To review or not to review, that's the question

[Miriam]

Do you review the books you read? If you do, does the thought of writing a review make you pay more attention to a book - its story, plot, characterizations, language, etc. – than you might do otherwise? And if you don’t review the books you read, does the idea of reviewing a book spoil the enjoyment of reading it for you? Let's find out why you review the books you read or why you don’t.

[May]

I review the books I read, not to summarize the novel, but to share my thoughts, impressions, reactions to characters, plot threads, time & place.

[Lisa]

Sometimes I review and sometimes not. It depends on what kind of time I have. I like your question about paying more attention, I don’t think I pay any more or less attention but as I’m reading the book I like to talk about it to friends and such. I don’t believe the book review should be a synopsis of the story but rather your thoughts on the book. Is it labeled one thing but reads more like something else I might mention that. Do I read a lot of this author? Then I might comment on how this book compares to others the author has written. I like to read other people’s reviews if they rated it differently then I would’ve expected.

[Miriam]

Hi Lisa
I was interested in your comment about reviews that include a synopsis of the story. I think far too many of them do that, and often spoil the book for others without providing the opinions that prospective reads might really find useful. I also enjoy reading reviews others have written for they often throw light on aspects of a story or its writing that I hadn't necessarily considered.