Today’s question from the Boston Bibiliophile: Most of us book bloggers like to write book reviews- if we don’t love to write book reviews- but here’s today’s question. When it comes to LT (and your blog), do you review every book you read? Do you just review Early Reviewers or ARCs? Do you review only if you like a book, or only if you feel like you have to? How soon after reading do you post your review? Do you post them other places- other social networking sites, Amazon, etc.?
My answer: Like Marie, I review most adult books that I read, from many sources (ARCs, LT Early Reviewers, books my book groups are reading, “just because” books). I review children’s books periodically, but not every book I read with my kids … if I reviewed every children’s book we read, my blog would be called She is Too Fond of Children’s Books, because that’s all I’d have time for! I’ll review a children’s book if it has been sent to me for that purpose, or if it strikes me as particularly good … or bad (read about my unhappiness with this particular book from a series that has never before disappointed me.)
When I started posting reviews on my blog, I was very disciplined about posting them before I started reading another book. I’ve fallen off this habit, as I have too many good books calling me to be read, and sometimes I need to let my thoughts on a book “settle” with me before completing a review. I do generally review within a full days of finishing, but there are a handful of excellent books (The Madonnas of Leningrad and Who By Fire come to mind) that I have read and enjoyed, but not yet reviewed.
I post my reviews here on my blog, with an abbreviated version on LibraryThing. I’ve recently begun pointing to my blog reviews from the Book Blogs site, but I don’t know if I’ll continue this third reference. I use the star rating system on LT, but I don’t “grade” books on my blog, do you?
I don’t give books a grade on my blog either. Usually I just mention whether I’d recommend it or not and occasionally to whom. I do star them on LT, but my star ratings are so arbitrary that I don’t think they’re helpful for anyone but myself – and they often change after the book has settled in my mind a bit anyway.
I don’t care for grading books, either. I do use the star system on LT, for the books I review. But I’ve noticed that I tend to grade a little more severely than most readers. For me, three stars is a very good grade. To get four stars, a book has to be pretty spectacular. And only a handful would rate more than that.
I do grade them on my blog and on LT. I use pretty much the same star rating on both.
I get my reviews written right away, but they don’t always get posted right away. I like to have a little “reserve” for when I’m out of town or have company or something like that.
Oh–I’d be interested in seeing your thoughts on The Madonnas of Leningrad! It was one of my Top Ten Reads a year or so ago.
No grades from me! I’d have to set up a grading system, or some sort of criteria, and that’s just too much work for my brain.
I don’t grade books on my site. I think there are so many different ways to assign those stars, so I try to cover the basics with a few comments in my reviews: in-a-nutshell (don’t want to read more – great – you just read my gut reaction). . . expanded review: characters, story-line, readability, and overall.
I was planning to add a rating system that included what happened to the book (permanent addition, passed on to a good friend, passed to charity, threw it out), but I haven’t done that yet. Still mulling that one over.
Here’s my Thinger!
Glad to know I am not the only one who goes back and changes the star ratings on LT sometimes, after I think about the book awhile.
I don’t grade books on my blog, either, but I’ve thought about it. I just can’t decide on a system …
I’m another who grades on LT but not on my blog. The main reason I grade on LT is so I can sort my library by rating and get a quick glance at which books I loved, which I didn’t, etc., and also because it has an impact (although slight) on the book’s overall rating on the site. On my blog, the rating system feels…simplistic? That said, I always like seeing how others rate books on their blogs, LOL.
I do think you should start a companion blog called She’s so fond of Children’s books – would be fun!