People
recommend books every day. Professional
book reviewers, amateur bloggers, friends, co-workers, teachers, neighbors, and
store clerks do it all the time. But why
should we listen to them and what are they calling upon to judge a book and
then make a decision as to whether you would be a good fit for it?
Whenever
I go to a restaurant and the waitress tells me some dish is a favorite of hers
I want to cringe and lash out: “Who cares if you like it? How do I know what tastes and preferences
you have? Besides, you work here. How do I know what motivates you, much less
informs you, of you ‘recommendations’?”
Think
about it. I’m a 48-year-old male with my
own preferences for food and life. How
can a 19-year-old woman, with limited experiences and her own personal
prejudices or physical limitations, tell me what I would like? All
recommendations – for food, books, movies or anything – should come with
qualifiers and disclaimers like this one:
“I am
recommending this dish because I get a bigger tip based on its price and my
boss asked me to push it. Further, I
like this item, but I also enjoy dog food, day-old bread, and the Olive Garden. I haven’t tried 70% of the other dishes here
due to allergies and because the owner doesn’t let us sample what he thinks
are the good dishes.”
Testimonials
and book blurbs are worthless because the author usually gets them from people
he or she knows. Almost no one reads the
book that they gush over. In fact, the testimonial is often written by the
author or publisher and it’s merely approved by the person swearing it’s a work
of art. Actually, it could be the
assistant or unpaid intern to the blurber that approves of it.
Book
reviews come in many forms. Typically, a
professional (paid and trained) reviewer will actually read a book and write a
piece for a magazine, newspaper, or trade journal. However, they’re limited by their values,
life experiences, biases, age, race, genetics, religion, economics, region,
beliefs, education, and mental make-up.
Further, they are limited in terms of which book they choose to
review. It’s not like every single book
was offered to them. Additionally, the
reviewer writes for its reader, bending the editorial content to fit the
stylistic demands of that particular publication. Lastly, there could be external pressures on
the reviewer – is the author a friend of the editor? Does the book’s publisher advertise often
with the publication? Does the author
have political views or social preferences – not related to the book’s content
– that differ or align with the publications?
Lastly,
just what should a book review say or not say?
At the very least, you want to know if you should read one book over
another – and why. For that matter,
books can have a two-sentence review.
The rest is just filling in details.
I often
read reviews to be aware of what’s out there and to use the review to save me
time from reading the book it discusses.
I want the review to act as a summary and to be of value in sharing
information. I don’t rely on the review
to inspire or dissuade my reading decisions.
The
other book reviewers out there can challenge us. We don’t really know who they are, or what
their abilities, preferences, or agendas may be. There are a zillion bloggers or people
sharing their views on books all over Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Then you
have organizational reviews of books – a newsletter for a church, a
neighborhood discussion group, or people emailing their circle of friends and
colleagues about a book. In these cases,
you may know more about the person sharing his or her views, but there could
still be a disconnect between their perceptions and your needs or desires.
Authors
rely greatly on reviews – if not for sales, then for ego-stroking. They look on Amazon, GoodReads, BN.com, and
other key outlets like Publishers Weekly, or Kirkus, hoping to find a few words
of praise that somehow legitimize their writings – and their lives.
Think
about what’s behind every book review or recommendation you get. Perhaps we should review the reviewers and
rate their picks.
READ UP!
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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog
are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter
@theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more
important when discussed in the third-person. This s copyrighted by
BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015
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