💡 WiseUp! Vol. 39 — The ghost of books past

📍 Let's start with a reading recommendation

How to read more books

In the spirit of spooky season, Wisereads editor Abi is facing the ghosts of her New Year’s reading goals. With two months to finish the year strong, this advice from Jeremy Anderberg is a much-needed reminder to focus on what’s working and let the rest go: “When I feel obligated to read or finish an uninspiring book, I inevitably slow down. I pick up my phone more often (instead of the book), I let myself get distracted by my to-do list more easily, and I just don’t have that same urge to know what happens next that compels me to read more. If a book just isn’t resonating with you, put it down. Sometimes the book just isn’t for you and your unique tastes; sometimes the book isn’t for you right now.”

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From the support inbox

Have questions about using Readwise or Reader in your workflow? We'd love to be your guide! Reply to this email with your question and you might be featured in an upcoming issue. Even if your question isn’t featured, we’ll respond to every message.

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❓ A Readwise question from George N:

Will Readwise notify me in the app if my Kindle account ever gets disconnected?

Never miss an update! When your Kindle disconnects, you’ll see an orange dot on the bell icon. A blue dot means there’s something new to check out, like an update or feature. Tap the bell to read all the details right from the changelog.

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❓ A Reader question from David T:

I’ve noticed slower load times when switching between the library and feed on iOS and iPad. Any way to fix this?

Reader can store everything you’ve got, but when your Library or Feed gets really big, it might start to feel a bit slower. You can help speed things up by turning on the experimental caching feature. Once that’s done, go to Account > Debugging > Clear all local data (cache) to clear out any lingering cached items.

📖 New help doc of the week

Made a mistake? Undo it!

This week, we've added new documentation for Reader’s versatile undo feature. Learn how to rescue deleted highlights, undo a bulk action you regret taking, and generally reverse your moves on both web and mobile.

Read the guide

🎬 New video of the week

Before you buy the new Palma…

Boox just announced their new Palma 2 Pro, featuring a full color display and stylus support. But before you upgrade, it’s worth checking out our two other favorite e-readers of 2025.

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📰 Oct 18 - Oct 24 updates

What's new in Reader and Readwise

🖊️ NEW! Android Stylus Support — Mati built first class support for device-specific Android styluses, so you can now highlight naturally while reading. You no longer need to tap and hold to make a highlight, and you can scroll using the pencil in the margins as long as you have a supported (i.e. non-universal) stylus.

🔁 Improved Highlight Syncing — Tristan synchronized highlight character limits between Reader and Readwise to prevent sync issues. The limit is now consistent at 8,191 characters across both platforms.

🏷️ Fixed Tag Filtering — Tristan resolved an issue where tags containing forward slashes (/) wouldn't work properly when clicked for filtering. You can now filter by tags without running into blank pages.

🔧 Improved Pocket Imports — Piotr fixed a bug that blocked importing from Pocket if an author's name was listed as “None.”

🦾 Fixed ChatGPT Tagging — Piotr fixed a glitch where typing a tag into our extension overwrote each character when on https://chat.openai.com. It should now be much easier to tag your saved conversations with ChatGPT.

🔀 Fixed Notion Connections — Rasul worked with the folks at Notion to fix a glitch that was preventing some people from connecting with Notion. The ‘Use the template provided by the developer’ option should no longer be greyed out.

🎙️ Fixed Chat with Highlights — Ibai fixed a websocket connection glitch that prevented some users from chatting with their highlights using the Readwise app.

🤖 Fixed Ghostreader Keys — When you run custom Ghostreader prompts, they'll now properly use your API key and preferred models, thanks to Ibai.

🗞️ Fixed Offline Caching — Johannes fixed a glitch that could cause the app’s buttons to lock up while experimental caching of offline documents was turned on. Performance should be a lot better now.

🛜 Parsing Updates —  Krzys fixed a bug where embedded Substack notes weren't pulling in images when imported to Reader. He also fixed an issue where The New Yorker's feed was showing outdated information.

👻 Five spooky finds

From the CX team

📚 Eleanor finds this obscure collection of commentaries on german folklore fascinating. And there’s more: it's part of a long-running project for translating old German folklore tales into English.

🕯️ Abi is setting the Halloween mood with realistic, wax-coated flameless candles that add a spooky flicker every evening from 4 to 10 pm. (We love a good timer automation!) 

🎃 When they’re not moonlighting as jack-o’-lanterns, pumpkins make great desserts. You can follow the lead of Erin, who loves baking these pumpkin cinnamon rolls. 

🍿 Short and sweet? More like short and scary. If you only have a few minutes today, get spooked with this Youtube short film curated by Angie.

🌊 Argentine author Samanta Schweblin knows how to make the ordinary unsettling. Good and Evil and Other Stories compiles short stories Romi swears you won’t stop thinking about.

💬 From the Readwise group chat

Falling leaves and leading reads

We've gathered a few titles that you can grab before you hit the subway: anything by the Brönte sisters, Jane Austen (bonus points for Pride and Prejudice), and if you want something more modern: try the ACOTAR series! 😜