Sunday Salon: After BBAW, Picture Reading

This year's edition of Book Blogger Appreciation Week--without awards, and focused on the community spirit of book blogging--seemed to be a big success! I didn't follow the daily topics all that closely, but two of them provided me with ways into tying up a couple of posts I've been working on for a little while: responses to recent discussions of authenticity and positivity in book reviewing.

But for me, the biggest and best effect of BBAW was a sense of reconnection and renewed energy, and I'm working on a way to foster that going forward--not just for myself, but for all of us who'd like to keep it going. I hope to let y'all know more details soon--I need a little more time to piece it together, but I will say I've approached the hosts of our playground, The Estella Society, about presenting it there, and they liked it!

Meanwhile, here's what I'm reading this weekend:



And here's what I'm not--and why I always bring a book with me. Does anyone else think hair salons need a circulating library?



Enjoy your Sunday! What are you reading this weekend?





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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On Book Blogging: Really, Positively Enthusiastic

I think that when most of us can freely choose what to read--when there’s no obligation or assignment--we’re usually going to pick books we think we’ll like. It may not always turn out that way--sometimes a favorite author has an “off” book, sometimes a book description is less than accurate, sometimes The Book Everyone Loves just isn’t our thing--but for the most part, I doubt that regularly reading authors or genres or topics we dislike or lack interest in is anyone’s idea of fun. (It may be your job to read those, sometimes, if you’re a paid reviewer...but that’s why it’s a job.)

I rate the books I read on LibraryThing (where I also cross-post most reviews), and wondered if my rating stats would support that proposition. LT ratings are on a zero-to-five-star scale, and allow for half-stars.

Average rating: (3.55)

The bulk of my ratings are solidly in the middle to upper-middle range. I think that’s a fair indicator that I like most of what I read, and therefore, most of what I say about most books will probably be positive. And when it’s not, I’ll usually approach the negatives carefully and, sometimes, with a degree of regret that some aspect of the book fell short.

Based on five-plus years of book blogging and reading book blogs, what I’m doing is not particularly unique. Given that most of us blog about books for the love of it, it makes sense to me that we tend to accentuate the positive.

Beth Kephart, author and blogger, independently reviews books for various publications, and recommends them on her own blog:

“I read, often, dozens of books each month. On this blog I only talk about the ones I love...I choose to write about that which inspires me, or heartens me. I choose not to add darkness to days, choose not to hurt if it is not required. When days go by without my blogging about others' books, that is because I've not lately fallen in love.

"But when I am asked—by the Chicago Tribune, by the Pennsylvania Gazette, by various other publications—to give my opinion about books I have not chosen, there is no walking away. I have an obligation, a responsibility, to tell it as I see it then..It may not in my nature to be cruel, but it is in my nature to be decisive about books. And so I aim, always, to criticize constructively, to speak of a book's perceived flaws as I would about the work of a beloved student...to suggest, to query, to wonder out loud, to ask, Could more have been done?”

I think Beth beautifully delineates more objective critique and reader’s enthusiasm, and clarifies that there’s a place for both. Enthusiastic recommendation and a preference for avoiding negativity are two of the privileges of being a book blogger, and they help distinguish blogger-style book reviews from more traditional book criticism...while at the same time, they may be influencing a change in old-school reviews. In Salon, Laura Miller made a “case for positive book reviews,” noting that

“Since the average new book is invisible to the average reader*, critics who have a choice usually prefer to call attention to books they find praiseworthy...platforms on which to write about books for a general audience are vanishing fast. Most of the readers drawn to such publications want to be informed of the best new books and to read criticism that enhances their understanding of and appreciation for those books.”

*Note: Most book bloggers probably are not “average readers,” and many are highly aware of new books, but I think the broader point is probably valid.

Miller wrote in response to other recent pieces suggesting that there isn’t enough *critique* in current book criticism, and that it’s because readers and writers--who are sometimes the same people--are too nice and “like” each other too much. In “Against Enthusiasm,” the Slate piece that got this ball rolling, Jacob Silverman argues that “recommending" is supplanting "reviewing:"

“Reviewers shouldn't be recommendation machines...As if mirroring the surrounding culture, biting criticism has become synonymous with offense; everything is personal—one’s affection for a book is interchangeable with one’s feelings about its author as a person. Critics gush in anticipation for books they haven’t yet read; they <3 so-and-so writer, tagging the author’s Twitter handle so that he or she knows it, too; they exhaust themselves with outbursts of all-caps praise, because that’s how you boost your follower count and affirm your place in the back-slapping community that is the literary web. And, of course, critics, most of them freelance and hungry for work, want to appeal to fans and readers as well; so to connect with them, they must become them.”

