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

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

It'd be easier for us if you provide links to the ones you are most interested in. But sure, I'll go check through your profile. :)

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
should work better....

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

I hope you all 'like' this review. It's so much wiser and more insightful and helpful than the ones that are showing higher on the page. Based on this review alone I am now following Sarah's reviews.

The book is a YA literary thriller, but even if you're not the least interested in reading it, the review is worth a read. (I say why in my comment to Sarah.)

(not our lovely co-host Sarah, a different one :)

link?

And, yes, because some people do use them for genres, GR did (after some years of being genre-free, which I liked) use the data to 'crowd-source' an approximation of genres. Unfortunately this whole system is a bit of mess, because, for example, lots of people tagged/ shelved science-fiction books as 'science.' As I implied, I don't like putting labels on books, so I don't know the full details of this issue.

Or, you can use them to sort your different physical access strategies. My bookshelves include "[owned]," "library to read" and "maybe to read but not in [library system]", for example.

Some people use them to help them keep track of why they read a book, eg "for book-group" & "for school" & "for fun."

You might want to use them to give your followers clues about the book: "best door-stoppers" & "best kindling" or "best to give to the teething puppy."

Mostly they're for you, though. For whatever you want.

Visit profiles and explore what creative things folks have done.

Personally, I love it. It's thorough about what you liked and didn't like, digging into the whys & hows (all too often I see 'it's boring' but not what's boring about it or why that reader found it boring).

You mention what's relevant about what you bring to the reading - which is almost always relevant and all too seldom mentioned directly.

It's succinct - you get to the point. And it's got the classic '5-paragraph-essay' structure but you've adapted that format to fit your purpose. You also use the classic advice to 'consider the reader' which I think it not always done well here.

There are no typos and no (afaik) grammatical mistakes, no snide remarks or lame jokes or gif images.

Not only does your review give me a good idea of how badly I want to read the book, it's gracefully written and reading it is an interesting way to spend a minute or two.

If your other reviews are half as well written, you'll be contributing much value to this website's database.

Imo. Some people like longer, more personal reviews. And sometimes you might find yourself telling a story about the experience of choosing or reading the book, and if that's well done, that's good, too. (And some people life gifs and snide comments, but we won't talk about them. :)

Here's a couple of websites that provide Reading Group Guides - you know, those discussion questions in the back of many popular literature titles. We could look at those questions to give us ideas about what to write about in our informal reviews:

www.readinggroupguides.com
www.bookbrowse.com

I've not been doing very well remembering to do this, so thanks for bumping this and reminding me! I do sometimes comment "If you liked so'n'so, you'll probably like this." I guess that can help some people find more similar books, just in a different way.

In feedback someone suggested a feature of related books. Well, we do have GR's algorithm on each book page that suggests similar books, but it's not on every book nor is it generated by people so it's rather impersonal and imperfect. (It's about one screen down on the right, called 'Readers also enjoyed similar books.')

So, that poster and I have determined that the least we can do is suggest other books we know of that readers who liked a book we just liked might also want to read. For example, in a review of Number the Stars, I might mention that a reader who enjoyed Lowry's book might also like When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit or Milkweed.

Now the trick is to remember to do that! I will try, though, because I know I'd appreciate it if I saw it more often in reviews by everyone.

Yes, I have to go with an 'average.' Sometimes it can be very frustrating, and once actually I did just not assign any stars at all and just explained in the review.

Here's a nice example of a review that is both "community service" and will probably help the reader remember the book she read:

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

"Cherylann's review Nov 12, 12

bookshelves: historical-fiction
Read from October 22 to November 12, 2012

It's hard for me to classify this book. Part of me wants to call it historical fiction as the book is set in Alaska in the 1910s and 1920s, and it paints a picture of what it was like to homestead in Alaska during this time. Another part of me wants to call it magical realism, as one of the characters floats in and out of the book like snowflakes. Another part of me wants to call it a fairy tale retelling since it is set against the backdrop of a Russian tale. Regardless of how you classify this novel it is a beautiful read. Layers deep, Ivey explores the relationships between husbands and wives, kinfolk, and friends. The characters are complex and multi-faceted. By the end of the novel, I felt as if I knew Mabel and Jack and all the people who surround them. The Snow Child will haunt me for many months to come."

I shoulda known you'd get all thorough on us, IC. I appreciate how you expanded into kinds of reviews, purposes, I'd never actually thought about before.

G. forbid anyone on GoodReads ever tries to guide us to an 'official' kind of review!

Well I've just realized that I've been writing a lot of reviews meant primarily to help other people decide whether they want to read the book or not. I try to concisely say what's good or not so good, what the description doesn't mention that is relevant, whether there's any age level or yuck factor or tiny pictures or other considerations.

But here's the thing. I've not been doing such a good job of writing reviews *for me,* which is why I joined GR in the first place. I'm finding that I am again looking at a book description, looking at my review for the book, and still not remembering actually reading it!

I need to include more about the experience of reading the book, what I what to remember about it. Not exactly more of a summary, but some kind of personal reaction that will help me feel, later, that the book was actually worth the time it took to read and review it.

I guess I don't have a question, per se, but if any of you know what I mean and can say anything about your related experiences I'd be grateful. :)

"You can be wrong without the sky falling." True enough. And I sure do appreciate reviews from kids - cuz I know you're right that what parents like is not necessarily what kids like.

Sometimes in my reviews of children's picture-books that I've borrowed from the library I can tell whether the previous kids have loved the book or not. For example, some very pretty books are pristine, because the kids aren't checking them out.

Indeed, what are the intentions of the review, or of the reviewer... who is the audience, or is it for oneself... ?

Oh sure, they're def. all valid. This thread was just meant to get some ideas about what kinds there are, not to judge the different kinds. :)

And what you include is def. appreciated - anyone looking for a reader who writes good reviews of children's books should follow Gundula!

Heh - that makes sense!

So, paranormal is 'hot' right now.

I just read a great little MG story that has, according to the cover copy, 'supernatural' and 'magic' elements. If ghosts were in fashion right now, it would be marketed as a ghost story. If the kids were all reading SF, it would probably emphasize Time Travel in the blurb.

Is it all more or less semantics? If I use the word 'paranormal' in my review will I be getting the book more of the attention it deserves, or will I be pissing off the vampire fans?

Vision Quest by Pamela F. Service