More than Just a Rating discussion

Academic journals, textbooks, other websites? Please provide an html link and a brief annotation re' why you're recommending the source.

http://www.lavc.edu/library/bookrevie...

It hits all the important parts of a review and is very academicy. ;)

That's actually quite nice - and I like how it says right up front that 'there's no right way' and talks about different purposes. It might not be a bad place to start, especially for people who like to be offered a little structure.

http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handou...
Here's another one. It talks a little about the difference between a review that's really a book report, a review that's snarky, and a review that is critical and well thought out.
I especially like this point, "Review the book in front of you, not the book you wish the author had written. You can and should point out shortcomings or failures, but don't criticize the book for not being something it was never intended to be."

Sarah wrote: ""Review the book in front of you, not the book you wish the author had written. "

Such good advice. I've tried to convey that sometimes in book discussions, because there is always someone who wants a character to have behaved differently.

What the author wrote is what it is.

Thanks!

Re wanting the character to have behaved differently--But this is a valid criticism. If I don't like the behavior of a character and consider it unsympathetic, I will say so. Sometimes I'll say that the character would be more sympathetic if... That's also perfectly valid.

There have been times when I thought an author's cross-genre experiment hasn't been successful. For example, the author is combining romance and science fiction. I consider it perfectly valid to say that the science fiction world building was excellent, but the romance aspect was not well handled. So the author would have been better off leaving the romance out and publishing it as a science fiction novel. I believe that's a very fair criticism.

So I really don't agree with this idea that you shouldn't ever say that a book should be different.

Shomeret wrote: "Re wanting the character to have behaved differently--But this is a valid criticism. If I don't like the behavior of a character and consider it unsympathetic, I will say so. Sometimes I'll say th..."

Perhaps the author didn't want the character to be sympathetic. I think saying one aspect worked while the other didn't is helpful, but saying the author should have written a different novel by leaving out the aspect that didn't work seems out of bounds to me.

Hm - let me open a thread under 'questions and discussions,' thanks.

After seeing the grammar cheat sheet, I found some other ones on the net. Here's a cheat sheet for all your grammar needs.
http://www.xeromag.com/cheat.html
I could have used that note about affect and effect in my ninth grade science fair, Internet.

Sarah wrote: "After seeing the grammar cheat sheet, I found some other ones on the net. Here's a cheat sheet for all your grammar needs.
http://www.xeromag.com/cheat.html
I could have used that note about affect..."

That is a really good cheat sheet, Sarah. The "affect" and "effect" one is another major pet peeve of mine.

In my effort to find some sort of outline or way to format my notes in order to help me write reviews, I found this site. http://beginningwrite.blogspot.com/20... There are several links lower down the page that offer different insights into writing a review.

surfing around the links is more helpful than the bottom example - some good nuggets in there, thanks for sharing!

http://shabbyblogsblog.blogspot.com/2...
This blogger shows you how to make a Grab My Button for your blog. I did it yesterday and it works.
You can see my button on my blog:
http://kimbathecaffeinatedbookreviewe...

It's a great way to help out a fellow reviewer.

It's awesome!

Except, what exactly is it?

Ok, you place the button on your blog, and someone else who has a blog can can copy and paste the button on to their blog under html/text gadget. It's a way to show support to a fellow blogger because it gives a direct link to their blog..pretty cool huh?

Yeah! That's awesome!

http://www.bookrooster.com/
This was linked on an author's blog I read. You can sign up to get free e-book review copies to review. Their venue is amazon, however. But there's no reason you can't cross-post.

Lululemon wrote: "That is a really good cheat sheet, Sarah. The "affect" and "effect" one is another major pet peeve of mine...."

Mine as well!

http://www.ioba.org/terms.html Love this delicious source for book terms.

Mostly for booksellers and collectors, but def. fun to look through. I especially liked "STICKER GHOST A sticker has been left on a book for some time, and the glue, reacting chemically, has discolored the surface."

http://indiesfreviewers.wordpress.com/ To list yourself as a reviewer of indie fantasy/sci-fi fiction. I get lots of e-books from this list to review.

Intriguing, Sarah - almost tempts me to start a blog so I'd qualify...

^^ Sooooo...I've got an announcement! Next month is November! What's so great about November you ask? Well it's National Novel Writing Month! Yay! There is this website called nanowrimo.org that challenges writers all over the world to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November! I'm taking the challenge! So I'm not going to be on for all of November, sorry to say. Anyone interested? Even slightly? Here are some reasons to join nanowrimo:

1. It's realllllly fun!
2. You've wanted to write a novel but haven't had time to do so.
3. There are lots of helpful people to cheer you on.
4. You don't need to worry about editing at all!
5. You get to keep all rights to the book when you enter the contest.
6. It's free!
7. Only takes about all your time and month in November!
8. It's totally worth the time and effort!
9. It's sooooooo fun!

So yeah, anyone interested, join! Then we can be nano buddies!

I've a couple of friends who participate in that every year. They get majorly stressed out, but they still love it and keep doing it. If I were a writer I probably would, too. It's definitely motivating to wannabe authors.

Good luck Zaira!

Thanks you guys!