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Bloody Bookaholic's Commandment:

Thou Shall Read Till Thy Eyes Bleed

Monday 20 June 2011

Which Reviews Do You Like the Best?

Mainly reviews fall into 3 categories:

  • Books That You Haven't Read
  • Books That You've Read
  • Books That No One Knows About or Pretty Much Pay Little if Any Attention To (These can fall into either category up top, but they have their little corner in heaven)

I personally go for the reviews of books I've read. Why? Because I like to know what other people thought of the book I either found fascinating or as boring as watching paint dry. If I thought the book was out of this world and you are then telling me that the book sucked, I want to know what happened along the yellow book road that your mind and mine started to take different paths.


Why did your mind took a turn for the worst and entered the path leading to Suckville while mine continued on the path believing that the book was good? It intrigues me. Not everybody is the same.

On occasion I like reading reviews of books to come that I have yet to read, but my favorite reviews are always the ones about the books I already read. I comment mostly on these. I swear every time I see a bad review (bad as in the reviewer didn't like the book, not criticizing technique or anything) of a book I adored I am just baffled. But it's fun! It's fun to see how other people react to that specific book you adored, hated, or simple fell flat to you.

So which category is your favorite? Which reviews are you most likely to read?

10 comments:

  1. I'm not sure I have a favorite type of review to read.

    I like to read reviews on books I know for just about the same reason as you, and I've found that I look for different things in a book than other reviewers do. I don't look for characters I can understand or relate to at all. I'm mainly looking at the story, although an awkwardly written narration will sometimes ruin a perfectly good story for me...same goes for dialog that doesn't fit the characters {I'm at times obsessive with this}.

    I tend to read at least part of reviews of books I haven't read yet to see if I might like them, though I don't want to read a complete summary of the book - yet too little info will sometimes frustrate me {sometimes there's absolutely NO pleasing me with this-lol}

    I LOVE to read a review on books that are little known. I enjoy reading an author that few of heard of -especially when later they're "discovered" by the blogs and suddenly everyone is talking about them. Ann Aguirre, Devon Monk and Ilona Andrews. I remember when I first read each of their first two books....not many had heard of them and then within a few months of their secon book, it seemed they EXPLODED on the book scene. That is very fun for me.

    I like questions like this also. :)

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  2. I prefer reading reviews of books I've already read. That way I really know what the writer means when they explain what they liked or didn't like about the book.

    I do sometimes read reviews of books I haven't read but often I'll just skim them to get a general impression. While 99% of reviewers don't include spoilers (or clearly warn about them) there's always the occasional one that does so I keep away from reviews of upcoming books, unless it's by a blogger I know I trust.

    Tasha @ A Trillian Books xoxo

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  3. OMG Thank you so much for this post!I always tell people I read reviews of books I've already read and they're like "What's the point?" Ugh frustrating!
    I rarely read reviews of books I haven't read, unless I sense there are a lot of bad ones about a book I want to read, so I mostly consider them as a warning.
    Like you, I want to read reviews of books I've already read, that way I get why someone finds this good or that bad or the complete opposite, which usually initiates the comments-discussion. If I haven't read it THEN what's the point in discussing, since I have no idea what the book is about and I haven't formed my own opinion yet?
    That and also I don't want to know a lot about a book before I read it. Most reviews are spoiler-free but still can't avoid referring to some parts of the plot. I try to avoid knowing any part of the story before reading a book.
    So I'm 100% with you on this one.
    Great post!

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  4. I agree with pretty much only reading reviews of books I've already read. I too love reading reviews that had an opposite opinion from mine. I also sometimes read reviews for obscure books that I haven't heard a lot about. Great pick by the way ;)

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  5. I like a mixture: books I've read and books I haven't read, but am interested in reading. Some reviewes have saved me some much needed dollars.

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  6. Honestly, my favorite is a tie between the books I never would have heard about and the books that are so popular everybody was posting something about them.

    I also enjoy reading reviews on books I've read, and that yellow book road thing, the way you creatively asked the "how did you feel differently about the book than I did" question, that made my day! Very fun post!! :D

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  7. I never really thought about this, but I think I mostly read reviews of books I've already read too. In fact, I tend to read reviews with opposing veiwpoints, just so I can see how/why we had such different reactions to a book. I do enjoy reading positive reviews of books I loved too, so I can feel that tingly, gushing feeling again.

    I also read reviews for books that I haven't read yet, but only if I know the reviewer doesn't post spoilers. I LOATHE spoilers!

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  8. I mostly enjoy reading reviews of books I've already read. Mostly because I already have my opinion of the book so I can either agree or disagree with the review.

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  9. I sometimes read reviews about books which l just recently got to see if people are enjoying it or not. But l do mainly read reviews of books l have either loved or hated!

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  10. Mostly books I've already read. I like to see if someone else liked or hated the same things I did. Also if it's a book that was iffy for me, I like to see if someone else can pinpoint WHY. I seldom read reviews of books I haven't read except to see if they liked or hated it, cause I hate spoilers.

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    alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
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Read your opinion, I want. Leave a comment, you shall.

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