Having quoted Beth Kephart earlier, I should mention that Beth is an author who has become a friend. I mention it because I think that Silverman may have a point about the social-media-fostered closeness among writers, readers, and reviewers--who. again, may be some of the same people--and I think it’s something bloggers need to keep in mind. Getting to know authors beyond their books is another book-blogger privilege, and many of us embrace the opportunity to champion our favorites. I seldom question the honesty of such enthusiasm, and I enjoy expressing it myself. That said, I think that if payment for a review warrants disclosure--because of the perception that it might influence the reviewer’s opinion in a particular direction--so might a friendly relationship with an author, for much the same reason.

(And if the author is the one paying for the review? If they ordered it from Kirkus Indie, they can opt not to use it if they don’t like it what the reviewer said; if they bought it from GettingBookReviews.com, the subject of that New York Times article, they paid to be liked--in some cases, liked a lot. Either way, such a “review” might be more appropriately considered advertising, and there definitely are rules about disclosing that.)

Today's BBAW theme encourages bloggers to promote a favorite book. I'd say that's something we do, with enthusiasm, at every opportunity.

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On Book Blogging: An Authentic Opinion is Priceless

Today's BBAW topic is a deceptively simple question: “What does book blogging mean to you?”

Short answer: Book blogging means thoughtful, honest, and often enthusiastic opinions and discussions about books, reading, and related topics from people who love talking about them, where such talk can lead to fun, fellowship, and friendships.

That leads into a much longer answer that begins with another question:

Have you ever wondered whether the opinions expressed in a traditional-media review of anything--book, movie, gadget, restaurant--might be less-than-honest ones, because the reviewer was paid to express them? I’m pretty sure I haven’t; I’ve assumed that the evaluation is made as fairly and objectively as possible, and that the opinions will be supported with analysis and examples as appropriate. That’s the basis of critique--and the traditional reviewer’s job description, I think (and may not be an approach a non-traditional, non-paid book blogger will choose to take).

On the other hand, maybe the explosion in “user” reviews over the last decade--and I’d include blogger reviews in there, as well as the customer reviews on assorted e-commerce sites--is an indicator that the opinions of people who aren’t paid to be “critics” in that traditional sense are perceived as being more honest; or at any rate, more authentic. In that light, the various disclosure practices used by bloggers when they receive product and/or payment for reviews--disclosures not made or expected in traditional media, where the same things happen--seem a way of asserting that “This is still my honest, real-person opinion, and I really did like this.” (Or not, but somehow the issue of payment is far less likely to come up in connection with a negative opinion...)

Liz Gumbinner of Mom-101 recently asked “When is the last time you bought a product off Amazon because of a four-star review from someone paid to write that four-star review?” Maybe you just didn’t know the reviewer was paid. As we’ve recently learned via a report in the New York Times, “real-person” opinions can indeed be bought, and there’s a significant market for positive ones. For some products--self-published books, for example--they’re essential marketing tools:

“Reviews by ordinary people have become an essential mechanism for selling almost anything online...In many situations, these reviews are supplanting the marketing department, the press agent, advertisements, word of mouth and the professional critique. But not just any kind of review will do. They have to be somewhere between enthusiastic and ecstatic.”

Jeff O’Neal at Book Riot dissected the NYT piece in a close-read, and notes that “(t)he only reason reviews matter at all is because of the implicit ‘unbiased third party’ understanding of reviews.” In that light, it’s certainly hard to see a purchased, positive review as “unbiased”--and understandably upsetting to discover that reviews you thought came from real, presumably unbiased fellow readers really might not be that after all. It’s an object lesson: disclosure matters because perceptions do, and so, even if we sometimes are annoyed and resentful that we’re expected to make those disclosures, we need to do it anyway.

Perceptions are based on what we see, and ideally, what we see is based on something genuine; integrity and credibility are hard to fake, but easy to shake. As one of Shelf Awareness’ paid reviewers, I appreciated editor Marilyn Dahl’s recent response to questions about honesty in positive reviewing (Shelf Awareness for Readers, September 4, 2012):

“We review good books, books we like, books we have discovered. Each week we publish 25 reviews of the best books just out, since we want to highlight books people will want to read. We aren't into lambasting and snark (although it can be tempting).. 

