What If Everyone Who Read Books Had to Review Them?

Books in the Douglasville, Georgia Borders store. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

       In a recent post at Tossing It Out I asked the question "What If You Wrote a Book That Nobody Wanted?"    Here is the comment left by Christine Rains:

Great post. It's hard to say who will like what. I've hated books that were best sellers, but loved ones that nobody is interested in. I'd love for a lot of readers to like my books too, but I'm in a little niche at the moment.

        In my reply to Christine I speculated:

I'm the same way. Sometimes I think a lot of people who buy the best sellers don't even really read them. People have a tendency to jump on a bandwagon and just do what they think they're supposed to be doing because everyone else is. If everyone was required to give an honest book report/review on the books they purchased, I wonder what the Amazon review section would look like.

     This got me to thinking a bit more about this scenario. Thinking back to our school days most of us probably recall having to write book reports on books we'd read or worst of all for many of us, we were required to stand in front of the class to deliver the dreaded oral book report. I wonder what would happen if everyone who read a book was required to give their personal review on the book.

    Now, to disallow any discussion about the cheaters who might not really read the book or give disingenuous reviews--since some of you like I did sometimes merely skimmed the book or read the CliffsNotes style summaries and managed to get by with a passable book report--let us postulate that everyone was honest about their reading or there was a credible way of being sure that books had been read. Let us also discard any notion that people would stop reading to avoid book reports. In our fantasy scenario everyone would be required to read X number of books per month and present an honest review/report on each one.

         Using our imaginary society of readership model, would we see less 5 star reviews on Amazon?    Would the majority of books that are now published never make it to the market because of a fear of receiving poor reviews?   Would the best-seller lists look different than they do now?   Would this society see the emergence of smarter more discriminating readers?

           

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Reading Out of My Comfort Zone

         Here are my reviews of three books that I've read over the past year.  These books were all sent to me for the purpose of reviewing them and I gave them my honest assessment.  Review and book titles are links that will take you to my original reviews and provide you with more information about the books


Yippee ki yay ki yo ho-ho-ho! Cowboy Christmas

Darn Good Cowboy Christmas (Spikes & Spurs)

by Carolyn Brown

It's a well written bit of fluff with a neatly woven story and well drawn characters. This could easily be a Hallmark Christmas television special if the sex scenes were removed. It's sentimentally romantic, but after all it's a romance novel. And that's my biggest problem with it I guess. I'm not really a romance fan. But if this is the genre I'm going to read, then this book is how I'd like to have it packaged. A DARN GOOD COWBOY CHRISTMAS is a pleasant enough diversion for holiday reading. I would highly recommend this to any readers of the romance genre.





A Salacious Love Triangle

The Salacious Marny Ottwiler

by Bridget Straub

When I read out of my genre it can be an uncomfortable experience. This book is not in a genre that I typically read and therefore I can't say I was overjoyed by it. But I didn't hate it either. And I did read it right to the end, which I think is a big plus.

This is not my kind of story and I neither could relate to the characters nor did I particularly like them. But that's just me. I can see where this book would have an audience that would eat it up like a box of Godiva chocolates washed down with a goblet of Grand Marnier.

What I liked best about this book is the humor. Bridget Straub has a clever witty style that is topical and fun. I like the author's writing style. I love the short (and I mean very short) chapters that allow the reader to tear through the book. It's a quick read with a fast pace.

I won't recommend "Marny" for those who can't tolerate the genre, but those who enjoy romantic comedy or books about the world of the celebrity might want to give it a try. You might be in a better position to evaluate the book from your reading experience. I'd like to hear what you think of "Marny Ottwiler".



Is This a Peculiar Review?

The Peculiar

by Stefan Bachmann

If THE PECULIAR is an indication of things to come for young author Stefan Bachmann, he's got a tremendous career ahead of him. This young man can really write and this book is among the most well-written books I've read this year.

That being said, I have mixed feelings about this book. This is the first fantasy novel I recall having read. It's also probably the first steam-punk novel I've read. Yes, it's a melding of the two genres and it's expertly done.

The world of THE PECULIAR is vividly created. I loved that aspect. Gritty detail and convincing geographic placement of the settings made it easy to visualize what I was reading.

The characters were well-crafted and interesting, but here's where I had my problem. The real people were okay, but the fairies, goblins, gnomes, and other fantasy creatures were a bit too much for me to suspend my disbelief for. This nagged at me throughout my reading of the book. As I continued to read, I gradually became more adapted to the concept of the imaginary types, but I didn't like them.

The story is gripping, but very dark. I might question this reading for the 9 to 14 year old crowd and beyond those ages readers may have some of the same problems that I did.

I took little of value with me as I left this novel other than the appreciation for the fine writing craftsmanship. The book is not bad, but it is not my favorite. For those who love the fantasy genre, I would highly highly recommend that they give this one a try. Steam-punk aficionados will probably likewise have a tremendous appreciation for the book. As for me, I look forward to seeing what Bachmann comes up with next. He is an author to keep an eye on.

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My Questions for You:

        1.  Have I done this fairly?

        2.  Considering that less stars will bring the book down a notch in ratings, is it fair that I would rate books like this because I'm not a fan of the genre?

         3.  Should a person who does not like a genre review a book so long as they have stated such and also reviewed the book according to its merits?

          

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