Week Five Prompts

   

E-book only books, which are increasingly popular (especially in the romance genre) see little to no reviews in professional publications unless they have a big name author, and then still it’s usually only RT Reviews or other genre heavy publications. How does this affect collection development? 

Look over the reviews- do you feel they are both reliable? How likely would you be to buy this book for your library?

  

How do these reviews make you feel about the possibility of adding Angela’s Ashes to your collection?

Do you think it’s fair that one type of book is reviewed to death and other types of books get little to no coverage? How does this affect a library’s collection? And how do you feel about review sources that won’t print negative content? Do you think that’s appropriate? If you buy for your library, how often do you use reviews to make your decisions? If not, how do you feel about reviews for personal reading, and what are some of your favorite review sources?

     According to my limited understanding of the publishing industry, I don’t think fairness enters into it very much. Of course, it isn’t “fair” that some books receive little to no attention and others receive more than they deserve or need. Collection development and readers’ access to titles are limited by this factor. But, with so many self-published books, and so many titles to choose from and shrinking budgets, decisions must be made based on information grounded in evidence and educated opinion. Whether the NYT Bestseller List is real or inflated or even completely rigged, doesn’t change the fact that many readers look to it to find their next book. With regard to reviews that do not offer negative content, my feeling is that it’s a commercial, not a review, if it fails to mention any weaknesses in the material. Negative content can be very useful information to have. By reading a wide range of reviews that incorporate different points of view and content, it can be factored into an informed decision. Unfortunately, most librarians do not have the free time to vet a book so extensively! For my personal reading, reviews can impact my choices. If it’s a genre I know well, and a reviewer complaint resonates with my own preferences, I take that into account. I enjoy using Goodreads; I rely upon it heavily. I used to read Amazon reviews, but don’t so much anymore. Goodreads is for books, so the time I spend there is time well spent if I’m looking for a book to read. Amazon can be distracting because it offers so many other products.