Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Week Five Prompt:


          If I am being honest, I felt the two book reviews for The Billionaire's First Christmas were awful. The writers clearly did not proofread their work; they were full of spelling and grammatical errors. Forcing myself to look beyond that, it was like I was listening to a friend tell me about a book. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it can make you feel connected to the writer, but it definitely did not feel professional. If I were looking to purchase eBooks for my library, I would not be impressed by these reviews and likely would not purchase the title. Also, as far as I can tell, this book is not a romantic suspense. It appears to be a typical holiday romance- unlikely couple meet and fall in love.
          The reviews for Angela's Ashes, on the other hand, are fantastic. They give you a taste of what the book is like without giving the whole plot away. I personally own a copy of the book and have been meaning to read it for years. These reviews make me want to pick it up right now. I would definitely want to add this title to my library's collection. 
          It may not be fair that one book is reviewed more than others, but it is an accurate representation of our capitalist society. Books that are written or published by well known names are more likely to reviewed, bought, and read. That being said, the library is more likely to purchase these books because patrons will want to read them. That's not to say that there aren't books out there that deserve more attention, they just aren't being promoted well enough. As for negative reviews, I appreciate reading the good and the bad about the book. Publishers obviously do not want that information out there because they are trying to sell a product, but as a buyer, I don't want to make a bad purchase. When I was buying for my library, I would almost always use reviews to determine whether we should purchase the book. The only exceptions were when I was already familiar with the author. I would often look at Kirkus Reviews, Booklist reviews, and School Library Journal reviews.

1 comment:

  1. great thoughts, full points! also, there are soo many books on the market; you're right they can't all be promoted the same. nobody has that kind of money!

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