Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion

Did you know that you can set your bookshelves to show how many "likes" each of your reviews have received? The "likes" are known as "votes".

To set your shelves, click on "My Books".
Then click on "shelf settings".
Put a check in the "votes" box.
This will create a "votes" column on your bookshelves.

You can also find a list of the books which have received the most "votes" i.e., "likes") on Goodreads.
Click on the Goodreads "Explore" tab.
Then click on "People".
Then click on "best reviews".
You can sort them as follows:
his week | this month | this year | all time

The most "votes/likes" I've ever received was for my review of Sarah's Key. So far I've received 29 "votes/likes" on that review. See my review at:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I must have been visited by the muse when I wrote that review. LOL

What's the most "votes/likes" you ever received on a review?
Please post a link to that review here. Thanks. I'm curious. :)

Interesting, Joy. I hadn't known about that. 26 is the most like's I've had & that was for A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Jim wrote: "Interesting, Joy. I hadn't known about that. 26 is the most like's I've had & that was for A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/..."

Jim, it looks like you sparked a good discussion at your review. I've added another "like" to it. :)
Your reviews are always interesting.

Thanks, Joy!

Joy, thanks for making me aware of that Goodreads function; I set it up yesterday for my reviews, and it's interesting to see the totals (and gratifying to know some people liked my thoughts on particular books!). Frequently, I vote that I "like" reviews by my friends and others (I liked both of your top vote-getters, Jim and Joy!), even in some cases where I don't agree with their assessments or ever want to read the book, just because I enjoy thoughtful, well-written reviews; they're one of the main pleasures Goodreads has to offer. (A lot of times, I find the reviews vastly more rewarding reading than I figure the book ever would be! :-) ) If someone clearly put some serious thought and work into reviewing a book for me and other Goodreaders, I figure he/she likes to know I appreciated the effort and the result; and I feel the same way when I get a "like" (even though I've never been one of the few Goodreaders who wants to compete with others for vote totals!).

Most of my reviews haven't garnered many votes, if any; I'll never be among the top Goodreads reviewers. Only 13 of them got as many as 15 votes (and only five of those above 20), with most getting far fewer. Far and away the top vote-getter, though, was my review of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander, with 40; that link is: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... . That may owe more to the popularity of the book than to the merits of the review, which isn't very long.

Werner, I don't know about not being one of the top reviewers. I'm surprised because I don't do a bunch, but look at my stats:

1887 ratings (3.31 avg)
869 reviews
Goodreads librarian
#44 top reviewers
#61 best reviewers

I can't see the same stats on your profile, but I guess that's because you're an author.

I agree with you about liking reviews. Even super short ones get a like from me if they hit a couple of important points.

Wow! Jim, congratulations on your ranking (well deserved!). You've got a lot more reviews under your belt than I have, too (of course, you've been on Goodreads longer). They only credit me with 300 and some, and some of those are things they count as "reviews" that I wouldn't have. :-)

Werner and Jim, I never thought to look at the member's profile to see their rankings as reviewers.

Also, I have to keep reminding myself as to the definition of these different rankings:

1. top reviewers
2 most popular reviewers
3. best reviews

1. Top 45 reviewers - People with the most reviews on Goodreads
http://www.goodreads.com/user/top_rev...

2. Most popular 100 reviewers - People who wrote reviews that got the most votes
http://www.goodreads.com/user/best_re...

3. Best or Top Reviews [not "reviewers"] - Top 50 reviews - The most popular reviews on Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/review/best_...

For example, see Jim's rankings below:

#44 top reviewers (This rank refers to the number of reviews he's written) (See #1 above)

#61 best reviewers (This rank refers to the fact that he was among those "People who wrote reviews that got the most votes". (See #2 above)

Werner wrote: "Wow! Jim, congratulations on your ranking (well deserved!). You've got a lot more reviews under your belt than I have, too (of course, you've been on Goodreads longer). They only credit me with 3..."

Werner and Jim, I think you are both very impressive as readers and as Goodreads members. I'm proud and grateful to have you both posting at my group.

Joy, thanks for the kind words! (And thanks for the interesting links --I'll have to explore those in more depth sometime to find some good reviews I haven't read. :-) )

Thanks to both of you. If you look at those stats & then at some of the folks above me, you'll see my scores aren't really all that impressive compared to the top. I have several friends that have 10 times as many likes on their reviews. Actually, I seem to count a dozen of the most popular reviewers among my friends here on GR. I know some are yours too, Werner. Dan, for instance.

Well, I'm not worried about the stats, just finding good books to read & people to discuss them with. I certainly have & you both number tops among them.

Jim, as my oldest daughter would say, "Right back at ya!" :-) Yes, finding good books to read and people to discuss them with is what Goodreads is all about!

