Feb 16, 2009

Musing Mondays: Book Reviews


Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about book reviews…
Do you read any non-blogging book reviews? If so, where (newspaper, library etc)? Do you have any favourites sources you'd like to share?
I do read a few non-blogging reviews, but not too many. I read Publishers Weekly reviews and a few others, but I don't have a favorite. I rely mainly on blogger reviews. Much of the time, the books I'm interested in reading don't have their reviews published in the larger markets, and I know I can always find reviews on book blogger sites because of the wide variety of books read. You can find reviews on more than the NYT Bestsellers if you look on the book blogs. I can also get a better feel for what the average reader would think of the book. A lot of times, I'll read a book that a mainstream reviewer has raved about and after reading the book, I didn't feel at all the same way about it. It's funny...I'm the same way with movie reviews. If a critic hates the movie, I generally really like it and if they love it - I usually don't. I prefer to take book recommendations from everyday people who love to read and will write an honest review. I know I'm getting dangerously close to another topic that was discussed thoroughly not long ago, so I'll stop there. : )

10 comments:

  1. That happens to me often - someone can rave about a book but I won't feel the same way after reading it. Or people will rave about a movie or TV show and I won't like it or vice versa. Mainly I use reviews to learn what the book is about and if it's something that will interest me.

    Happy Monday!

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  2. I agree with you about books/movies. Like I mentioned in my musing, I get more from Goodreads reviews - regular readers - than the paid critics. But I usually read most reviews from publications and online.

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  3. I did forget to add that I do read some reviews on Amazon, but it is so rare. Thanks for visiting my blog :)

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  4. I rely alot on fellow bloggers book reviews too. Though I do read the reviews on amazon and in some magazines.
    http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

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  5. I'm the same way with books and movies. We had one movie critic here in Sacramento that if he loved the movie, I hated it. So I knew any movie he hated, I had to see it.

    Same goes with books - some of the most popular out there, that everyone loves - I didn't.

    My post is up now.

    Robin

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  6. Guardian and NYRB have in-depth reviews. Otherwise, I only glace skim through the other papers. I also trust the staff reviews at indies.

    After all, I'm eclectic and am not very mainstream! :)

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  7. I can feel so deflated , if a book doesn't live up to my expectations. But I still check many people's reviews, here is my answer for this week http://zetor-mogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/musing-mondays.html

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  8. I love reading reviews, but I like a lot of what you say about finding "sleeper" books through blogs.

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  9. I'd rather rely on "regular" people for recommendations rather than critics.

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  10. I too rely heavily on other book bloggers reviews. My book wish list shows it!
    *smiles*
    Kim

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Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment! I look forward to hearing from you again soon!