Internet searches

I would recommend searching for books on the subject that you want first then trying to find where to buy them second.  Amazon is just a warehouse with a load of other resellers piggybacking off them and they have all sorts of shenanegans with their search prioritisation that can make it hard to find what you are after.

If I were in your situation I would start with a search for the subject, but using the Google Books advanced search:

https://books.google.com/advanced_book_search

Enter a term that the books are almost certainly going to have in their title in relevant box at the top (it searches within books as well as the titles by the way) - using the word Minoan gives loads and the search results show where the key word / phrase is shown in the book and there is a good chance you can read a decent sized chunk before deciding if it is for you.

Further down the page is a list of links where you can buy it from, typically including Amazon. It means you get to shop about much more effectively and can chose a phsyical or (sometimes) a digital copy.

If you want help with any of this you only need to ask.

Hopefully this more specific search part of Google will help at least with your book searches.

I know you don’t like people offering you help with tech, but people aren’t doing it to exclude you, quite the opposite. 

I think people are showing empathy and trying to help, not exclude, you. It is important you perceive this or you will give yourself more grief - and it also might put people off trying to help. Clearly, you are NOT stupid and demonstrated this many times here. People really LIKE you or they would not try to help.

That green bin situation sounds like a total sensory nightmare TheCatWoman . 40 minutes of that hold music and glitchy menus would leave anyone’s battery at 0%. It’s completely understandable why you’d feel like throwing the computer out the window after all that—it sounds physically exhausting. I hope you can get a chance to step away from the screen for a bit and do something that helps your system reset!

It's Ok Phased, I don't want to fall out with anyone, so lets just chalk it up to miscomunication?

I wish someone could save me from bad algorrythms, Mum and I had a hell of a time earlier trying to renew the yearly sticker for our green bin, garden recycling. Mum phoned twice, got through easy enough, but got cut off when she tried to give them her card details, she gave up in frustration after shouting at the phone for a bit. Then I tried online, that went OK until I had to input our address with one of those pick an option things from, I found our address and clicked on it, at which point I noticed that it had had jumped itself up the wrong address, this happend about 3 times before I got it to stick, then when I've gone through the check out and paid for the thing, I find it's put the wrong address in again. So have to phone them and got cut off, in the end it took me 40 mins to get through to what I guess was a human to fix it, he was totally uninterested in any problems with the site. 40 mins of being sat there listening to nasty "music" interspersed with with being told how I could do it all so much more quickly and easily online.

Amazon won't let me change card on it's payment page, so even though I'm trying to pay with my card, it keeps putting it on my Mums card and I don't know why, thats twice it's happened now.

I'm actually at the point of wondering whether to give up completely and live off line? Only I'm not sure it's possible anymore, everything seems to be online which wouldn't be to bad if the stuff actually worked.

During the course of typing this I've been signed out and then when I'd nearly finished something happened and I lost half of it. You couldn't make it up!

I’m really sorry my comment made you feel 'othered' or stupid TheCatWoman  . That was the last thing I wanted to happen.

I only said 'sorry if this is too helpful' because I know it’s usually better to do things for oneself, and I didn't want to overstep or take away your agency. I was just trying to save you some frustration with the bad algorithms you mentioned.

I'll make sure to ask first before posting search results next time. I'm glad you found the Tyldesley book, though — I am led to believe that it's a great read.

TheCatWoman said:

I start to wonder if this is another space I'm going to end up being excluded from because of a problem I can't help,

TheCatWoman said:

It would be really nice not to feel othered by my inability to use tech

Others here are only trying to help you in the best way they can.

If you don't want assistance or expect a certain type of assistance why not make clear in your OP exactly what types of responses you are looking for?

I've got used to it and don't offer technical advice anymore as i know it's not what you are looking for. Sometimes you just want to complain without needing a solution, that's also valid.

It would be really nice not to feel othered by my inability to use tech, I know most people find it all really simple and easy and can't understand why I don't, I don't understand it either. People making comments like 'Sorry if this is being too helpful' make me feel really stupid and it hurts, I start to wonder if this is another space I'm going to end up being excluded from because of a problem I can't help, it feels like a microcosm of being ND in an NT world.

Probably AI - artificial stupidity - it seems to be trashing all sorts of search engines and spell checkers. I have been offered my habitual typos as being correct. All ballocks, but most institutions and companies are under the illusion that AI is necessary and helpful.

I found the Tyldesley one and have got it on my kindle, what bugs me is that whenever I look for history books I get loads of books aimed at children, I don't think I've ever bought a childrens book on amazon! The Tyldesley one only came up when I did a general google search specifically for that book.

Yes I do have huge problems with internet searches I often get "no documents found", or a load of stuff that I never asked for, I clear cookies regularly and never accept any that I don't have too and frequently refuse to use sites that don't have a "refuse all cookies" option. Even after I downloaded the Tyldesley book I got a load of if you like this then you might like these suggestions were all childrens books, if I'm being tracked around by cookies and algorythums all I can say is their pretty crap as they seem to have very little idea of what I like to read, even after 6 years! As for anything else I've pretty much given up.

I won't be using a chat bot or AI, I don't trust it and find chat bots more likely to have me screaming in furstration than finding any help.

What did you type?

I just went to Amazon.co.uk andd typed "books history Cleopatra" in the search bar at the top centre of the page and got what you'd expect.

First option for me is Dominic Sandbrook's Adventures in Time: Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile. £8.09, paperback.

If you type the same three words and get something hugely different then it must be referencing cookies or your personal search history in some way. If you are not signed in, it should show the status to the right of the search bar, then I guess it is likely using the cookies

Thanks for those Bunny . I've put them on my ribbon for ease of use.

Cinnabar_wing said:

I do a search elsewhere trying to find a trustworthy source

Me too. It's best to search outside Amazon, because you can find the things you want more easily than searching inside and being offered things that only have vague connections with your search term. I find the same on Temu, which used to be more reliable on searches. 

 TheCatWoman is right about over-inclusive searches putting people off.

Phased said:

Sorry if this is being too helpful

That’s why I didn’t post the results of my search on Cleopatra. There is also some academic research available. 

Cinnabar_wing said:

Amazon originally was an online book shop, but now it's like a market where sellers pay amazon to hawk their wares to you, even if it's not want you want.

Exactly! It’s useful for kindle books, even though searching for them is frustrating. I like that you can read a sample of the book before buying. Like you, I’m sourcing other books from bookshops online and in person. 

It’s frightening that Amazon has such a monopoly on electronic books, but the alternatives available don’t meet my needs. 

Thanks Bunny :-)

You're welcome!

I'd considered also posting some results, but instead hoped to encourage her to give this a try, as a very easy first step into AI and how helpful it can be. Just seeing how it works and how it presents the findings could also still be helpful 

Yep that works :-) Bunny thanks for pointing me in that direction too.

Conscious that TheCatWoman has previously expressed some issues with information technology I have taken a liberty and done this to I hope be helpful

results as links follows:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cleopatra-Life-Stacy-Schiff/dp/0316001929

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cleopatra-Biography-Antiquity-Duane-Roller/dp/0195365534

https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Joann-Fletcher/Cleopatra-the-Great--The-woman-behind-the-legend/11579854

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cleopatra-Queen-Egypt-Joyce-Tyldesley/dp/0465018920

https://www.waterstones.com/book/cleopatra-and-egypt/sally-ann-ashton/9781405113908

Sorry if this is being too helpful.