This prompt poses a lot of interesting questions, and I'm particularly drawn to the function of published book reviews and more informal reviews in selecting books for personal reading and for library collections.
Using the book reviews provided for this week's reading on Canvas, I feel that both types of reviews - published and informal - are valid and valuable in their own right. Published reviews may provide a more efficient means of gauging a book: reviews are written by established subject or genre 'experts,' and the reviews often follow a consistent format that facilitate skimming. The idea here, I guess, is to present an authoritative read on the book in question, which can be useful and also problematic.
Informal reviews, such as blog posts or Amazon reviews, follow no standard format, and they provide a platform for absolutely anybody to share their thoughts on a book. I've definitely gotten sucked into black holes of informal reviews. When they're brief and plentiful, I consume them one after the other, searching for broad themes and patterns, and I wonder how much I have in common with the people who have submitted these reviews. These sorts of reviews require more time and patience, but, as a supplement to other formal reviews, I believe that they can effectively represent an average reader's response to a book.
I'm trying to make a case for the role of informal reviews, but, as I consider the examples of these particular reviews, I am clearly more inclined to purchase a copy of Angela's Ashes than The Billionaire's First Christmas. My bias is clear: regarding the contemporary romance e-book, I'm asking myself, "Hmm, I wonder if I could find a more formal review of this book?" and "If it's a free download, why do I have to purchase it, anyway?"
When it comes to finding books for personal reading or for a library collection, it's a frustrating reality that many good books fall through the cracks when they don't receive the same publicity and attention as those published by major publishing houses. Just from my own experience of searching for adventure and romance novels for this course, I am reminded that 'authoritative' published reviews can help me to get a a sense of the genre and its trends, but it's also worthwhile to move beyond these limited tools, especially when searching for authors or sub-genres that may fall outside of the mainstream.
Using the book reviews provided for this week's reading on Canvas, I feel that both types of reviews - published and informal - are valid and valuable in their own right. Published reviews may provide a more efficient means of gauging a book: reviews are written by established subject or genre 'experts,' and the reviews often follow a consistent format that facilitate skimming. The idea here, I guess, is to present an authoritative read on the book in question, which can be useful and also problematic.
Informal reviews, such as blog posts or Amazon reviews, follow no standard format, and they provide a platform for absolutely anybody to share their thoughts on a book. I've definitely gotten sucked into black holes of informal reviews. When they're brief and plentiful, I consume them one after the other, searching for broad themes and patterns, and I wonder how much I have in common with the people who have submitted these reviews. These sorts of reviews require more time and patience, but, as a supplement to other formal reviews, I believe that they can effectively represent an average reader's response to a book.
I'm trying to make a case for the role of informal reviews, but, as I consider the examples of these particular reviews, I am clearly more inclined to purchase a copy of Angela's Ashes than The Billionaire's First Christmas. My bias is clear: regarding the contemporary romance e-book, I'm asking myself, "Hmm, I wonder if I could find a more formal review of this book?" and "If it's a free download, why do I have to purchase it, anyway?"
When it comes to finding books for personal reading or for a library collection, it's a frustrating reality that many good books fall through the cracks when they don't receive the same publicity and attention as those published by major publishing houses. Just from my own experience of searching for adventure and romance novels for this course, I am reminded that 'authoritative' published reviews can help me to get a a sense of the genre and its trends, but it's also worthwhile to move beyond these limited tools, especially when searching for authors or sub-genres that may fall outside of the mainstream.
I agree that good books often do fall through the cracks when it comes to publicity as they do not receive reviews that would do the book justice. Mainstream authors receive most the attention and, even though their books are well-written, there are other novels that are just as worthy as reviews that would help boost their sales and circulation in the publishing world. It is helpful to be aware of this when searching books that patrons may be seeking out in a specific genre. Being aware of these trends is very helpful, and I think a helpful tool is using read-a-like searches to find titles that are outside of this popular mainstream.
ReplyDeleteHi Leah.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a lot of good points in your post. For example, you mentioned that formal reviews "often follow a consistent format that facilitates skimming." I hadn't thought of that - but you are so right! We subconsciously know the format so well that we can look for the highlights without reading the whole thing. That realization has made me rethink my general attitude to the informal review. I mentioned in my post that I could learn to trust an informal review. Maybe I should be a little less guarded in my trust!