Book reviews are tricky. Every author looks for them, wants them, needs them, because they give them credibility. I have had many people tell me how much they like my books, but when I ask them to write a review, it’s like pulling teeth to get anything out of them. I don’t know if they just don’t want to do the effort or make a written commitment or what, but if you read books, you need to understand how important they are.
I have been lax myself in writing reviews for a while, but I hope to remedy this soon. After a few years of slow writing, I plan on getting this blog up and running again, including my regular activity of book reviews. Here’s the approach I usually take when reviewing a book:
- First, I read the whole book. When I was a book editor, I learned that you can often tell if it is going to be a good or bad book in the first chapter, and often the first page. I generally give a book 50 pages before I give up on it. If they can’t win me over by then, well, I have other books to read. But I don’t review books I don’t finish, and those I finish have a good chance of being reviewed.
- Second, I start with a summary of what the book is about. Usually, I use the Amazon summary, because that’s what the author chose to describe the book.
- Third, I talk about what I liked about the book. Did it have good world building? Characters that I fell in love with? A sympathetic villain? A challenging concept? What kept my interest to the end of the book?
- Fourth, I talk about what needed work. What flaws did I see? Were there typos? Were there gaps in the storyline? Was the premise believable? Was there too much sex or violence?
- Finally, I give them a review based on five stars.
As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I am reading a book by Wilbur Smith right now. I am 300 pages in after 24 hours, so that’s a good sign. I will have a review here in a few days.
Glen
