GoodReads Sucks

amazon

Sarah Manavis, writing at New Statesman:

With the vast amount of books and user data that Goodreads holds, it has the potential to create an algorithm so exact that it would be unstoppable, and it is hard to imagine anyone objecting to their data being used for such a purpose. Instead, it has stagnated: Amazon holds on to an effective monopoly on the discussion of new books – Goodreads is almost 40 times the size of the next biggest community, LibraryThing, which is also 40 per cent owned by Amazon – and it appears to be doing very little with it.

GoodReads is a really bad website and an even worse app. It could be awesome. It should be awesome. The difference between using it, and say Letterboxd for movies, is night and day. It just makes me sad.

Liner Notes (September 11th, 2020)

San Francisco

I’ve been writing this newsletter every week, missing none, since at least July of 2018. Today when I sat down to write, I found myself staring at a blinking cursor and trying to find the motivation to make my fingers make words on the black screen. I did my best. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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Liner Notes (September 4th, 2020)

Flowers

First impressions of the new Acceptance album, more impressions of the new Slick Shoes album, and all sorts of heaping praise for Ted Lasso. All that, and more, in this week’s newsletter. Plus, as always, a playlist of ten songs I enjoyed this week. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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Liner Notes (August 28th, 2020)

Sky

This week’s newsletter looks at my two favorite albums this week: Ruston Kelly and PVRIS, and shares some early thoughts on the new Slick Shoes album. There’s also commentary on other music I like this week and the entertainment I consumed. Plus, as always, a playlist of ten songs I liked and all that jazz. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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Liner Notes (August 21st, 2020)

Surf Boards

Lots of good music out this week. This week’s newsletter shares my thoughts on music and entertainment I enjoyed this week and has a playlist of ten songs worth checking out. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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Liner Notes (August 14th, 2020)

Skate

I hope everyone had a good week. This week’s newsletter shares early impressions of The Menzingers’ acoustic album, thoughts on other music I enjoyed this week, some thoughts on movies, tv and books I consumed this week, and all kinds of other cool stuff. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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Liner Notes (August 7th, 2020)

I wrote some of this yesterday because we have a family engagement we need to attend to today, but I wanted to make sure to get something out for y’all. This week’s newsletter looks at projects around the website this week, music out today, and some thoughts on entertainment. Plus, a playlist of ten songs I liked this week. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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Liner Notes (July 31st, 2020)

Sunflower

This week’s newsletter shares my favorite pop-punk album of the year so far. Gasp! Pop-punk in 2020? I also go through some thoughts on music and entertainment I enjoyed over the past week, and share a playlist and pizza toppings. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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Liner Notes (July 24th, 2020)

Phone

This week has thoughts on Taylor Swift, Neon Trees, bad violin playing in movies, and much more. Plus, there’s a playlist of ten songs I enjoyed this week, and this week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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Liner Notes (July 17th, 2020)

Beach

On Fridays we write newsletters. This week I share things I found interesting and some thoughts on music and entertainment. There’s also a playlist of ten songs you should check out and this week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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Liner Notes (July 10th, 2020)

Ferris Wheel

This week’s newsletter looks at music and entertainment I enjoyed this week. This was a good week for singles, and I’m all about that new PVRIS album. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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Liner Notes (July 3rd, 2020)

fireworks

I hope everyone had a decent week this week. Hard to say “great” with everything that is going on in the world right now, so I’m setting the bar at “decent.” This week’s newsletter looks at the music and entertainment I enjoyed last week and includes a playlist of ten songs I think are worth your time. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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