I rate them like your friend. I don't go by a book's rating on goodreads to determine if I want to read it / will like it or not.

I only use the rating to remind MYSELF what I liked or didn't like - and I suspect quite a large number of other goodreads users do the same.

Personally I don't give a 1 ever because that would be a DNF - and you're right, if it's that bad, then it's probably on me selecting a book that's not my taste. Those I simply shelve as DNF, don't rate and move on.

Yes? Kind of?

Been playing a game with myself to get me out of a reading rut. I buy books based on their spine color in the order of the rainbow. I go into the used book store, scan for whatever color I'm on, pick out the first 4 books I see and buy the one that sounds the best. If I like the sound of more than one of them I'll do as you do and skip a couple chapters in and read a paragraph or two to get a feel for the author's style to help me pick.

I will be honest and say I've still ended up with some real duds / dnf's. But I've also stumbled across some great books I'd never have picked up otherwise which let me add to my list of "favorite authors" and thus expand my reading repertoire.

If you like things with a solid base of realism, but still told as a legit "story" - try some of the historical fiction by Jeff Shaara. I like how he uses as many primary sources as he can to know the factual history of the person/event he is writing - but is also very clear that his goal is to convey the "story", so the book is indeed fiction in the conversations, combined experiences, etc. while sticking with historic events.

That's awesome you live that close!

Remember though, my "collection" has been accumulated over 40 years and I've never had to worry about weight issues except when moving.

I thought I had a lot of books, but when I finally did a spreadsheet of the titles, I only came up with just over 500 (which seems small to me).

Anyway, vast majority fall into sci-fi / fantasy, with Star Trek books making up about 60, Mercedes Lackey books bringing in another 20 or so, and ditto for Robin Hobb and Anne McCafferty.

I think I found it - try https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=joshua%202&version=AKJV;TLB

It's not automatically intuitive (to me anyway) - but you can pull up any bible version they have listed and then "add parallel" so you can view the two versions side by side.

There is a couple sites online that offer you the chance to read different bible verses side by side. I can't find my bookmark for the one I use to use right now - sorry. But basically google any bible quote and check for sites that offer different translations (bible versions).

Then see which one seems to fit what you prefer. Most traditional ones, inc. King James should work well for your purpose. But a quick check online would give you the best feel for how each handles a particular story.

I forget which sub it was, but I picked up a few from here on Reddit when someone put out a thread where people who wanted to share could post their goodreads id.

I prefer older books, currently on a mystery/thriller binge, but do fantasy, historical fiction and a variety of others depending on my mood. If you like the same, pm me and we can get each other's info.

I'm not on Goodreads all the time, but I do read others reviews, what they are reading and will toss out the occasional comment and some likes.

And after being literally raised on ad after ad after ad talking about "minty fresh breath" - we now are conditioned to believe mint is, in fact, "refreshing" - whether it is to us personally or not.

This book is one of those rare ones that etches itself into your soul and strikes back in unexpected moments. A reminder that no matter how normal or mundane the world around us seems, there can be darkness lurking right underneath our noses, and we are not nearly as in control of ourselves and our lives as we think we are.

For me the beauty of this book is in it's rather stark simplicity compared to some of other King's work which I found to be way too wordy and descriptive for my taste and so I wasn't really able to get into them. This one left me nowhere to hide.