Nan Hawthorne's Booking History: What Make a Book Review Useful?

I started That's All She Read as much to have a log of everything I read as to share my perspective with other readers, so there may be characteristics that not everyone will choose to employ in their own reviews. I hope you will share your own point of view.

Please note the poll in the right hand column. I will value your feedback through that tool, but I also hope you will read the following and use the comments form to explain both your poll choices and whether and why you agree or disagree with me.

Who Is the Review For?

I used to be one of the reviewers for a popular historical novel review blog. Our difference of opinion, the one that got me reprimanded and because of which I quit, was over whether negatives in a novel should be pointed out. The others felt that reviews were a way "to encourage authors" and therefore should only praise. I think that is nonsense. Reviews are for readers, to help them choose among the stacks of books they might choose to spend their money or at least their time on. A review is a sort of "consumer report". None of us would be pleased if we discovered the electric frying pan we just bought on the recommendation of a customer review turned out not to work very well. That the customer felt s/he should be nice and encourage the manufacturer would strike us as rather silly. I try to be honest yet even handed when I review books. I am not going to tell you a book is great if it was not, but I will tell you what made me think one way or another.

Reviewer Qualifications

One aspect of the Internet is that as my husband says, everyone has a forum to express his or her pin-head opinion. The quality of customer reviews on sites like Amazon.com is rather, um, variable, but sadly the many, many review blogs are sometimes no better. Just because you can read a book does not mean you have the skill to understand it, to analyze it, or to articulate your thoughts. As authors, my colleagues and I know that you simply have to accept that idiots will express opinions about your book, and that's just the breaks. If these idiots manage to influence potential readers, then you can only hope they would also have hated it. But I believe that I am expressing more than just my pin-head opinion. I actually am trained. I carried double credits in English literature in college and read literary criticism because I enjoy it. I received recognition for my skill back then and throughout my career. I can see themes in novels and comment on them in an articulate way. In other words, I know what I am doing. I also know when I am limited, and I try to be honest about this.

Ratings

The first article I read on what makes a good book review began with "Rate it!" I don't. Why? Well I just don't see how I can encapsulate all the aspects of a novel length work into a single cold, dry digit. If this means, as the author of the article says, this disinclines someone to read on, then so be it. The review was just not for them.

What Authors Think of Reviews

I have heard other bloggers say they would be honest in their reviews only they don't want the authors on their case. My own experience is that authors, who poured out their hearts and minds to write a novel want to know what an intelligent reader really thought. They respect both praise and criticism. That is, those who have not much appreciated something I said did not make an issue of it, and many others valued my reviews because I obviously read for the pleasure of it and observe things in their work they hoped readers would see. If you don't believe me, take a look at these authors' comments.

Plot Summaries

One woman told me that the two sites where she reviews do not permit plot summaries, something about spoilers or whatever. One of the blogs she told me carries this to the point that you are not permitted to back up a statement. To me that is the opposite of what a reviewer's function is. Like "topic sentences" you need to be able to say more about your valuation. "I thought this book was well written," is the start of a good sentence, but if you cannot go on to point to examples of the prose, the organization, the character development, and so forth, then you have told the reader nothing at all. I always summarize books, perhaps as part of my original intention mentioned above, but also as another reviewer said, because she knows she wants to see if a book will even interest her before she digs in. Plot summaries are an important way to help her.

Personal Druthers

A librarian friend told me she constantly has patrons plop a book down on the desk in front of her and say things like, "I don't know why you carry such garbage! I read this book from cover to cover and was offended by all the [choose your bugaboo.] One reviewer said of a book that she skipped a large section because stories of child sexual abuse and prostitution offended her. Another said of a different book that it offended her that there were several gay characters. I know I shy away from scenes of animal abuse. As reviewers we have a right to choose what we read as much as anyone else, and it is irresponsible to review a book where you skipped whole sections. I try to take responsibility for myself and bear up under sections of novels that bother me so I can first enjoy what the rest of it has in store for me and second represent it accurately to my own readers.

So there are several of the points I would like to make about reviews of novels. What do you think? Please make your choices on the poll to the right and also comment using the link to the comment form below.

Source: http://nanhawthorne.blogspot.com/2011/05/what-make-book-review-useful.html

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