What Sets My Book Reviews Apart…

For starters, I go through quite an ordeal looking for the perfect book to read. The synopsis must sit right with me. Or, if I recognize the memoirist (usually from the face on the cover), but often through social media chats, there is always something alluring about this person that draws me to wanting to read their story. Most times I’m feeling the memoirist is going to share something that will enhance my perspective.

The key is, what happens once I have the book in hand. My mood must be right when I open the book, or that first page has to be really singing. Many books end up on my DNF (Did Not Finish) shelf for one, and often both of these reasons not quite working out on the first go.

That expressed, this is what really sets my book reviews apart from many others. I DO NOT share books (on my review blog) that I have not completely read…excluding albeit… forwards, prologues, epilogues and such. Yeah, I rarely read jacket flaps and extras, primarily due to trying to avoid coming across spoilers that might mess up my mood. 

The point is, books I share have touched me deeply. They stay with me. I don’t forget them. Ask me a question about any one of them and I am ready to elaborate… at length… no cheat sheets! 

TRUE STORY

Admittedly, I learned a good lesson about judging a book before reading to the end. There was one book that took a few attempts before I could really get into it. And when I finally did, I got almost to the end when the story started dragging again. So, thinking I was fairly sure how things would wrap up, I started writing my thoughts. Fortunately my instincts, or maybe it was my conscience that kicked in. Whichever it were, I didn’t want to leave a review without finishing the book.

Oh man! I pushed on through reading to the end, and was so very glad I did. I would have been crushed had I published that review. Anyone who read my thoughts, and read that book completely, would have known I hadn’t read the book to the end. In fact, it would have been known just where I stopped reading.

Another story comes to mind when I think about skim reading, or not finishing books. It’s the story of the Donner Party; a group of people from a mid-western town who set out to move to California (in the mid 1800’s). What first intrigued me about the story, given I initially read about this incident (in a magazine I believe), before years later actually seeing the film, was the debate about which path to take… the short-cut or (for lack of a better phrase) the true and tried path. Now the magazine article (from memory) didn’t include the part I found really mindboggling. In the TV account, apparently someone (in the party, or advising the party) had halfway read a book that mentioned the short-cut. They neglected to get to the part that described how impassable the path was, which led to tragedy for those who took that short cut. 

Now, while partly reading or skim reading books isn’t always this serious for most readers, for me I take very seriously reading books completely before offering my thoughts. I even try reading between the lines. I don’t want to miss a thing; and hope my reviews reflect the time and energy I put into writing them!

Just finished reading ‘I Am These Truths’ by Sunny Hostin. (my thoughts HERE). 

#ILoveMemoirs #ILoveReading #JustBlogged