Monday News: Audiobooks, internet security, and book awards
Rethinking Romance/The Audible Experience – As someone who enjoys audiobooks a great deal, I found this post interesting. I know that many readers have the opposite perspectives on listening to books, but what struck me most was the idea that for this reader, listening to a favorite series on audio actually revealed something to her about the kind of reader she was:
I read them hastily, sloppily. In the end, they all ran together in my head. (They have intersecting plot points so this added to that feeling.) In the end I dismissed them as exceptionally tasty junk food. But listening to them changed all that. I was at the mercy of the narrator, I was going his speed…so there was no rushing to the “good parts.” I actually had to sit and listen and take in details I hadn’t before. It turns out these weren’t trashy novels, I was just a trashy reader. A hurried, shallow reader. No more. I can now say without hesitation that these are good books, quality books. With fully-fleshed-out characters, superb character development, fun, fast-moving plots, and even some decent world-building. –Lawyers, Guns, Money
Websites, Please Stop Blocking Password Managers. It’s 2015 -In what this Wired article refers to as “the curse of good intentions,” a number of websites actively disable password managers that allow users to generate strong, unique passwords, which are key for internet safety. They do so with the intention of preventing phishing, malware, and hacking, even though password managers do not generally increase those risks.
Here’s the problem: Some sites won’t let you paste passwords into login screens, forcing you, instead, to type the passwords out. This makes it impossible to use certain kinds of password managers that are one of the best lines of defense for keeping accounts locked down. . . .
But accounts aren’t broken into by repetitive copy and pasting. One hacker told WIRED that disabling paste on a webpage does not stop him from using automated tools to speedily gain access to users’ accounts. –Wired
RWA Announces 2015 Award Winners – RITA winners were announced on Saturday evening. Congratulations to all of this year’s finalists and winners. This year you could watch the ceremony live, but in case you missed it, here are the winners. I will say that I am thrilled for Meredith Duran, because in addition to being a talented writer, she’s also a heck of a cool person, and that’s a lovely combination. Overall, though, the field of winners looks a little safe to me. But then again, this is really a peer-to-peer award, with authors celebrating their own. –RWA
And speaking of book awards, here is the list of 2015 American Book Awards, presented by the Before Columbus Foundation, another “writers’ award given by other writers.” This year’s winners include musician Carlos Santana, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Laila Lalami, Marlon James, and poet Anne Waldman, who won for Lifetime Achievement. The full list of winners can be found at the website.
The American Book Awards were created to provide recognition for outstanding literary achievement from the entire spectrum of America’s diverse literary community. The purpose of the awards is to recognize literary excellence without limitations or restrictions. There are no categories, no nominees, and therefore no losers. The award winners range from well-known and established writers to under-recognized authors and first works.–Before Columbus Foundation
I have been an audiobook addict for almost 30 years. I totally agree about audiobooks- if someone is “telling me a story” I have to listen to every word that I can easily skim over when reading. My experience with the Outlander series, for example, was much different in audio than in reading the (sometimes) excruciating details and minutiae. Romance is a relatively new discovery in my book listening life- audiobooks have added to the joy of discovery.
I had to watch the RITA stream on my computer, because the iPad was havin’ none of that. It was wonderful to see all the different personalities behind the writing (and I want to speak as elegantly as Jo Beverly someday). Also, I second your thoughts on Meredith Duran’s win.
The RITA awards are frequently very “meh” to me. I agree about Meredith Duran, that’s the one category where I agree with the choice of winner. The paranormal winner was one of those books that seems pressed out of the Play Dough fun factory. I read it, and while it was pleasant enough it wasn’t anything special and it was about 40% a set up for future books in the series or an ode to past couples. Bec McMaster’s book was about a thousand times better written and more original. I enjoy Nora Roberts as much as anyone but was her umpteenth J.D. Robb book really the best of the year for her category? Whenever I look back at past winners I am kind of amazed at which books won. I am glad Lisa Kleypas has won a RITA, but was her book “Worth Any Price” her best work? Far from it. It seems like a lot of awards, they are awarded after the author builds up enough “cred” from their work and not for the work that actually deserves it.
The judging will begin soon for the EPIC awards (Electronically Published Internet Coalition), which have been presented for the past 12 years. Only the best of the year’s eBooks are considered. Yes, most of the judges are authors, but some are publishers, editors, and cover artists. There is a cover artist contest as well. The time to enter is almost over: July 31. Find out more at: http://www.epicorg.com
Listening to books gave me a whole new appreciation for Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I enjoyed her before, but I, too, am a sloppy reader. There was a lot of stuff I just glossed over when I read her.
I “read” Outlander by listening to the audiobooks. Davina Porter is a great narator but listening to the 30+ hour books made me really see how badly Gabaldon needs a better editor. Reading you can skim over stuff but with audio you are stuck. I do most of my listening via audiobook. Listening lets you take in nuance and detail you may have missed but the flip side is if their are problems with the book, they are magnified 10 fold. I’ve found I strike out a lot listening to authors who are new to me. It is frustrating.
I listened to the 50 Shades and Grey audiobooks. Lets just say that the poor writing and characterization is done no favors. I think listening to Grey made him more of a sociopath then I would have gotten reading it,