Cheryl’s Comments (group member since Jul 30, 2011)

Cheryl’s comments from the More than Just a Rating group.

A subscriber to blinkist wants to review those 15 min. summaries of non-fiction books, as books.

Thoughts?

Welcome! We're pretty quiet right now, but can be awakened if you have questions or comments. :)

Ok, that's all the quotations from the book that I like and that are short enough to copy down here. I'd love to now pass this book on to one of you. Please, if you live in the US, send me your snail mail address in a PM and let me give it to you.

He who loves to commune with books is led to detest all manner of vice.

Richard de Bury (1599)

A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little good.

Samuel Johnson (1791)

I am not at all afraid of urging overmuch the propriety of ...[re]reading.... The book remains the same, but the reader changes.

Matthew Browne (1866)

In order to read what is good one must make it a condition never to read what is bad; for life is short and both time and strength limited.

Arthur Schopenhauer (1851)

Libraries are reservoirs of strength, grace and wit, reminders of order, calm and continuity, lakes of mental energy, neither warm nor cold, light nor dark. The pleasure they give is steady, unorgastic, reliable, deep and long-lasting.

Germaine Greer (1990)

It would be a good thing to buy books if one could also buy the time to read them; but one usually confuses the purchase of books with the acquisition of their contents.

Arthur Schopenhauer (1851)

Oh, goodness, is this ever true for me!

The world may be divided into people that read, people that write, people that think, and fox-hunters.

William Shenstone (1769)

... there are some publishers whom I refuse to collect, because all their novels look alike, and destroy my collection of a book-shelf, which should be a mass of gaudy variety.

Cyril Connolly (1945)

Well, Cyril oughta be delighted with my shelves, then!

Hah! Excellent point! Thank you.

But what about this? Do you agree?
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If the reading of good books is ever sinful, it is at meal-times. He who reads at meal-times treats his meal and his digestion with discourtesy, and put upon his author the affront of a divided allegiance.

Robert Blatchford (1900)
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Well, I see the point. But I can't say I'll give up the habit entirely. What about you?

... you may be strenuously advised to keep reading. Any good book, any book that is wiser than yourself, will teach you something -- a great many things, directly and indirectly, if your mind be open to learn.

Thomas Carlyle (1843)

Ok, here's the discussion topic: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Good one! Thank you.

"You read a lot," said the behatted kvetch indicating the two novels he had open. He nodded, because there was no denying it and he didn't want to put up the ante for a conversation."
"Books aren't life."
"No, they're better," he replied and flipped through the thirty-two library cards in his wallet to remove his one credit card to pay.

Tibor Fischer, *Bookcruncher*

I now have August Acrobat. I won't read it until you say so, though, as it's so short I'll finish it in one sitting.

I just ran across a review that shows me a whole different style. It could almost be called a template. Apparently it works for youngsters in a a classroom.

What? So what? Now what?

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Ok, I've ordered Ron Roy's book. I'll let you know when I get it. :)

Maybe examples would help. I think I've seen the pretentious, but ultimately uninteresting and almost unreadable, kind of review Raevyn refers to. Gundula, I'm pretty sure she doesn't mean the kind of reviews you write. You do have a somewhat more formal 'voice' and write more about what's 'between the lines' of a book, but not to the point where it's annoying. :)

Paragraph breaks, topic sentences, transitions, an introductory paragraph... all are important to communication whether it's an academic review, a digressive scholarly one, or just a casual sharing of one's thoughts. Some people ramble on and on showing off their vocabulary or their ability to sound like know-it-alls without taking into account the fact that, if they want people to enjoy their reviews, they need to write enjoyable (or at least comprehensible) reviews. And proofread.

I'm guilty, sometimes, of poorly-written overly-intellectual reviews. I do have a large vocabulary, and sometimes the exact word I want to use is an obscure one. But I try to give enough context so the reader doesn't need to use a dictionary to get the gist of my meaning. And I often write elliptically, but don't always remember to go back and untangle my long sentences and reorder my paragraphs.

It does definitely depend on the book what kind of review one will *probably* write. If the book is written for scholars or college students, the review will much more likely be scholarly, and, in my opinion, should be. But I also agree with Shomeret that sometimes we see details or implications, even in, say, a Magic Tree House book, that we want to explore from a scholar's pov. And that's ok too... though I'd prefer that those kinds of reviews still be carefully written and edited.