Week 5 Prompt

Since many eBooks are self-published, that can make it challenging for authors and a library's collection. Unless a book has gotten a lot of buzz, most of these books are overlooked, even by many bloggers. The authors just don't have the marketing skills, or money, to get their book or name known. However, the publishing industry as a whole would not want reviews done of indie eBook authors. It cuts them out of their money. However, for us in our industry, a reason why eBooks should be reviewed is because they are cheaper and easy to deal with. Reviews should be done by authors publishing by a house or not. If libraries are worried about lowering costs, this should be something seriously considered. So many people now read on devices, and while I don't think books will go out of print any time soon, reading eBooks will become more prevalent in the near future.

The first review of the romantic suspense wasn't a review, it was a summary. The second gave the potential reader a glimpse into the book - the personal conflicts the characters are dealing with, what type of paranormal issue, the speed of the book, the style and whether the reviewer liked it. If I were to use either review, it definitely would be based on the second. Depending on what library I was working in, I might buy it.

After reading the review of Angela's Ashes, I would buy it for my library. This reviewer gave comparisons to show the differences, and of why and what makes memoirs compelling. To me, this was that the "happy" ending needs to balance out or surpass the misery that the person endured (at least in these). Since this type of memoir can be very heavy, or depressing, the fact that McCourt uses humor in his work is a positive factor. So is the fact that he won a Pulitzer. However, I would have given up on reading this review if it weren't for class.

No, I do not think that it's fair at all that one book or specific authors get a ton of reviews and others don't. Whenever I see a book reviewed by several professional publications, and it's turned into a bestseller with neon lights, it makes me not want to read it. Usually I won't (I still haven't seen The Titanic because I was so sick of hearing about it that I was completely turned off). The whole process reminds me of herding cattle.

I have daily, weekly and monthly scoop emailed to me, mostly blogs but some newsletters  - Tor, Orbit, Angry Robot (all three scifi and/or fantasy), Early Word, Goodreads, and Topping and Company (a bookstore in Bath, England I visited, mostly literary) for upcoming books, and Smart Bitches Trashy Books (my favorite, and mainly romance with random stuff thrown in), Dear Author (all types of romance, from inspirational to paranormal, but I've seen scifi, too), cuddlebuggery (YA and thanks for that one!), and occasionally I will check out Locus (scifi) for reviews. I have recently signed up for an ALA membership, and transferred my books from Goodreads to Library Thing. I don't read many amazon reviews, there are too many, "OMG, I love this book!" crazy fan reviews to filter through. Goodreads is a bit better, and now that I have been using Library Thing I will consult that more often. I also read whatever magazine that has reviews that may float by me at work. It's hard to keep up.