I spent my weekend reading. It was cold, cold, cold and all I wanted to do was snuggle under the covers and read a book and so I did. I posted my reviews today on Amazon and Goodreads.
I will admit, I am not the best reviewer. For some reason I can spin a yarn or a tale, but when it comes time to review something I am occasionally at a loss for words. I have received good reviews and bad reviews for my books. I take that into consideration when I write a review of something I have read, because looking at the bad reviews that some books receive, and at the other books the reviewer has reviewed, the books haven’t merited the horrible review they got. You know the kind of review I mean? The kind that stabs and is cruel and mean with no purpose except to wound rather than to post a constructive critique that would help the writer. In fact, looking at the other reviews there seems to be a thread where the reader doesn’t like the genre of book that the book they have just reviewed falls into.
Keeping that in mind there are books that I have started and could not get through. Most of them have been free books and not what I normally read, so it stands to reason I might not like them. Others might be poorly written.
When I post a review I see no reason to be cruel if I don’t like a book. In fact, if I quit reading a book that I don’t like, I often times do not leave a review because there are occasions when it is better to say nothing at all. If I leave a review with fewer than four stars I usually leave a gentle reason why I deemed it three stars. I do not do less.
The last three books I reviewed got five stars because I liked them. I didn’t have to muddle through to get to the end. They kept me reading. I give five stars to new authors and award winning authors. Famous author or indie author, I award the same. When I give five stars it is because I liked the book. I liked the genre it was in and I felt the writing was good. Having that in mind I will tell you I am not a stickler for perfect grammar and perfect punctuation. Remember I am comma challenged. I am not a stickler if I like the story. I don’t let the mistakes in editing take away from my enjoyment of the book. I don’t dock for those unless they are way out of line. If I look at the editing too closely I take away from my enjoyment of a good storyline.
If you follow my reviews and you see a five or four star review for a book and you look back through my history and see that is all I am giving —- it is because the other books didn’t make the cut of my even giving it a review. The books I review are books I like. That is the way I do my reviews. That is the way I continue to do my reviews. If you understand that–then you should follow my reviews. If you don’t, then I am not the reviewer for you.
If you want the terrible with the good. If you want the critical, soul destroying reviews then you can find them but you won’t find them where I hang out.
If you enjoy a good book, make sure to leave a review. A good review is a gift for every author.
Here is one of my recent gifts. Posted by Skeeter on Amazon for Granny Skewers A Scoundrel on October 20, 2014
I loved this book. Granny gets in more trouble than Carter had liver pills. What a hoot! And I think the books get better the more the author writes. Don’t know where she gets the ideas, but keep them coming. And I would personally love to see Granny’s hidden wardrobe!