Can Book Blogging Have A Negative Affect On Our Reading Experiences?
12:00 AM
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| Oh No I Didn't! |
I know I can't believe I just said that either. I mean book blogging is such a big part of my life, but once I stepped back and really thought about it I could kind of agree with that review I read. Before I had this blog I probably only read like a book a month...if even that. So every time I read a book I had a clear mind and nothing to compare it to. But now I read about two books a week. And when I start a new book I'm still thinking about the book I finished yesterday.
Here's where it can get negative. Is this fair to authors and other bloggers looking to a review to see if they want to read a book? It's not a secret that reviews can change someone's mind about whether they want to read a book or not. Sometimes I'll read reviews while I'm browsing in B&N and it makes me actually go buy the book. But other times if it's an iffy review I'll actually put that book on the back burner of my to be read list for awhile. What if it was an iffy review because they had just read something so fantastical like The Hunger Games the day before and this other book which is actually quite great just didn't compare for them?
I guess the only way as a reader to make a good decision is to do one of two things:
1. Read the book and make up your own mind and just use reviews as loose guidelines or
2. Read a lot of reviews and don't let just one sway your decision.
So what do you guys think? Does reading 100+ books a year make you more critical when writing reviews? Do you think your overall reading experience is being affected by mass reading? Do you think it's fair to authors and other readers? I want to know I'm not alone in this thought.
Here's where it can get negative. Is this fair to authors and other bloggers looking to a review to see if they want to read a book? It's not a secret that reviews can change someone's mind about whether they want to read a book or not. Sometimes I'll read reviews while I'm browsing in B&N and it makes me actually go buy the book. But other times if it's an iffy review I'll actually put that book on the back burner of my to be read list for awhile. What if it was an iffy review because they had just read something so fantastical like The Hunger Games the day before and this other book which is actually quite great just didn't compare for them?
I guess the only way as a reader to make a good decision is to do one of two things:
1. Read the book and make up your own mind and just use reviews as loose guidelines or
2. Read a lot of reviews and don't let just one sway your decision.
So what do you guys think? Does reading 100+ books a year make you more critical when writing reviews? Do you think your overall reading experience is being affected by mass reading? Do you think it's fair to authors and other readers? I want to know I'm not alone in this thought.
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