Comments on: Writing a Book Review

By: 3 Ways to Get Me to Read Your Book Review - YAnnabe

3 Ways to Get Me to Read Your Book Review - YAnnabe — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 01:24:15 +0000

[...] The Bluestocking Society: Writing a Book Review [...]

By: Nymeth

Nymeth — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:06:56 +0000

I take notes too, of thoughts that cross my mind and of memorable passages that I might end up including in my post.

I don’t consciously follow a structure when writing my posts, but I organize them more or less like this: first a plot summary, then my general opinion in a sentence or two, and then my explanation of why I have that opinion: what I liked about the book, what didn’t work for me, etc.

Great post, btw.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:22:49 +0000

Rebecca – I didn’t think that that you thought that! I just meant that I need to add a little more emotion to my reviews. Your comment just made me want to do that. :o)

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:08:13 +0000

Jessica, I didn’t mean to indicate your reviews are dry. I enjoy yours very much. I just meant that I always find reviews most interesting when there is an emotional response to the novel.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:22:48 +0000

Thanks for commenting everyone! I’m glad that this post struck a chord. Your ideas and processes have given me a lot to think about.

Loobiesmith – the quick review can be very useful to the reader by distilling it down to the most important tidbits.

Heather – I love (and am going to steal) the post-it note idea. I hate maiming books, even ARCs, and that is a good solution.

Suey – I tend to do the same thing: skim through really long reviews for that bottom line. I’ll have to keep that in mind when I tend to go on and on. :o)

Rebecca – I think you hit two really good points on the head: originality and emotional draw. I think my review tend to be a little dry.

Dorothy – Your note-taking process sounds like my may end up. Taking notes all of the time can take some of the fun and flow away from a book.

By: Dorothy W.

Dorothy W. — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:34:16 +0000

Whether I take notes or not depends partly on the kind of book and partly on my mood — sometimes I’m into it and sometimes not. And I don’t have a regular structure either. But then I also resist the idea that what I’m doing is writing reviews — writing reviews carries a certain amount of responsibility and I’d prefer to write in a more relaxed way. I really am reviewing, but I tell myself I’m doing something a little different — giving more of a personal response or something. I’d follow a more careful structure if I wrote a review for publication.

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:14:43 +0000

I really like this post! I’ve just recently started blogging my reading. I, too, have been putting more thought into structure and design of my reviews. Like Suey said, if reviews are too long, I’ll just skip over them. I have to have a point and get to it, only getting into detail after I’ve caught the attention of the reader who might be interested.

I’ve also begun taking notes as I read. It makes me think more about what I’m reading–and why I’ve chosen to read it. Like Heather said, I am not going to summarize the book too much because there are so many other summarizes out there. I need to have something original to say about why I liked it, disliked it, was annoyed by it, etc.

I don’t like to read other reviews, although that is often how I choose books to read–I find people reveal too much in them! Like Heather said, I like to explain what the emotional draw was for me. I’m more likely to read a book that someone recommends on an emotional level rather than one they recommend on a “this is a great story” level.

As for structure: I think it is imperative to have some introduction: say what the book is, why you liked it/didn’t (the emotional draw), and then a brief summary of what the themes are. All that in the first paragraph. Then I’ll go in to a general introduction of the characters, setting, or theme, and then I’ll focus on the crux of my argument about the book.

This is a horribly long comment, but I really liked this post and it got me thinking about what I do myself.

By: Suey

Suey — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:50:55 +0000

I like to keep my reviews VERY short and VERY simple. So, I don’t do any pre-review stuff at all. And when I write the review, my main goal is to summarize the story in about one or two sentences, and then tell my basic reaction and opinion of the book. I notice that for me, if reviews are too long and detailed, I skip over them. I just want to know, did this person like it or not? So then I skim to find that part. Sometimes I feel like my reviews are TOO simple, but for now, that’s just the way they’ll be! :)

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:09:13 +0000

When I’m reading, I either dog-ear pages or put post-it notes on the pages that I want to write about later. Sometimes I want to remember a specific quote, other times it is something else.

I don’t exactly have a system, but I think most of my reviews are similar in style. I always mention the book title and the author, and I link those words in my post to other site (the book title links to amazon’s page for that book, the author’s name links to more info about him/her).

I don’t do a complete summary – you can get that anywhere. I do explain why I liked/didn’t like the book. I also let my reader know where I learned about this book or why I chose to read it.

Oh, and I put TONS of links in my reviews. I want my readers to have access to as much info as they desire.

So that’s how I do a book review. :)

By: loobiesmith

loobiesmith — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 02:47:19 +0000

I don’t write reviews professionally but I do typically do a rant after I have read a book on ibooks and then, I try to keep it poignant and very brief. Three or four sentences maximum and I don’t use any sort of technique. Rather I prefer to write from reflex, just as I do when I am really writing.