Amazon is now aggregating the data from the “highlighting” feature on the Kindle to find out what text is highlighted the most across all Kindle users. Amazon is calling the feature “Most Highlighted Passages of All Time” and the results couldn’t be more boring. (via)
Kindle Highlights and Lowlights
Another “Mildred Pierce”
Are you a Mildred Pierce fan? James M. Cain’s recently discovered manuscript will be released next year by Hard Case Crime.
●
●
Rough Starts
We've talked about great opening lines before, but what about the rough starts? The American Scholar has listed the "Ten Worst Opening Lines" and believe it or not, they're well worth reading.
●
●
Ill Will
Did our interview with Hilary Mantel yesterday pique your interest in her latest book? The Times has an excerpt you can read. Elsewhere, Damian Barr (who conducted the interview) pens a response to Lord Bell, who recently suggested that Scotland Yard should investigate Mantel for criminal intent.
●
●
One comment:
Add Your Comment: Cancel reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Wharton is the Original Gossip Girl
On this week's New Yorker Out Loud podcast, Rebecca Mead recommends (seriously) Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth -- "the real thing" -- for teen-readers who love the Cecily von Ziegesar Gossip Girl series.
This feature is ON by default and I just found out today by accident. I was in the middle of a page, and there it was suddenly staring at me: a highlighted paragraph. I thought my device had gone nuts!
If I wanted a highlighted, commented book I would buy a used book in poor condition. Now, why would I want to recreate that experience on my Kindle?
Not only are these highlights an obnoxious distraction, but they can also serve as spoilers. Amazon should give you the option of enabling highlights when you start reading, instead of assuming everyone loves marked and commented books. I hate it when people highlight library books and now I have to put up with it on my e-books?
It took me several minutes to find out how to turn it off, but in the brief time it was active, this feature interfered with my reading: I had to stop, go online, read half a dozen articles about this topic where the only concern was people worried about their privacy, and by then my reading time was up.