How Do You Write Reviews

[Koren]

Just a thought:

Do you write reviews for yourself to remember what you read or do you write for others (or both)?

[Selina]

A bit of both, I found that I can now post them on facebook.
I used to do heaps more reviews on Shelfari, it was a more fun interface for me.

[Koren]

I think I do some of both, but mostly they are for other people and to help promote the book.

[Koren]

Do you post reviews to other sites or just this one?

[Fishface]

I write reviews that specifically do NOT spoil the book for the next reader by summarizing everything, telling them all the plot twists and how the story came out and so forth. I tell them why I liked it or didn't and who I would or would not recommend it to ("If you like Agatha Christie you'll love this" or "not for readers with weak stomachs").

I review books on my fish blog and my chaos blog, and also at the B-Movie Message Board -- if they apply to those sites.

[Selina]

Koren wrote: "Do you post reviews to other sites or just this one?"

Well now Shelfari is gone it's just this one. I used to do amazon reviews back when I actually bought books from them, but I don't even go there anymore. It's too expensive.

[Julie]

My reviews are basic too. I don't want to give any spoilers and generally talk a little about the story and how I felt about the book.

[Koren]

I don't like to write long reviews. I don't think most people have the time to read something that rambles on and on and I generally skip others reviews if they are long.

[Jlsimon]

I tend to write reviews for both public and to remind myself why I did or did not like a book. With fiction I tend to write with comparisons, the same way Fishface described. The story is like.... The writing style is similar to that of.... I will sometimes comment on the likability of the characters or my impressions of them.

With non-fiction I tend to comment about the level of research, they types of sources used, and who I would recommend the book to for example: I would recommend the book I am reading now to individuals looking for information on Russian or European Royalty, Pre-WWI documents, Historical Women, and amusingly cases of people most impersonated.

Like Koren I am sensible of the length of my reviews, but on occasion I will write a lengthy review. It is usually when I have a bullet point list I want to get out there, like main characters, and my impression of them.

Something else I normally try to include is if I had an emotional response good or bad. One thing I very rarely do is write a review for a book I didn't like. It happens once in a while, but only if something about the book was offensive. My logic being I can't play football so I've got no place criticizing, and the same rule applies with books, who am I to judge the work of others in a negative way.

[Koren]

Jlsimon wrote: "I tend to write reviews for both public and to remind myself why I did or did not like a book. With fiction I tend to write with comparisons, the same way Fishface described. The story is like.... ..."

I like your idea of not posting a review if you didn't like the book. I have been doing that more often. I don't want to sway someone away from buying a book when most of the reviews are positive but for some reason I didn't like it.

[Fishface]

I usually go right ahead and review it if I didn't like it. I enjoy saying "I can't believe 25 people recommended this to me -- reading it was like watching paint dry" or whatever the problem was with it. If there's anything I can't stand, it's a wildly popular bad book.

[Jlsimon]

Fishface wrote: "I usually go right ahead and review it if I didn't like it. I enjoy saying "I can't believe 25 people recommended this to me -- reading it was like watching paint dry" or whatever the problem was w..."

LOL The funny thing is I will even recommend to given groups a book I didn't like. For example I really don't like James Patterson books. I just don't like the style of writing. However I might recommend those books to individuals that enjoy the works of Preston and Child. You can usually offer up a recommendation even if you don't like a book for one reason or another. :) It's just how I feel about it.

On the other hand I can think of an example of an autobiographical book I read and thought, "This woman is a complete liar. No way this happened the way she said." That book I found offensive on the basis that this woman had the nerve to tell this story as an autobiography. If she had written it as a work of fiction I would gladly have enjoyed the story far fetched as it was. That one I didn't hesitate to slam in my review as ridiculous. It's just that I find few books really offensive (partly because I deliberately don't buy books I think will strike me as offensive.

[Jlsimon]

Fishface wrote: "I usually go right ahead and review it if I didn't like it. I enjoy saying "I can't believe 25 people recommended this to me -- reading it was like watching paint dry" or whatever the problem was w..."

Thanks. :) I just for the most part believe creativity is personal. I don't like heavy metal music but it doesn't make it junk. Art is supposed to speak to its audience. Metal doesn't speak to me, but it does speak to many. For me it's the same concept.

[Selina]

hmm I usually keep reviews short unless the book justified a long review.
I do review books I don't like sometimes..if there's some major point an author has missed that is misrepresented in their book and the person that may buy it could have expected something else...after all, authors are meant to be 'AUTHORitative' on what they are writing about, that's why they are authors and their book is published.

In terms of creative writing or novels, well novels as a genre you can have a more emotional response to. The person did spend their time writing the novel after all - and its a LOT of time. They want to share their story. If it's written out of obligation perhaps like just part of a book deal and they've run out of ideas and are just padding it, the writing will show that.