Amazon discontinued the ability to create images using their SiteStripe feature and in their infinite wisdom broke all previously created images on 12/31/23. Many blogs used this feature, including this one. Expect my archives to be a hot mess of broken book cover images until I can slowly comb through 20 years of archives to make corrections.

Monday, May 21, 2007

General Housekeeping

Regular visitors to this blog who pay attention might have noticed by now that the blog links I had on my side bar have vanished. Thanks to someone out in Blogland (and I know it was a romance reader, but dang I can't remember who now), I discovered Google Reader - which has quickly become my new addiction. Such an easy way to keep up with my favorite blogs, plus I've added a slew of others that I only kept up with periodically when I "remembered" to check them. Now, Google Reader does my checking for me. Very handy for those of you who don't update all that often ::wagging my finger, you know who you are::

I thought about keeping some blog links on my side bar, but honestly they were starting to get on my nerves. So bye-bye linkage. I'm sorry if that offends, but I just got sick of my side bar. If you need links that badly, hit Romancing The Blog, or check for the occasional embedded links I provide in blog posts.

In it's place I thought I'd add a breakdown of how I "grade" books that I post reviews for here. Frankly, I always thought it was self-explanatory, but I once got a very puzzling comment about my grading on one of the many e-mail loops I'm on. The poster was horrified that I only gave a book a "B" when "everyone else" she knew who had read the book just gushed endlessly over it. So there I was, justifying a "B" grade and trying to convince this person that hey, a "B" is really good in my eyes. So in case any of you out in Blogland are similarly horrified, there's now a handy breakdown for you on the sidebar.

As a general rule, I'm pretty stingy with the A grades. The book really has to knock my socks off to the point that I'm contemplating a reread. I have zero time for rereading people, so if I want to reread a book you know it has to be good. On the other end of the spectrum, I'm also pretty stingy with the F grades. The book really has to be horrible for me to hand down such a grade. I'm the sort of person who looks (really looks) to find that one redeeming quality, and if it's there the book escapes the dreaded F to land in D territory. See how nice I am?

5 comments:

Rosie said...

I've been thinking of taking out my links because I use Kinja to keep track of my blogs and their updates. Although the way everyone has been raving about GOOGLE reader I guess I should check it out.

Just finished Cheryl Reavis FORBIDDEN WIFE. Not exactly a western NC mining in 1845. Good book though, not great, but good.

~ames~ said...

I'm going to have to hurry up and use this google reader thing. LOL

I can't explain my grading system because it's always changing. But yeah, B's are not bad grades. Although, I would have freaked in high school if I got a B on anything. hehehe

Anonymous said...

LOL, welcome to the club. I'm totally addicted to GReader and I've been prosyletizing left and right.

Every day, it seems I add more to it. I'm loving it!!!!

La Karibane

Wendy said...

Rosie:
I have Forbidden Wife in the TBR. Still.

Reavis' historicals tend to stick to the East coast and for a long time HQ was labeling them "westerns." I don't care how far back in time you go - North Carolina was never the "west." LOL

Holly said...

As a general rule, I'm pretty stingy with the A grades. The book really has to knock my socks off to the point that I'm contemplating a reread.

That's how I feel about my 5 grades, too. I've only handed out a couple. My average grades fall into the 3 range. But then, I'm picky.

I love Google Reader. It makes things so much easier. Then again, it also makes me lazier about commenting, because I tend to think "I'll comment later" and then don't.