Week 5 Prompt

Let's get started!

I read the two reviews provided for Holly Rayner's The Billionaire's First Christmas and was not completely surprised by what I found. The customer review from Amazon mentioned the plot of the book, but reads very clearly that she enjoyed it and is almost blinded by her love of the characters and of the theme of Christmas. I appreciate the second review from a blog because even though it shares personal details as to why the person was reading the book and what they liked, it seems a bit more objective. The reviewer provide additional detail as to how quickly they read it, what the central plot is, and the overall message they received. 

Both reviews provide personal details unique to each reviewer, yet accomplish the same goal. Ultimately, they both share their thoughts on the book and whether or not they enjoyed it. That being said, I would argue that they both provide reliable information. Personally, I enjoy reading various reviews to gather more information about an item, but understand not everyone has the time and resources to do so. I also would prefer a more professional review over Amazon or a blog, but like we have learned already, that is not always possible. I would be willing to purchase this book for my library if 1) there is some type of indication of desire for the material (ebook, genre, audience) and 2) depending up on the season. If I had a set budget I might not purchase it right away in June if it would serve the library best to wait for funds in say November. 

Next, I read the reviews of Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. These reviews from Kirkus, Library Journal, Booklist, and School Library Journal make me confident to purchase this work for my collection. In contrast to the reviews from the blog and from Amazon, I am not only given the thoughts of the reader, but am provided a thoughtful and analytic summary of the work itself. I am captivated by the story it describes and become eager to read it myself and find out what happens. 

I do not think that it is fair for one type of book to be "reviewed to death" while others have little to no coverage. More reviews of one type of work can easily mean easier access to the reviews on multiple sites. If only one type of book or one author is constantly having more attention, time, and energy being spent on it, how is it possible for other works and authors to have any chance at the same success? I say success because if it is easier for a selector to find one book and not another, chances are they will go with the work easiest to find and that item will be added to a collection. Rarely (although it should happen!) will you find the diverse authors, new authors, smaller publishers added to a collection unless the selector is seeking them out. If a selector is looking for new books and the easiest way to do so is based on reviews, and we limit which items have reviews, our collection becomes quite limited.

As for review sources that do not print negative content, I find that a bit odd. I say a bit only because I am new to this. If I am finding the next book to add to my collection I would prefer an honest assessment of the work, however....I don't think the review should be based on solely personal preference and opinion. I look at review sources as a means to be introduced to an item, and it is left to the reader to decide what they think about it. I appreciate Erin's powerpoint of "How to Submit Book Reviews for Publication" because it mentions just this with John Updike's guidelines for writing reviews. 

I do not purchase items for my library, however I enjoy reading reviews for personal reading. I usually pick up a BookPage from work and will browse for new books to read. I enjoy reading Kirkus Reviews for the same reason, but was only introduced to this source a few years ago. These sources provide reviews that make me interested in reading the book and add more to the appeal of the work versus a simple 'it was bad' or 'this was great'.