Here I am, back again to talk about real book blogging questions. (Or maybe bother you with it all, I’m not even sure at this point, but it turns out I’m still not out of topics when it comes to book blogging).
Today, I’m here to talk about book reviews.
Many bloggers, I included, have already noticed and talked about this before: book reviews aren’t that popular in the blogosphere. I know that personally, if I take a look at those damn numbers, reviews aren’t the posts that make everyone come to my blog, that gives me the most interaction, comments, visits and so on. Let’s say this loud and clear: reviews are unpopular in the book blogging community and on the blogosphere overall. I’m saying “unpopular”, really, but the word might be a little big, so let’ rephrase this: reviews aren’t as appreciated as, well… everything else.
When I first started blogging a couple years ago (I feel so old everytime I write this, someone helps me), I thought that book blogging = book reviews. I thought that the two were, somehow, forever linked and destined to be together, hand in hand and inseparable just like Lyra and her Pantalaimon (His Dark Materials, if you haven’t read the book, DO IT OKAY) or just like, well, us and our books.
I was wrong.
As time passed, as I met new book bloggers, as I slowly created a tiny little nest for me here, I realized that book reviews aren’t necessarily a given in the book blogging community. They’re not always there, sometimes they’re not even there at all.
I know tons of book bloggers writing a review a month, or very rarely, or not even at all. Their blog aren’t empty, they’re just filled with other bookish things, such as discussion posts, recommendations posts, wrap-ups where they mention everything they’ve read all at once, book hauls, bookish memes (Top Ten Tuesdays, Waiting on Wednesday etc.) and so on.
Sometimes book bloggers don’t review books. At all.*
*when I’m talking about reviewing books, I’m mentioning blog posts solely focusing on one book and talking about it. Long paragraphs, lists, pros and cons, likes and dislikes, everything, well, a book review.
To be completely honest with you, this unsettled me a little bit, at first. See, I had this image of book bloggers writing book reviews and somehow, it felt weird that so many bloggers did book reviews so rarely, or never. Yet, slowly, I got used to it. In the middle of the “usual” book reviews, I stumbled upon so many new, interesting posts and new, amazing ways to highlight great books. Recommendations posts, lists, blog posts where books are mentioned, but not necessarily reviewed, are wildly popular in the bookish community and I get why.
Is it that writing reviews is boring, or getting boring, I wonder?
Slowly, this image of book bloggers = book reviews kind of shattered, just leaving the book bloggers = books equation, one that’s much fairer than the first one. Some people hate writing reviews, some others just find other ways to chat about books. Some bloggers would rather chat about all of their favorites at once in their latest wrap up, while others prefer “old school” book reviews, written paragraphs or bullet lists etc, focusing on one book, their love or hate for it all.
There’s also twitter now and instagram and all of the other social media, where book bloggers aren’t necessarily “bloggers” anymore, but social media influencers as well. Reviews can take multiple forms there, they can be summed up in a tweet in a couple of sentences or key words, they can be written down in a couple sentences in the instagram caption. Book reviews on book blogs still exist, but they change, too, or disappear in the profit of talking about our reads quickly on social media, where the target is easily reached and sometimes bigger than ever.
I feel like that’s a common misconception about book bloggers – one that I had at first, too, when I started up. I thought I had to review books to be a book blogger, but thing is, you don’t. If you want to blog about books, you have to enjoy books, obviously – or what the heck would you talk about otherwise? If you want to blog about books, you have to want to talk about books – that kind of seems obvious, too. But you don’t necessarily have to write book reviews.
There are so many different ways to talk about books after all.
I personally love to write book reviews, even if they’re not that popular, probably not that interesting either. I’m not doing it because I feel like I “have” to, but because that’s how I want my blog to be, filled with discussions like this one, other fun book recommendations and posts when I can think of them, and tons of long, short, bullet-point reviews, too. I just love it.
Yet, I don’t think you have to review books to be a book blogger anymore. You just have to talk about books and do whatever the heck makes you happy, because it’s your blog after all.
Lily @ Sprinkles of Dreams says
This is such an amazing post, Marie! I only started my book blog a few days ago, so how you thought about the way book blogging works really resonates with me.
I personally love writing book reviews, as well as reading them, and it’s what motivated me to start my blog in the first place. I’ve found myself getting really excited about all the other bookish posts, too, though. (I’m a little bit sad to hear that reviews seem to be “less popular”, though.)
