I gave Goodbye Stranger another chance after enjoying Stead's newest book The List of Things That Will Not Change. I managed to finish it this time and there were parts that I enjoyed (Stead writes friendships very well). Overall though I just don't think it's her best work, and I still found it less enjoyable than her other books.
"The site is live and running again. No other features are planned in the nearest future. The performance will be looked into depending on the problems and the availability of resources. Sorry for any inconvenience."
Comment on BookLikes' Facebook page, last night (July 13, 2020).
Sorry, but that just isn't good enough.
Not any more. Not by a long shot.
It's not about "new" features. It's about fixing problems that have existed for years -- in fact, ever since Legimi acquired BookLikes four years ago --, that have grown progressively worse over the course of time, and that have been brought to the attention of BL management time and again, always (as we all know) to no avail whatsoever.
A serious commitment to fix those problems would require immediate action: no ifs or buts. Not "depending on the problems and the availability of resources." Not just "looking into" the performance of the site.
Not just a canned response that couldn't possibly say "we really don't care" any clearer if it had shouted as much in neon letters a foot high or higher.
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After last night's statement on behalf of BookLikes, I won't create any content here anymore. In fact, if that statement had been posted about 45 minutes or an hour earlier, I wouldn't even have created the new post(s) I did still create last night. I will instead continue to do what I already started doing when BL crashed for several days back in January of this year; namely, back up and salvage all that content of my BL account that isn't already backed up elsewhere anyway (such as, fortunately, most of my blog posts, my library and most of my book-related data).
To those who want to stay in touch, as of now you can chiefly find me here:
Wordpress: This is where I will continue posting my reviews and other blog posts. In the past, my WP blog has been primarily -- though not exclusively -- my back up site for BookLikes posts, so it will take some tender love and care to be made truly presentable, but some projects are already under way; and other than salvaging my BL content, that will be my focus over the rest of the summer.
Librarything: Far and away the best online library system; you can really tell that the site was created by people who are librarians (and techies) first and foremost. LT's book database -- and librarian / editing features -- were superior to those of BookLikes by a magnitude of several galaxies even at the best of times: I've been willing to put up with the standard that BL had to offer for the sake of its blogging features and, most importantly of course, the BL community, but ... no longer so. There is no question that LT's social / communication features are unwieldy and in need of a serious overhaul. And no, I am not entirely comfortable with the fact that Amazon holds an indirect minority ownership interest in LT, which it very likely could increase to direct / sole or majority ownership at any time if it so chose. But at least LT (unlike BookLikes) lets you export your book data -- and I am not planning to post any reviews there --, so if it ever comes to that point, it will be easy enough to pull out. And its social features are "learnable" and, like everything else, get easier to manage with increased use.
Goodreads: I left GR behind as my main book site back in 2013 and have no intention of reversing that decision. However, I understand that not all of my friends from the BookLikes community feel comfortable creating a blog elsewhere or navigating Librarything, and at this point many have already made the move to the Outpost and / or (Mostly) Dead Writers Society groups on GR. So to the extent that discussions and community activities are hosted there, I'll participate.
Twitter: This is not an account I use to actively participate in any discussions, at least not outside the rare book-related convo or other; but I can be reached by PM there if necessary. If you do have a blog or a Librarything or a Goodreads account, though, those are the paths of communication that I prefer.
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Buddy Reads
There are two buddy reads to which I had been looking forward here on BookLikes in the near future.
For Hannah Arendt's The Origin of Totalitarianism, BT has already created a thread in the Outpost group. (@ Mark, I hope you've found us there!) As she said in her first post, please join us -- everybody is welcome!
As for the planned second French buddy read (and possible "buddy watch" of the TV adaptation of the Nicholas Le Floch novels), @ Tannat and @ Onnurtilraun, please let me know your preferred venue! You can comment on this post -- I'll still be around for a while, so there is every chance I'll see it -- or reach me on any of the above-mentioned sites. (Tannat, I know you're on GR, LT and WP ... not sure about Onnurtilraun, though?)
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Like so many others who have posted something similar in the past couple of days and weeks, it breaks my heart to be making this decision. The BookLikes community is, without question or comparison, far and away the best book community I've ever belonged to. The basic setup of BookLikes -- a blogging community with an integrated book database -- is, as such, unique in the online world. But while I've always said that I'll be here until the end, I feel the end has now indeed come -- not because the community has given up on the site, but because its owners and administrators have. Their statement on Facebook couldn't possibly make that any clearer. So:
(You didn't really think I could do this without a cat meme, did you?)
This is the 19th installment in the long running Hieronymus Bosch series. I doubt that there is a reader who hasn't heard of Bosch, and, with the extremely successful Amazon television adaptation, there are few non-readers who haven't heard of him.
This might be my favorite mystery series of all time - the only other possible competitor is Hercule Poirot, and those two series couldn't be more different. Connelly consistently delivers solid mystery plots, and his use of the L.A. setting makes him the direct heir to Raymond Chandler, Dashielle Hammett and the other noir writers of the thirties and forties who set their books in a long-gone version of Los Angeles.
Even among the consistently good Bosch books, I thought that this one was a total winner. There are two investigations & both are well done and entertaining. Bosch has left the LAPD and is figuring out who he is when he isn't a member of one of the top police forces in the world. Connelly has given Bosch two new partners in the last couple of books, both of them smart, interesting, capable young women, which is a terrific development in the series, although I don't think either of them are going to stick around. Maddie is off to college, and Bosch is not romantically involved. Personally, I prefer not reading about his ill-fated romantic entanglements, so the less Connelly deals with those, the better for me.
Anyway, I'm in the short haul to catching up with the series, with only 3 books left, along with the first of the Renee Ballard books, The Late Show, which will be my next book. after that, the next book, Two Kinds of Truth, was adapted for the television series last season, so I'm familiar with the storyline. After that, the series enters into a new era, with the addition of Renee Ballard as an erstwhile "partner" to Bosch. The first of the Ballard & Bosch books, Dark Sacred Night, is the story for the season that will drop 4/17/2020, which is why I'm trying so hard to catch up!
Author Fumio Sasaki succinctly explains why he chose a minimalism and how he created the lifestyle for himself. Sasaki outlines how his life changed before and after the changes, and advises on how one might deal with the feelings that arise during the cleansing process. His 55 tips on saying goodbye to your things and 15 steps to beginning the journey are logical, simple to follow and help you understand just how much stuff begets more stuff that demands your energy.
Many might be familiar with Marie Kondo's Spark Joy, which advocates a similar lifestyle. I think Sasaki's book was more pertinent for me. It approached the reasons why we hold onto things in more detail, and also emphasized how this lifestyle will enrich our lives. It felt less 'gimmicky' (although, the media and hoopla about Spark Joy could be why the book feels so 'gimmicky'). I think this is a solid follow up to Kondo's book to bring home (no pun intended) the advantages to decluttering your life so you spend less time maintaining your stuff.
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