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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
Goodreads is Finally Going to Have a DNF Shelf
I don’t know who the first Goodreads user to create a DNF shelf was or when they did it, but I can’t imagine it was long after the site’s 2006 launch. Twenty years later, Goodreads has decided to acknowledge this widely used convention and make DNFing official. In an email to users earlier this week, the platform announced that DNF shelves are “coming soon” (our best guess is March 1).
Per that email, here’s what to expect and how to tell if you need to take any action:
- If you created an exclusive custom shelf named exactly “did not finish,” “dnf,” “abandoned,” “unfinished,” “didn-t-finish,” or “dropped”, we’ll automatically convert it to the new default Did Not Finish shelf. Your reviews, ratings, and reading history stay with your book.
- If you created a tag or non-exclusive custom shelf, it will remain unchanged with one exception. Those currently named exactly “did-not-finish” will be automatically renamed to “did-not-finish-2” to avoid duplication.
- If you prefer to keep your current setup, rename your shelf or tag to anything else before Feb. 28.
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New Audible Feature Syncs Audio and E-Reading
Audible has launched Read & Listen, a new “immersion reading” feature that allows users to listen to an audiobook while following along with synchronized, highlighted text in the ebook from inside the Audible app. This is a mirror-image of the Whispersync for Voice function already available in the Kindle app. For it to work, you must have both the ebook and audiobook editions of a title in your Kindle and Audible libraries. Audible cites research that indicates that reading and listening simultaneously can improve focus and comprehension, and while this is certainly a helpful option for folks with ADHD and other neurodivergence, it sure does make accessibility expensive.
Immerse Yourself in the World of Train Dreams
Train Dreams, based on on Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella, isn’t going to win the Oscar for Best Picture, but I am genuinely thrilled that it was nominated. It’s a beautiful film, quiet—and quietly devastating—and one I’ve continued to think about for months after seeing it. If you’re in LA, you’ll soon be able to immerse yourself in the gorgeous, lush world of the film thanks to a pop-up gallery opening next week. If it doesn’t make you want to touch some real grass, I don’t know what will.
5 Romance Books That Subvert Common Tropes
Trope fatigue is real, and even when you love the predictability of a genre’s formula, who doesn’t like to be surprised every now and then? Here are five romances that play with our expectations by subverting common tropes in ways that are both exciting to read and interesting to dissect.