Marie says
Aw thank you so much Lily, so glad to hear you enjoyed it <3 <3 <3
Writing book reviews is what made me want to blog in the first place as well – since then I've found out and started writing so many other kind of blog posts and I love them all, but reviews will always have a special place in my heart, I think 😀 <3
confessionsofayareader says
I do write reviews on my blog. Some are fairly popular posts while others are not. I just do it because I like to share my thoughts about the books I read. I do visit some blogs that barely have reviews and other blogs that have multiple reviews per week. I think it really varies a lot. But I enjoy writing them, even if they’re short sometimes. I also still enjoy reading them from other bloggers.
Marie says
I’m so glad to find someone else loving to write reviews 🙂 there are so many different blogs out there, I also saw blogs with reviews – only, and some blogs with no reviews at all. It really depends on the blogger. I still love when there are reviews to read though 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment <3 <3
confessionsofayareader says
You’re welcome. I thought it was a really good post. I hope you’re having a wonderful day!
Marie says
Aww thank you, you too! <3 <3
Harini@BooksandReaders says
I love reviewing because I like the idea of throwing my frustration into a post . But I do realize what you’re trying to say – book reviews don’t get views . Like I don’t even read that many reviews myself . I think book blogging doesn’t mean book reviews but one or two reviews here and there don’t hurt . Tbh , I’m not a fan of waiting on Wednesdays , throwback Thursdays , etc either . I think the discussion posts focusing on book blog problems are the only ones that catch my attention most . And with the numbers always raising on discussions , I don’t think it’s just me either . But cool post ! I’m going to hang around here to see what others think 🙂
Marie says
Oh I get that, when you want to rant about a book, nothing feels better than writing a whole post about it all ?
I get what you mean, discussions really catch my attention a whole lot, they offer such an open discussion on so many bookish topics and that’s really amazing, too 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment and for stopping by! <3 <3
Satou Johns says
Discussion posts, yes that makes sense hmm I think I need to setup my game and read a few more books since I don’t think I have still the # (book Wise) to do comparisons or ask deep philosophical questions xD
Marie says
Oh that doesn’t come necessarily with reading a lot of books, you can find loads of ideas with just having a couple books in mind 🙂
Satou Johns says
But wouldn’t it be weird to recommend or compare books if I haven’t read both? Or I don’t know I have seen people making lists of books and stuff like that if the same genre but hmmm what I have only 4? Hahaha
Marie says
Ohhhh okay, I see, that might be a problem ? well you’ll read more books slowly and then you’ll be able to make these comparisons posts ?
Satou Johns says
All at it’s time yeap xD just making sure that I was doing okay haha
Satou Johns says
I don’t get that of the Wednesday post or the TBT and all that. I just post of what I want and think xD
Beatrice @ Confessions of a Pinay Bookaholic says
A fantastic discussion, Marie! I thought I followed your blog already (smh on myself but I just followed you!) I mostly post book reviews on my blog though I admit it’s more time consuming than posting it on goodreads (where I usually read book reviews). I do read book reviews on book blogs especially if my internet connection is cooperating with me (haha!) and whenever I feel like blog hopping.
I agree with the points you’ve mentioned here. I think it’s refreshing to post other than book reviews and I really enjoyed reading those kinds of post. 🙂
Marie says
Aww thank you so, so much for your sweet comment, Beatrice <3 <3
I'm with you here, I mostly post book reviews on my book blog – compared to goodreads, I mean… somehow, I keep forgetting to update my goodreads ?, but I do read tons of book reviews both on goodreads and over on book blogs. I still find it so great to see what people thought of books and some reviews are so brilliantly written 😀
Thank you so, so much again for your comment! <3 <3
Beatrice @ Confessions of a Pinay Bookaholic says
You’re most welcome, Marie! ❤️ Your discussions are always great and I enjoyed reading them ???
Marie says
Aw thank you so, so much, that means a lot <3 <3
northernplunder says
lovely post, i dont think i’ll ever not post book reviews, regardless of the views, for me theyre important almost like diary notes of how i felt when reading /about a book. i like to look back on them,
i share this post w my book club for any of htem strugglingto find a good balance and still feel wlecome.
Marie says
YES exactly, I feel the same way – I really like having reviews to look back on how I felt about a book. I also just really like witing them and posting them overall 😀
Aww thank you so much, that means a lot, and thank you for your sweet comment <3 <3
Somya Sahni says
I review books on my blog. But sometimes I end up typing the review on goodreads and never copy paste it on my blog. Its just Instagram is not that fun to me. But I definitely love talking about books on Twitter. Whenever I am reading a book , info related to it definitely goes on Twitter. And yeah I do read bookish blogs which I can find in explore on the WordPress app. And I love reading reviews on goodreads.
Marie says
Oh, I get that struggle, I have the same one, but backwards, I publish a review on my blog and forget to put it up on goodreads ?
