Prompt 2: Reviews

Ebook Romantic Suspense Novel

Do you feel both reviews are reliable?

I think the first review is mostly based on how this reader felt about the book. She did mention the dual points of view appeal but mainly focuses on her experience with the book. It does not really mention many appeals for other readers. That being said, she does seem to enthusiastically praise the book. The second review called the book’s plot odd but also said it was a very common story. It seems to me that a common story would not be considered odd. This makes the second review feel unreliable to me. Many readers look for books with Christmas themes throughout - it sounds like if that was a draw for someone, this book would fit the bill. One of the things we have learned in this class is that reviews should consider what the author was trying to do. This author intended to write a story based around Christmas and it sounds like this fit the bill.

How likely would you be to buy this book for your library?

We have a good base of patrons that grab anything with Christmas in the title, especially around Christmas time. For this reason, I would consider adding it to the collection but I would look around at more reviews to try to get a better idea of how good this book was considered.

Angela’s Ashes Reviews

How do these reviews make you feel about the possibility of adding Angela’s Ashes to your collection?

These reviews increase the possibility of adding Angela’s Ashes to my collection. Each review discussed appeals that made me want to add the book. The Kirkus Review declared it as “a powerful, exquisitely written debut”. The Library Journal Review said, “it may well become a classic”. Booklist Review said, “expect demand”. School Library Journal Review said it is “a vivid, wonderfully readable memoir”. These reviews all positively review this book and lead to me feeling that it should be in our collection. 

Do you think it is fair that one type of book is reviewed to death and other types of books get little to no coverage?

While I understand that every book cannot be reviewed (and even if they were - we wouldn’t have time to read them all!) I do think it is unfair that some books receive a tone of reviews and some get almost none. This is one of the reasons that I love being able to utilize Goodreads and platforms like it to see what readers are saying about books.

How does this affect a library’s collection?

Librarians only have so much time to decide on books to add to the collection. This means that if books are not getting a lot of reviews or are not in lists of upcoming books, they may never even register on a librarian’s radar. This can definitely affect what is in a collection. I cannot consider buying a book without knowing it exists!

How do you feel about review sources that won’t print negative content? Do you think that’s appropriate?

I think review sources should print both positive and negative feedback. It is the only way to ensure that the reviews you are reading give a bigger picture. If all the reviews are positive - why bother reading them at all? They will all say good things - no need to check. A negative viewpoint can be just as helpful and may not sway me from purchasing the material. In my opinion, the reviews should include all viewpoints.

If you buy for your library, how often do you use reviews to make your decisions? If not, how do you feel about reviews for personal reading, and what are some of your favorite review sources?

I use reviews to purchase materials for our library on a regular basis. I love using Library Journal. I also read Baker and Taylor’s Forecast and am signed up for emails from Library News. Our staff has diverse reading preferences so I regularly get their input as well. It is not an official review system but has been helpful when purchasing outside of my known genres.

Personally, I love mysteries and thrillers, so I get emails from Novel Suspects - they send information about books in this genre that are coming out soon.