AAR

[Linda in sw va]

[dick]

PMS, huh? That's certainly a female thing, I reckon. And, hey, whatever helps.

[cawm]

[Susan/DC]

I enjoy the list of most recent reads because it brings lots of books to my attention. I don't focus on specific grades but whether the comments are positive or negative. The vast majority of AAR reviews are new books (with a few exceptions for older DIKs). This thread is a source of both old and new books that someone else has just read, and many of these books are new to me or else ones I'd forgot. So I appreciate the reminders. While the comments may be brief, they are often longer than the ones on threads about specific books, which may be of the "I loved it" or "I agree with X; I hated it too" variety -- nothing wrong with those, they're just not particularly informative.

As for the covers, I think they're fun. I'd actually like it if people updated the beautiful covers thread too. It's another case of laughing at the bad ones, sighing over the beautiful ones, and seeing how much tastes can differ when someone puts a cover in one category that I think belongs in the other.

As for pet peeves, my interest has somewhat waned since we've covered most of the possibilities, but it's still interesting to see what gets added. Venting is good for the blood pressure.

[Gail K.]

[Gail K.]

[dick]

to gailk: 'Twould be interesting, no doubt about it. For the most part, the boards slant toward the hen-house rather than the rooster's roost, understandable under the circumstances. However, I've never pushed to be representative of the average---it's so commonplace.

[Allyson]

I find it so amusing when people try to make everything into a male/female issue! Sure, there are differences, but thread popularity on a romance novel board, where all but two or three posters are female? I don't know, it just struck me as funny.

So I've gotta ask, what type of threads on this board would be more 'a male thing'?

As for me, I like all those threads, especially the covers and peeves one. The 'what book did you just read' is more one I'll occasionally check than one I really follow.

It's nice to sometimes see other topics come up, but with a lot of them, once someone's said their piece, there's not a lot more to go on. Unless it turns into a heated debate (which can be fun!) once the regular posters have had their say, the thread tends to float towards the bottom. whereas threads like 'what did you just read' or covers can have new posts all the time from whenever people finish a book or see a hilarious cover. Just makes sense to me!

[dick]

to allyson: It is not the threads nor their topics that I thought expressed femaleness, so much as their longevity. Don't you find that women are more interested in the reactions of others than men are? These threads seem to me to demonstrate that interest.

[Kayne]

[Tee]

[Schola]

I would be okay with creating a new thread for every book I want to review. What stops me is the thought that nobody might really care to discuss the majority of them, and given how opinionated I am and how much I read, I'd just be clogging up the boards.

Another consideration is how hard it is to search the boards for threads dedicated to specific titles, series or authors. I once started a new one on Elizabeth Hoyt's Princes trilogy, not realising that there was already an old one several pages long. So there is a practical reason to have one long thread just for reviews: we know what to check regularly, even if we don't always get what we're really looking for.

It is rare that a specific title stirs up enough discussion in the Ratings/Reviews thread to merit its own "spin-off."
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"To be in a romance is to be in uncongenial surroundings. To be born into this earth is to be born into uncongenial surroundings, hence to be born into a romance." (G.K. Chesterton)