Book Reviews

They Call Me Naughty Lola: Personal Ads from the London Review of Books
$16.00
I usually like this kind of book. Heck I used to write witty ads as a hobby years ago, so I should have loved this book, but I am sorry these were profoundly mediocre. There are a few good ones here and there but not nearly enough.

Kindle Review, Kindle Books - iReaderReview
$0.99
I have read Abhi's blog for 6 months now. It is an excellent and very thorough review of all things Kindle, e-book, and publishing. Its scope is MUCH broader than just the Kindle. It has well reasoned analysis of significant publishing issues, and books/readership overall. The entries are lengthy, with much detailed statistics to back up his positions. Also, he writes almost daily (sometimes several times a day), so you'll get plenty of material for your monthly subscription. Definitely the best Kindle blog, and, along with Teleread, the best blog on the ebook publishing field. Strongly recommended.

New York Review Of Books
$99.00

New York Review of Books is the best publication in the United States for serious readers. But as any of us who have them stacked up for years know they we need to get it on Kindle. What's the delay?

The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing
$16.95
Find an easy chair, have an hour or so free, and open the book "The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing" and you're on your way to doing just that.

This short book by Mayra Calvani & Anne K. Edwards is the only book I'm aware of on the subject of writing book reviews. I have been reviewing books for quite a long time but thought I'd like to take a short refresher course. So I bought this book.

I'm not sure why the title was chosen. It doesn't make much sense to me. I would have called it, "How to Write a Great Book Review" or something straightforward. I'm not sure what "slippery art" really means when it comes to book reviewing. I assume it's the fact that many people are less than honest in their reviews or they write amateurish reviews based on their personal likes and dislikes.

I also didn't see anything in the book about the author's qualifications to pen the book. I'm not questioning their credentials. I simply don't know them.

While most of the advice seemed to be written to those who review fiction, some of it did apply to non-fiction, which is my genre of choice. Moreover, the advice pretty much applies to all types of books.

One thing I was glad to see was a basic understanding of the star system and how to apply what you thought of the book to the number of stars you give it. That's a much misused and abused part of reviews on Amazon. As a reviewer, I often get stuck at the stars.

The authors tell us that the reviewer's responsibility is to the reader, not the author or publisher or anyone else. We who review books often forget that.

"The reviewer must be objective and fair in their comments, whether or not t he book is one they would read for pleasure. A reviewer works hard to build a reputation for honesty and integrity and must carefully consider what they write to maintain that reputation," the authors say.

They tell us that ". . . people read reviews to help make up their minds about a book . . ." And, they tell authors to get a top Amazon reviewer to positively review their book and "it's like money in the bank." How true that is!

People do read reviews. And, while not everyone makes his or her buying decision based on one review or several, some people do --- reviews do matter.

The book gives numerous examples of different types of reviews, which I found helpful.

"The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing" is easy to read. It's entertaining and fun if you love to read and would like to write really good reviews of if you're already a reviewer and simply want to be better.

I came away from the book with some fresh ideas and thoughts about how I can improve my reviews and, above all, how I should keep in mind that my reviews are for the reader, not the author or anyone else.

I've had numerous authors terribly angry at me for having written negative reviews of their books. One young man even called me on the phone and begged me to change my review because I was costing him sales. Authors can be children. Fortunately, this little book even tells you how to handle these fragile egos.

If you want to become a top reviewer or, for whatever reason, want to be a good book reviewer, I recommend you get a copy of this book. It has lots of resources as well as all you need to know when it comes to producing a great review. All you need supply is some really good writing and a love for reading. Then it will all come together powerfully and effectively.

Highly recommended.

- Susanna K. Hutcheson