Week 5 Prompt

Different publications review different types of books and they allow different types of conversations. For example, Booklist will not publish negative reviews, while, as you have all seen, Kirkus has no problems with it. Ebook 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 (formally Romantic Times) or other genre heavy publications. How does this affect collection development?

          Since different publications review different types of books, we should not rely on only one review.  Multiple sources such as Horn Book Magazine, Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Journal, Voice of Youth Advocates in Libraries, and subject specific journals often contain reviews for books.  There are also online resources that can be utilized when selecting library materials.  Sites like Capitol Choices GLSEN, Shelf Awareness: Daily Enlightenment for the Book Trade, and Bank Street College of Education, Children’s Book Committee.  It is also a good idea to look at blogs like Read Ranger, Reading Rants, I’m Here. I’m Queer, What the Hell Do I Read?, Go Graphic, and American Indians in Children’s Literature.  Individual American book award lists should also be consulted.

I have posted two more documents in the week five files. One is two reviews of an eBook only romantic suspense novel, one from a blog and one from amazon. Look over the reviews - do you feel they are both reliable? How likely would you be to buy this book for your library? Is this eBook even romantic suspense?

            The reviews seem to support the book as being a contemporary romance.  I do not think it is a good idea to only rely on one or two reviews.  Both provided reviews seem to be in agreement with the other reviews on Amazon.  I actually went to the Amazon site to look at the book instead of using the two provided reviews to make my decision.  I would not buy this book for my library if I were looking for a romantic suspense novel.  Many of the reviews state that the book has grammatical errors.  I also have never heard of this author and it is self-published, which makes me nervous because this author has not established a reputation.  There also does not seem to have much of an audience anticipating the material.  It also does not have that timelessness factor.  I would find a different book that meets the general criteria for materials selection.

The other document contains some reviews of Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt, an incredibly popular memoir. These reviews are all from professional publications, feel free to find more on your own I just nabbed a few from the Book Review Digest database for you. How do these reviews make you feel about the possibility of adding Angela's Ashes to your collection?
            I would be shocked if this book was not already in a library collection.  It was published in 1999, but it still is very popular because of the subject matter and movie.  All the provided reviews state that the book is a timeless classic with rich descriptions.  I feel comfortable adding this book because of its reputation and the reviews. 

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?

            It probably is not fair that some books receive more reviews than others.  A good review can make a difference in whether someone choses to purchase a book.  The more reviews a book receives, the more publicity it receives making the book popular and in demand.  When I read a book review, I want the truth.  I don’t like reviews that do not print the truth because they are misleading.  If a book does not deserve a positive review, I want to know why so I can use my best judgement.  For my personal reading, I rely on Amazon, Goodreads, School Library Journal, and Publisher’s Weekly. Typically I will read many of the readers’ reviews on Amazon and then look at one other source to check the reviews before I make my decision.