Thursday, June 2, 2011

BTT (#5) ~ reviews

Hosted by Booking Through Thursday

"Do you read book reviews?
Whose do you trust?
Do they affect your reading habits?
Your buying habits?"

I read book reviews.  I read them by book bloggers.  I read them in print newspapers.  I read them in online newspapers.  I read them in bookstore handouts.  I read them here.  I read them there.  I truly read them EVERYWHERE.

(If that sounded a bit like Dr. Seuss, it was meant to.)

Mostly, I trust book bloggers I have come to know because I read their blogs frequently.  And I'm a regular readers of those blogs because, in comparing my own interests to theirs, I have learned that books they like and recommend are actually books I enjoy reading.


Of course, reviews by book bloggers affect my reading habits.  Often, I go to my library's online connection and put a book on hold while I'm still reading a blogger's review.  That's why I usually have more than one window open at a time, so I can do things like that.

On the other hand, my buying habits are primarily influenced by my pocketbook.  If a book is unavailable from my library or a friend (I take good care of borrowed books), then I might buy it if it's one I can't live without.

So it's ironic that the last thing I posted, before checking on today's Booking Through Thursday topic, was about that book report I did more than fifty years ago.  A book report that was itself pure fiction.  I trust other book bloggers, but now you may never again trust anything I say.  Maybe I shouldn't have told that story?

3 comments:

Beth said...

You had me laughing with your post about your 8th grade "fiction," Bonnie.

I read a lot of book reviews, too, as I don't purchase many books these days and want to make sure I'm getting my money's worth on those I do. I like the reviews on Amazon, though I often don't agree with many of them. It astonished me to see so many folks on there rating one of my favorite books of all time so poorly---Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. They called it "slow" and "boring." Well, I suppose it IS slow, compared to, say, a John Grisham thriller. But it is lovely and contemplative, like reading a poem...and not boring at all. In my opinion, anyway.

Anonymous said...

I like your answer.

here's mine:

http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/06/booking-through-thursday.html

Sally said...

Great answer. I like to read reviews but I don't base my book buying decisions on them.
Sally.
http://theelifylop.blogspot.com/2011/06/booking-through-thursday-20.html