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I never read a book before reviewing it; it prejudices a man so.
– Sydney Smith
Well, that is one way to do book reviews. It is not my way. I read every book I review, all of the body text. I may skip the footnotes, and normally just skim the bibliography (for non-fiction), but the main text? I read all of it.
I believe every book I review for a general audience is more than a review. It is also a recommendation, my saying this is a book worth reading. That does not mean I necessarily agree with the book. It means I feel there is something within that makes it worth the time. Before I can do that, I must read the whole thing.
Not every book I start intending to review gets reviewed. There was a history of barbed wire where midway through the author started fangirling on environmental terrorists. A book on punctuation where the author slid into Jewish blood libel. A novel where the protagonist tortured and executed the villain at the book's climax — after first disabling the villain, rendering him helpless. I could not in good conscience recommend reading those books. I generally stop reading a review book when I decide it is not going to be reviewed. (I need to find one to replace it and time is finite.)
Then there are books I pick up for pleasure reading, where halfway through I realize it is really good. If the author is a first-time or little-known writer, I then decide to share the discovery with my audience. I slip them into my review schedule.
Do I pay for the books I review? Most of my reviews are of books sent to me by a book publisher. (Nowadays many are electronic copies, free for the publisher to send.) A reviewer should not have to pay for the privilege of reviewing a book, nor is the value of a review copy enough to sway my opinion. I tell publishers they are free to send a review copy, but I may not choose to review the book. (They send copies anyway.)
No one can buy a review from me with money. I get paid for some reviews, but I get paid by the publication wherein the review appears. Even there, I only review books I can recommend. If I cannot, I beg off writing a review.
What I can be bribed with is a good read. A book that is a pleasure to read, and which I can wholeheartedly recommend to others. That is what it takes to get me to review a book.
Discussion (2)
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Do you have a big physical book collection and where do you find your reads (other than reviewing)? What book surprised you the most recently that you found enjoyable when you didn't expect it?
CONTRIBUTOR
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Um . . . yes. People could accuse me of hording, but I give away many of them. It's mostly due to publishers sending me physical books and my being unwilling to pitch them. Over 20 years (as long as I have been reviewing books) you tend to accumulate a lot of books.
Public library and local bookstores. Also, I buy interesting-looking books electronically on Amazon when they are deeply discounted by the publisher. I also check out Sarah Hoyt's Sunday book post. (https://accordingtohoyt.com/)
An as of yet unpublished novel titled "The Violin Maker." It is a first novel. Epoch Times wants me to review one novel a month. Finding good ones is . . . challenging. Too many insert 21st century woke values into the book. (A black doctor who graduated from Harvard working on the 1850s Western Frontier. An abolitionist planter in 17th-century Jamaica, that kind of thing.) Or they go wildly off into the weeds to make the story work. Generally using 21st century concepts, like ICC international law in an era where a ship's captain is "master before God."
This was a pleasant surprise. Everything worked. No GLAAD stuff. No Woke. I'll be reviewing it.
That's the most recent. Another is a book I will be reviewing tomorrow on Ricochet. It was another first novel, by an author I knew. I always have low expectations for first novels. It's just the way the world works. I decided to review it as soon as I was done with it, because it was so good. I'll be buying the next book in the series.