We get galleys or ARCs, which are pre-publication editions of books. We send them to our reviewers well in advance of publication, according to the reviewers' subject preferences. The reviewers then decide which books they will cover, based on the quality of the book (or the phases of the moon--it's not an exact science). Sometimes I will suggest a book based on my personal inclination or on information they might not have yet, but that's it. They are also told to be critical when warranted, as long the bottom line tips toward the positive. We sometimes have a back-and-forth about decisions, usually ending with ‘Life's too short, move on to something else.’”

Personally, I haven’t had trouble with the “positive bottom line” in reviewing for SA, as I try not to choose books I don’t think I’ll like (and even if I misjudge that, it doesn’t mean no one else will like it). But I found it interesting that a story about paying for positive book reviews popped up in the midst of an online conversation of whether book reviews in general are overly positive, period...but that’s a topic I’ll save for tomorrow, as this post is already flirting with tl;dr territory.

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BBAW 2012: A Little (Overdue) Appreciation!

It was actually yesterday’s blogging topic for Book Blogger Appreciation Week (BBAW), but as I was exercising a personal agenda then--and I’m not participating in today’s Interview Swap--I’m coming to this one a day late, but with no less sincerity:

Monday: Appreciation! There are no awards this year, but it can still be hard to navigate the huge universe of book blogging. Share with your readers some of the blogs you enjoy reading daily and why.

This is the fifth BBAW (I haven't missed one, even if I don't always participate fully) and I’ve been blogging primarily (but not exclusively) about books for 5.5 years as of this week (!). I subscribe to an awful lot of book blogs (several hundred--I’d rather not know the exact number). Some have left the scene for one reason or another, and I don’t add new ones as regularly as I used to. I don’t always get to read everyone’s posts every day, and I have become a sadly sporadic commenter. But these are some of folks who make my book-blogger world a better place--and if you don’t know them already, I hope you will soon!

I did get in shout-outs to my Armchair BEA teammates on Twitter yesterday: Danielle (There’s a Book), Michelle (That’s What She Read), Tif (Tif Talks Books), Emily (Emily’s Reading Room) and Chris (Chrisbookarama). I interact with some of these folks more on Twitter and Facebook than I do through their blogs, as in some cases our reading tastes are very different. That said, they comprise one of the best, most functional groups I’ve ever worked with in the online or offline world, and we are committed to improving the Armchair BEA experience every year!

As founder of Book Blogger Appreciation Week (and instigator/participant in many other projects), Amy (My Friend Amy) is a friend to many of us and the one who makes this week possible. She’s also one of the book bloggers who lives relatively close to me but I don’t get to see often enough, along with Jill aka Softdrink (Fizzy Thoughts), Ti (Book Chatter) and the aforementioned Danielle.

I’ll be honest: I make an extra effort to keep up with bloggers I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with offline, and I'm extra-fortunate to count some of them as friends now, too. (A lot of bonding goes on around conferences and conventions, and that’s a better reason to go to them than free books and other swag.) Among others, I’ve been privileged to enjoy some of these events with Melissa (The Betty and Boo Chronicles, until she makes a decision about re-naming it), Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness), Teresa (Shelf Love), and Jill (Rhapsody in Books). They’re all thoughtful, thought-provoking writers whose opinions and bookish recommendations I take seriously (and the first two are also excellent roommates!). I want to include Kathy (BermudaOnion) in this group too. She was my interview partner for the first BBAW, and without her faithful commenting, many posts here (and on other blogs too, I’m sure) would feel quite unloved--I think many of us owe her some appreciation for that!

Of course, if I confined my feed reader to the blogs of people I’ve met in person, I wouldn’t have several hundred blogs in there! So I’ll wrap this up with appreciations of a few book-blogging folks I haven’t met (yet!):

Andi (Estella’s Revenge), who continues to influence fellow bloggers after more than seven years; Sandy (You’ve GOTTA Read This!), who has influenced my explorations into audiobooks over the past year (along with Jennifer (Literate Housewife) and Candace (Beth Fish Reads), both of whom I have met); and Bryan aka UnfinishedPerson, who takes the title “book blogger” on and off like a hat but seems to remain one of us at heart (and in many of his posts).

Blogging in general has enlarged and reshaped my life; blogging about books has opened up my eyes, my mind, and my circle of friends. I appreciate that more than I can say.

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