Ways in Which My Book Review Style Has Changed Over Time
For context, my old book reviews contained my overall feelings about the plot and characters. My oldest book reviews can be found from 2011 on my old Goodreads account. As I grew older and re-read my previous reviews, I realized that my reviews had become chaotic to the point where I didn’t even want to look at it anymore. So, I decided to start this blog in January of this year, the sole intention was to revamp the way I review books.
Before I begin enumerating the reasons why I review the way I do, I want to state the purpose of my reviews: to capture my reading experience to the best of my abilities. Recalling the feelings and insights I had is essential for me to contemplate whether or not I should re-read a book. Here are the different approaches I've taken to book reviews since I restarted my list this year.
Plot Summary
Ha! This is a minor mistake because I was being lazy. I thought I could rely on book blurbs and skip writing my own summary. However, leaving out plot summaries in my own words ended up having a big impact on how useful my reviews were to me.Structure
My freestyle reviews from the past don’t work for me anymore. I need to be able to find what I want when I reread my reviews. So, I created my own rating system to ensure I’ve considered the things that matter to me.Reflection
I aim to carefully catalogue and articulate my reflections—did the book challenge my views on social and/or political issues, my morals, my sense of self, or something else? I find writing an incoherent review to be a waste of time because "future me" won’t understand what I meant, and that’s been the case with many of my past reviews. The worst part was some of those reviews were lengthy. I also take time to reflect on why I feel the way I do about a particular scene, as it helps me better understand my views and preferences as well. I think this is why I take longer to read—there’s a lot of pondering in between.Women Representation
During my teenage years, I used to read a lot of romcom books by Sophie Kinsella. At some point of my early adulthood, I decided I had hit my quota of romcoms in this lifetime. Now that I am older, I realized I had neglected this part of my reviews for decades. There are pros and cons to it. On one hand, I didn’t miss out on beautifully written lyrical prose. If it captured my attention, I’d read it regardless of how women were portrayed in the book. Oh, the clutches of patriarchy on me were clear! On the other hand, I couldn't name many strong female main characters from my list of books. I intend to change that.
4 comments
I've been surprised at how much writing your own summaries vs. using the "official" versions has come up this week. I usually write my own, but sometimes just knowing I "have" to do that stops me from wanting to write a review at all. I'm not sure what the best approach for me is. I have found this discussion super interesting and helpful. I'm glad you've found what works for you! That's the most important thing for a blogger.
ReplyDeleteHappy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! I totally get what you mean. Sometimes, the pressure of having to summarize can take away from the fun of reviewing. It’s interesting how finding the right balance is a personal journey. Of course, you're right, the key is finding what keeps you excited to blog! I’m glad you found my post helpful.
DeleteI don’t generally write my own summaries of books, but now I wonder if I should! What an interesting idea. :)
ReplyDeleteYou can consider it, it works if the purpose your reviews would be for your own future reference. That's why I do it now. Thanks for dropping by!
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