In 2018, community sites took turns covering a book every week. You can see "In 2018, we read books" to review that coverage. We didn't want to repeat ourselves in 2019 or 2020. So when Marcia came up with a way to cover books but with a twist, we were all for it. Marcia's idea was for us to digital books -- we're largely a printed text crowd -- and to use AMAZON's KINDLE UNLIMITED. So for 2021, we'll be doing a book a week and trying to just use KINDLE UNLIMITED. This week, we're talking with Elaine about her "JOAN: FORTY YEARS OF LIFE, LOSS, AND FRIENDSHIP WI..." and Dona about her "A SPY IN THE HOUSE OF ANAIS NIN (Dona)." Elaine, starting with you, what did you think of Sara Davidson's JOAN: FORTY YEARS OF LIFE, LOSS, AND FRIENDSHIP WITH JOAN DIDION?
Elaine: I thought it was a well written. I saw the Joan I knew reflected.
We were going to ask that.
Elaine: Yes, I know Joan -- C.I. and I both do. And, yes, I saw that Joan in the writing, so high praise there. I would strongly recommend the writing.
But?
Elaine: This is not a book. Sara could expand it and make it a book. But my problem is that I was looking for a book to read, something to sink my teeth into. This is a 42-page essay. It's well written but it's not a book. KINDLE UNLIMITEd should give a heads up or something.
How did you find the book?
Elaine: Was it Trina who pointed out how difficult it was to search? I searched and she's exactly right, you have to wade through everything. There should be an easier way, you should be able to search just for what KINDLE UNLIMITED offers.
And now we are going to bring in Dona. Before we get to your book, Dona, how did you find it?
Dona: Like Elaine, I had to search and, no, it's not easy. I would rate that the worst feature of KINDLE UNLIMITED -- the inabilty for search results to give you just what is available in KINDLE UNLIMITED.
Elaine: Dona, conspiracy talk here, I was thinking this might not be a bug, AMAZON might have planned this so that we'd be forced to look at digital books that are for sale and, hopefully for them, purchase something.
Dona: Good point. I had not thought of that but it seems to be a likely scenario.
So, Dona, you liked Kim Krizan's A SPY IN THE HOUSE OF ANAIS NIN?
Dona: I loved the book and I highly recommend it. Anais Nin comes alive on the pages and it's far superior to Deirdra Bair's book on Anais Nin.
That book has so many errors.
Dona: And it's also very insulting to Anais Nin.
And KINDLE UNLIMITED?
Dona: It needs to be easier to navigate.
Elaine: My friend Sunny asked me to pass on that she is enjoying this series. She loves reading and has meant to sign up for KINDLE UNLIMITED but never has the time. She said she's unaware of any effort to seriously cover KINDLE UNLIMITED and what's offered other than what's being done right now at THIRD.
Dona: And I'll introduce a new term: Borrowing. That's the term KINDLE UNLIMITED uses for when you have a book. You're "borrowing" it. As opposed to checking it out like you would at a library. I'd also note that ten books seems generous to some but not to me. I'm reading a number of books for a number of reasons. I would like to see the ten doubled to 20. I like to have it in the cloud long enough to recommend it and what I find is that I'm replacing a book to read a new one and then I forget the author or the title when I'm wanting to share with a friend something that they should read.
There's no history of books that we're aware of, a place you can go to click somewhere and see what books you've 'borrowed.'
Elaine: Dona's got a good point. I'd like 20 as well and I'd also like a history so I'd know what I've previously read. For example, I like to read a lot of history and I like to come at it from various angles. Without a list of what I've already borrowed, I might borrow the same book again and be five or more pages in before I realize it.
So two pieces recommended -- one an essay and one a book -- and some recommendations on how KINDLE UNLIMITED could be improved. Thank you both.
