As an adult, and sadly unimaginative when it comes to pranking, I basically forget what comes around when the calendar shows the fun (dreaded?) April 1st date. As a kid I may have thought of calling out 'April Fools!' with joy, but if I hear it now I stare blankly at someone for a moment, blink, and then go, 'Oh. Oh, yeah! I guess it is April fools. April 1st. Right, okay.'
Goodreads is a good reminder that the holiday still exists. For the past several years, when doing my daily browse, my eye has caught a surprising Goodreads blog post announcement - and it always takes me a few moments to figure out something is up, and then figure out what day it is and what that means. Oh, oh yeah. Right.
The 2017 April Fool's Day post had several readers going for awhile if you read the comments section when Goodreads posted their blog post "Having a LitFit? Call (or text) our new Literary Chit Chat Line!" And let's face it, if we're drawn into websites to talk about books, random strange phone calls aren't far away. The amusing graphic makes me chuckle, as does their statement, "We’ve hired an army of book-loving experts to talk you through all your literary ups and downs. So, if you’re wondering what you should wear to a “red wedding” or simply need to vent about the end of literally any John Green novel, call now." - Really, they're right that friends and family don't always understand when we need to despair or feel trauma at the hands of an author. Who are we to call? Well...no one in this case, but there's the internet at least. Whew.
Again, this isn't out of the realm of impossibilities for the emptying of wallets. There are literary magazines but they're usually not displaying the colorful chunkster headlines that suit the tabloids instead of the prose. I immediately recognized this as an April Fool's Day prank - it's way too obvious from the graphic alone - but the amusing collection of article headlines and hoax inventions are so fun I'd enjoy more of these covers gracing Goodreads on a regular basis. Yes, I'm that dorky and yes, I'm that obsessive. Check out the announcement that shook up Goodreaders in their 2016 blog post.
Despite how cute a tabloid-style literary magazine may be, or how intriguing an idea for a book-help hotline is, I don't think anything can beat the dating app Goodreads announced in 2015 called KINDLR. What's funny is how many people seemed almost duped in the comments, ready to object. While I don't indulge in dating websites myself, the idea holds some water really. It's SO hard to find an actual reader for a partner. I've found one - yes, one - over the years, and the comparison in our reading level was small. Still, it was such fun to have him read some of the series I recommended and bond over books. They have religious based dating websites and every other dating website under the heatlamp, so is bonding by books really that out of the question?
I think announcing it in three cities instead of country-wide is what fooled so many initially. What's amusing is so far every blog post has several commenters begging Goodreads to make a real feature like their prank. As one commenter said, this would be the best dating app ever!
Jane Austen fans did cheer long when they realized Goodreads was pulling their chain in 2014 when they told readers they were publishing a long-lost Jane Austen novel. Oh well, we may not get a long-lost manuscript, but we do get an amusing idea and blog post. The other blog posts in later years linked to some kind of indication that an April Fool's Day had been played (in the 2017 version, the telephone link shows you a dancing Dumbledore and Snape), but in this case Goodreads actually shelved this book and mentioned it was an April Fool's Day in the books full description. Hey, at least the book has an over 4+ average and 51 ratings. Not bad for a joke book. Strangely it did end up being voted for on the "Best of Jane Austen" book list.
It looks like that's all she wrote...or else Goodreads didn't officially get a sense of humor in their blog until 2014. Either way, the Goodreads pranks may very well be the best thing for me to look forward to prank wise when April 1st comes around in future years. Cheers!
Goodreads is a good reminder that the holiday still exists. For the past several years, when doing my daily browse, my eye has caught a surprising Goodreads blog post announcement - and it always takes me a few moments to figure out something is up, and then figure out what day it is and what that means. Oh, oh yeah. Right.
The 2017 April Fool's Day post had several readers going for awhile if you read the comments section when Goodreads posted their blog post "Having a LitFit? Call (or text) our new Literary Chit Chat Line!" And let's face it, if we're drawn into websites to talk about books, random strange phone calls aren't far away. The amusing graphic makes me chuckle, as does their statement, "We’ve hired an army of book-loving experts to talk you through all your literary ups and downs. So, if you’re wondering what you should wear to a “red wedding” or simply need to vent about the end of literally any John Green novel, call now." - Really, they're right that friends and family don't always understand when we need to despair or feel trauma at the hands of an author. Who are we to call? Well...no one in this case, but there's the internet at least. Whew.
Again, this isn't out of the realm of impossibilities for the emptying of wallets. There are literary magazines but they're usually not displaying the colorful chunkster headlines that suit the tabloids instead of the prose. I immediately recognized this as an April Fool's Day prank - it's way too obvious from the graphic alone - but the amusing collection of article headlines and hoax inventions are so fun I'd enjoy more of these covers gracing Goodreads on a regular basis. Yes, I'm that dorky and yes, I'm that obsessive. Check out the announcement that shook up Goodreaders in their 2016 blog post.
I think announcing it in three cities instead of country-wide is what fooled so many initially. What's amusing is so far every blog post has several commenters begging Goodreads to make a real feature like their prank. As one commenter said, this would be the best dating app ever!
Jane Austen fans did cheer long when they realized Goodreads was pulling their chain in 2014 when they told readers they were publishing a long-lost Jane Austen novel. Oh well, we may not get a long-lost manuscript, but we do get an amusing idea and blog post. The other blog posts in later years linked to some kind of indication that an April Fool's Day had been played (in the 2017 version, the telephone link shows you a dancing Dumbledore and Snape), but in this case Goodreads actually shelved this book and mentioned it was an April Fool's Day in the books full description. Hey, at least the book has an over 4+ average and 51 ratings. Not bad for a joke book. Strangely it did end up being voted for on the "Best of Jane Austen" book list.
It looks like that's all she wrote...or else Goodreads didn't officially get a sense of humor in their blog until 2014. Either way, the Goodreads pranks may very well be the best thing for me to look forward to prank wise when April 1st comes around in future years. Cheers!
