Week 5 Prompt

Week 5 Prompt:  Different Types of Reviews                                                                                      

I’m not sure if I would order The Billionaire’s First Christmas.  I noticed both the Amazon Review and Blog Review are positive.  The Amazon Review found the book to be a beautiful, clean Christmas romance, so a patron did enjoy it. I was looking at the Blog Review. It seems like a free book, so I wonder if that affected its popularity.  I wondered if it was still free, but I couldn’t find it on Amazon now.  I did look for a professional book review, and I didn’t see one.  I did look on Goodreads, and most complaints were about writing mistakes in such a short book, and many people did not finish it.  Based on the Goodreads opinions, I wouldn’t buy it unless it was a free eBook.    

    While the Kirkus Review of Angela’s Ashes was harsh over McCourt's life, I would order it. One reason is that the book is very popular.  The last line of all five reviews discusses how remarkable this book is, and that is a book I would want in my collection.  I thought it was interesting to see the difference between the reviews.  Kirkus Review is critical of how tame and tepid the School Library Journal Review is.  I understand it was for children, but it is starkly different.  Library Journal and Booklist Review are less critical than the Kirkus Review.  

I don’t find it fair that one book will get many reviews and some get little or no coverage.  I think having all the available information when ordering a book is essential.  I order for the non-fiction section of my library, and if a book doesn’t get reviewed, it flies under my radar and won’t be ordered.  I would miss all these great books patrons could love reading by not putting them in the library's collection.  I use reviews all the time when I order books.   I like the negative reviews because I want the truth about a book. I feel not every book is three to four stars.

   I check numerous review books when I order.  Publishers Weekly is my favorite, and I love Booklist, for example. When ordering, I try to find the best of the best books to put in the collection. But I don’t just order books for the library.  I like reviews when looking for a book in my reading, too.   I check Goodreads when I look for books, Amazon reviews, and Barnes and Noble.   Sometimes, that fails, though.  I picked a Romance book for this class that had good reviews on Amazon but didn’t look at Goodreads.  There were a lot of people who did not finish the book, even though it had three and a half stars.  I didn’t think it would be a good pick for someone who doesn’t like Romance.  Sometimes, I find books by searching the internet from Facebook groups and googling the best books of the year by genre.  I find good books by listening to co-workers and posting Staff Reads on Facebook.