Thursday, May 30, 2013

WHOSEYWHATSIT THURSDAY: The Importance of Book Reviews

I love reading book reviews.

Actually, let me restate that. I love reading honest book reviews. Not the "this author was so mean to me at a book signing" jaded ones. Not the "I'm the author's best friend, therefore I have to write a glowing review" gushing ones. Not the "I hate the cover, but I've never read the book" non-applicable ones.



I like the honest, in depth reviews. Whether it's on a blog, Goodreads, or Amazon, I read reviews before I invest in a novel ... and sometimes I will read a review after I finish the book too. I like to glean new insight and find like-minded readers. It's what I love about Goodreads. I can find a similar reviewer, and easily pick out new books based on the ones they rated highly.

I'm not going to do that for the people who only give 5 stars, or 3 stars, or 1 star for that matter. The best reviewers are the ones who dispense a variety of ratings, who give reasons behind their review, and who are objective.

Are you a reviewer? Feel free to post your blog URL or Goodreads username in the comments below!

6 comments:

  1. My Amazon profile page is at https://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A62G4QX6XQVLP?ie=UTF8&ref_=sv_ys_4. I used to post reviews much more frequently and am still getting back into the habit after a long period of not reviewing.

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  2. BTW, I totally agree about the best reviewers posting a variety of ratings. Sometimes a well-written 1- or 2-star is more helpful than some mindless 5-star review that's little more than squeeing and repeating what a bunch of other reviewers have already said. Even if the writer is one of your favorites, I doubt everything s/he's ever written is solid gold. It's okay to not like everything your favorite writers have done, even if some zealous fans might think you're not a real fan for giving one of his/her books a negative review.

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  3. 3 stars fair enough, good to see this post!

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  4. I feel just like you. And if you look at Goodreads, *** means the person liked it. ** means it was okay. I appreciate seeing a variety of stars. If it's all 5 stars, I get suspicious that it's just friends flooding the page. If I ever have a book published, I'll have to remember to tell my friends to be honest. (Even if it's painful.)

    I'm on Goodreads! http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4019647-theresa-milstein

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  5. If money is an important play bazaar issue when looking for a job, take a temporary job that will pay some bills while you search satta king for the job you want.

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