haruki Murakami

Sophie's World
by Jostein Gaarder

War and Peace
by Leo Tolstoy

Their Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston

Heart of Darkness
by Joseph Conrad

The Unbearable Lightness of Being
by Milan Kundera

Siddhartha
by Hermann Hesse

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
by Ken Kesey

Snow Crash
by Neal Stephenson

On the Road
by Jack Kerouac

Crime and Punishment
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Catch-22
by Joseph Heller

Moby-Dick or, The Whale
by Herman Melville

The Count of Monte Cristo
by Alexandre Dumas
interested-in
Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley

The Odyssey
by Homer

Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott

Lord of the Flies
by William Golding

These were the initial list (before you start going to "skip" or "read"). Can you read this? If you give me your email, I can attach a document with the listings that's easier to read.

My email is: [email protected]

Let me know. Maybe this is ok.

my god ellie you have listed every book I have given 5 stars to except there were a couple I didnt see:(I'll look again) but you poor sweet woman to go to all that work, when what I was burning to know is the 20 books listed in the skip or read section, because I have no idea what is there.
Wherever did you find this particular list? Its not my favorites shelf.
And I have read Betty Friedan.

This is the list that shows up when you click "compare books". It was easy-I just highlighted, copied & pasted. I can do the same in the skip or read section, it just will go a little slower.

what a strange selection!
Or is this the books that you and I have read in common?

What do you want me to do for you in this regard?

I'd love to see my selection (all you have to do is click, copy, & paste in the comment box).

It's books that we have in common. It's not always such close agreement! Or so few where one person has "TBR" marked so it's considered a match. The "compatibility" profile is also very> interesting! :D

this long list i have sent as a message to you Ellie.

well that was fun to go over. Thats almost 9 years ago. Ellie, I guess I dropped the ball. I am still pretty inept with this.
It would be fun to have our 'newer' members give their impressions.
Will people be able to find this here, what with the spotty reliability of notifications.
The reason I am posting this here will be obvious.
I was following up on a comment and looked to see the womans 2019 year in books. I have discovered some interesting titles this way. In this case I looked up this one and I am still feeling a bit sick. Please tell me what you think. I am going to post link
The Anti-Mary Exposed: Rescuing the Culture from Toxic Femininity
has anyone heard of this ? Apparently this book was highlighted in the section Most popular on GR. Scaaary
Carrie Gress has some other illustrious titles.
Tell me this is not a thing

I like the compare books feature when checking out friend requests. I find that we don't have to like the same books but that it's nice to have some overlap and same interests. It's also a fun feature for finding commonalities in books that may be handy for such activities as Secret Santas. I mean, by seeing which books we both like, it gives an idea of what type of book to send a person one doesn't know in real life.

As you said, Magdelanye, I've discovered some interesting titles, too, from compare lists.

I have not heard of The Anti-Mary Exposed. I just had a look, though, and OMG!.....that's a lot of guilt to put on women!

"...Mary, the Mother of God, known widely as the most powerful woman in the world and the source of the belief that women ought to be treated with dignity. �.this statement sounds like the book is about treating women well but the rest of the description elaborates more on this concept.....women should only be treated with dignity if they do what is expected of them....motherhood and wifedom. Individuality, talents, interests be damned.
Maybe I'm reading too much into this book's description.