I don't usually read GR reviews according to who wrote the review unless that person points me to his/her review.

Instead, I usually read the GR reviews which I happen to come across while checking out a particular book which I've recently read or which I might read in the future.

Sometimes when I find a particularly interesting review of a book, I will include a link to it (or an excerpt from it) in my own review of the same book. I find that many GR people are very articulate and are able to express things much better than I would, even though I have the same thoughts or opinions in my head.

I've learned to call those thoughts of mine "inchoate thoughts", not fully formed enough yet to articulate clearly. Often I just can't find the right words to help me say what I'd like to say.

As for the word "inchoate", I've only recently learned its meaning and am just starting to use it (as I did above).

One of the reasons it's a hard word to use is that the dictionaries don't seem to agree on how to pronounce it. It's a strange word. I doubt if I'll ever be comfortable with it, even though it's a handy word.

Below are links to dictionary pages where you can hear it pronounced:
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/di...
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dicti...
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/inchoat...
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dict...

I suppose I could just as well use the expression: "undeveloped thoughts". :-)

How would U express the idea?

PS-But if I had to guess, I suppose all your thoughts come out fully-formed! LOL

Nah, Joy, my thoughts can be pretty inchoate too, until I sit down and wrestle them into shape. :-)

I agree with Werner on the inchoate thoughts & wrestling.

I do pay attention to my friends' reviews over others. One reason they are my friends here on GR is that I know & respect their tastes in books, whether or not I fully agree with them. Some friends have almost identical tastes in some genres, but not in others. Their opinions weigh much more heavily than anything strangers might write, even if they're one of the 'best' reviewers.

"Wrestle is a good word to describe the setting down of our thoughts and then editing them. I find that word-processing programs have made writing easier and more fun, even though there is always a bit of wrestling. The wrestling can be fun.

Joy wrote "The wrestling can be fun." Very true, Joy!

Back in August of 2012, I noted that my most popular review up to that time was of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander, which then had 40 "likes." The figure is 54 now, but it's no longer the top vote-getter among my reviews; the one I did of The Hiding Place (www.goodreads.com/review/show/17596098 ) has beaten it out, with 58 "likes." Actually, I like the latter review better myself; so it makes more sense to me that it would be better liked by others!

Wow! That's a lot of votes. Great job, Werner.

Thanks, Jim! Actually, the number of votes doesn't in itself necessarily mean the review is especially good; it just happens to be a favorable review of a really popular book. A lot of people on Goodreads, I think, browsing reviews with time to kill, will check out reviews of books they themselves liked, and will vote for a favorable review as sort of a way of saying, "I liked it too!" But it's always gratifying when someone else "likes" something you took time to write!

Wow! I had forgotten about this thread which I started in August of 2012. It's 2014 now and I'm amazed at myself for having figured out all the instructions.

Joy H. wrote: "Wow! I had forgotten about this thread which I started in August of 2012. It's 2014 now and I'm amazed at myself for having figured out all the instructions."

Just trying again to see if this comes back to me.

Hope it does, Nina!

Still trying but no luck so far. We'll see what happens.

I don't seem to be getting notifications either, Nina.

I've recently decided that I will review every book I read. A fair undertaking, and I'm 2 reviews behind currently, but I really enjoy writing the review, so I'm going to stick with it. However, I seldom get a single like :( - of course I'm not sure if anyone is actually seeing my reviews. I hope so. Perhaps it's simply that nobody likes my reviews, hahah!

Philippa wrote: "I've recently decided that I will review every book I read. A fair undertaking, and I'm 2 reviews behind currently, but I really enjoy writing the review, so I'm going to stick with it. However, I ..."

Philippa, you will find your reviews handy when you look back to see them after some time has passed. Sometimes, when I look back at my reviews, I don't even remember writing them! LOL

Keep up the good work.

Philippa wrote: "I've recently decided that I will review every book I read. A fair undertaking, and I'm 2 reviews behind currently, but I really enjoy writing the review, so I'm going to stick with it. However, I ..."

Don't pay much attention to likes on reviews. Few do it, I think. I have 281 GR friends & almost 1900 followers, but often get just a handful of likes on my reviews. Why would anyone follow me other than to read my reviews? I can't think of any other reason. Certainly not to read my posts. I'd think they'd be liking the reviews, but obviously aren't. Who knows? Others seem to get a lot of likes on their reviews, but they have thousands of GR friends.

Some people post their reviews in groups & that tends to get a few extra if you really want them. I usually do like them if they tell me something about the content of the book so I'll know if I want to read it or not. IMO, that's what makes GR great. There are way too many books available, so being able to see the good & bad points of a book here help me pick out the few I do have time to read.