What I'm Reading Wednesday

What have you just finished reading? Die Trying by Lee Child.
The second of the Jack Reacher series, a good book however the conclusion felt rushed to me and was over before you expected with no real payoff

What are you reading? Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
Not his strongest book and I definitely prefer the Robert Langdon series. The idea behind the book makes you think and it's a gripping story, though the technology is slightly out of date.

What is your next book to read? The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
I remember reading this many years ago, found it in the library and it made to to the top of my to-read pile. I hope it's as good as I remember

According to my Goodreads stats, I've read 16 of my goal of 65 books in 2017. It also proceeds to tell me I'm 8 books behind schedule and have read 25% of my goal.

Blogging, privacy and dreamwidth

I love finding new blogs to read. I'm a fan of the 'random community' and 'random journal' buttons here on Dreamwidth. I think the ability to find others with similar interests is such a fun tool.

But on top of this, I'm intrigued by the reactions of people when someone new happens to stumble across their journal. When I comment on a random post that I've found in such a way, I will always to try to preface it with 'I found your journal through...' so they know where I've come from but I don't always remember.

Some people welcome new readers with open arms, engage in conversation, comment back and forth and we end up adding each other to our 'circle'. No lie, this is my favourite kind of interaction.

Some people are initially suspicious, reply with caution but once I've said hi and how I found their journal are ok. Sometimes this continues on with an add, sometimes it's a one-off interaction. And that's perfectly fine.

Some people though baffle me. They get confrontational and defensive, demanding to know who you are, how you found their blog, why you're reading and why you're commenting.
I thought the whole point of social media, of online blogging was to interact with people? It's the same with people who write their posts as friends only - why post online if you don't want people to read what you're writing? Just keep a pen and paper diary and be done with it.