Ultimately, this book didn't do what I hoped it would do, although I still find it useful overall. I was looking at the advice in Hooper's book through the lens of a readers' advisor who is interested in writing entertaining, informative, and casual reviews for the general public. My main interest is in new techniques to show readers what there is to like in a book, whether or not I enjoyed it. I'm not interested in passing judgment on the quality of a book. (In fact I'm kind of opposed to that.) I don't believe in being elitist about books. I believe that the vast majority of books could be enjoyed by someone, somewhere. And I consider it my job to make it more likely that reader and book will find each other. Figuring out how to do that is challenging, which is how I ended up with this book.
Writing Reviews for Readers' Advisory as a title absolutely screams that this is what the book will help with. Unfortunately, it became clear early on that the book was actually written for those who aspire to write reviews for traditional print sources, like Booklist or Kirkus. Totally valid! But I'm a bit disappointed that casual reviewing for an audience of lay readers wasn't covered, especially since it was written well after sites like GoodReads hit the scene. Where's the resource for those of us active in social media? We're not writing for other librarians. We're not providing criticism for those who make it their business to know the book world. We're taking part in a casual community of everyday folks who love books and reading. A community that makes it a point to swap book recommendations and squee over the release of the new fan-anticipated series title. This book won't help with that. Nevertheless, there was some helpful stuff included. Here are a couple of my take-aways:
1. Be lively. No one wants to read you drone on, reciting a list of facts. Or opinions dressed as facts.
2. Use a framing device. I'll never be able to put this into my own words in any kind of effective way, so you should just check the book for this. Page 12 in my edition.
3. (This is my favorite, and was already a pet-peeve of mine.) Banish the phrase "well-written" from your reviews. Actually, just banish it period. What does it mean? it means nothing! Is the language beautifully handled? Are the characters vivid and engaging? Is the plot tight and intriguing? Does the setting pop off the page? NO ONE KNOWS. So let's all just say what we mean, mmmkay?