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! 😀
deborahkehoe says
Hi Marie, great discussion! I agree with your sentence ‘it’s your blog you can write about whatever you want’. I’m paraphrasing but I totally agree. The posts I love to read the most are the discussion posts because they engender more discussion. However, I also love a really well crafted review. I love crafting a well written review too! I think my answer is that I really just want to talk about the books I’ve read. Thats why I started this blog after all! I’ll admit that time comes into play too. I have a full time job so I usually only veer away from reviews once a week because it takes much longer to craft a non review. I can whip out a short review in about 25 minutes. I also mostly write on my weekends so if I have to write 4-5 posts it takes up some time. I so admire you and other bloggers that do discussion pists multiple times a week, and so well!
I do really like reading reviews too, so don’t give up writing them! There is nothing more satisfying than having one of your fellow bloggers recommend a book, reading it and being able to discuss it with someone! Great discussion as usual, Marie!
Marie says
Agree – I also read and am drawn to discussion posts a bit more, even if I love a great review, too, sometimes we have so much more to say in a discussion post, I guess 😀
I agree, writing discussions take so, so much time – I’m always scheduling my posts, but coming up with discussions and writing them takes me a lot of time,too. I just love them, so… I can’t help myself ? Though, to be completely honest, that one didn’t take me much more time than a review to write (well, to draft quickly), when I’m inspired, words just flow!
Aw thank you so, so much, Deborah <3 you're so right, nothin more satisfying than chatting about a book we loved with someone <3 <3
Rasya says
I also have some sort of image that book bloggers = writing book reviews but realistically, those kind of posts are not that popular and from my opinion, it’s not because the reviews are boring but because the book at the first place doesn’t interest me or a genre that I don’t like to read.
If I were to find a book review I’ll go to goodreads or google it and just clicked on the articles so I still feel like book reviews are not useless tho.
On a side note, I love discussions posts like this as it opens a more diverse interaction. Like reading book reviews wouldn’t give me a lot to talk about except for ‘the book sounds interesting’ lol.
Marie says
I completely get what you mean: it’s so much harder to have great and tons of interactions on a book review, than it is on a discussion post. Also, there are so many books and, with chatting about one particular book, we can’t really reach out to everyone, because like you said, some people read a certain genre, others aren’t just interested in said book, and so on.
Book reviews do help me find other amazing books to read though and I’m super grateful for that haha 😀
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and for your sweet comment! <3
Jade says
I love writing book reviews and try to alternate between one review and bookish related post but it doesn’t always work out.
There is room for everyone doing their own thing, whether it’s reviews or not but I get why someone may not read reviews. Either you are excited to read the book and don’t want to be potentially spoiled or influenced by someone else’s opinion or you aren’t interested. It’s so hard to find someone with the exact same taste and who is reviewing books you have already read.
From being a book blogger who writes reviews, I try to at least skim read reviews for books I haven’t read, as I know how much effort goes into them ?
Marie says
I agree, there are so many reasons why some people don’t read reviews and why they might not be as appealing as other kind of posts. Like you said, it’s almost impossible to find someone having the same taste as you and reviewing books you have read and want to read and so on. It’s complicated haha.
YES yes yes, I’m so happy you said that <3 I do try to read reviews, because I enjoy reading them obviously and I also want to let bloggers know that they are appreciated, there is so much work behind every review out there 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Jade <3
Aj @ Read All The Things! says
I’ve cut down on the number of reviews I write. Writing them took hours and got boring. Then nobody looked at them. It all started to feel pointless. I don’t think I’ll ever give up reviews completely, but I am searching for other ways to highlight the books I’m reading.
Marie says
I get it, it’s a bit frustrating when so much time goes into a review, for so little feedback and results. There are so many fun ways to talk about books though, without reviewing them, with memes obviously, but also with other posts, or combining a few books in one post and making it a recommendation posts, etc 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on the topic!! 😀
whitreadslit says
I do one book review a week. I will read book reviews on other people’s blogs too, but only if it is a book that I either have already read, or one that I’ve never heard of before and want to know about. If it is a review on a book that I am already interested in reading, I get nervous to read the review in case it has spoilers or it colors my feelings about the book before I have even picked it up. But, as a general rule, I still love reading book reviews! This was a great post!
Marie says
Oh same here, I get nervous to read spoilers accidentally, that’s why I appreciate it when people mention when there are spoilers ?
YAY, I’m really happy to hear you enjoy book reviews 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment <3 <3 <3
Carol says
this is a really encouraging post!! I don’t consider myself a book blogger cause I don’t really do many book reviews, zero discussion posts, etc. but this is still very encouraging nonetheless. thanks for writing this!
Marie says
Oh thank you so much, I’m glad if this could help you in any way 🙂 To be honest, if you’re chatting about books on your blog, to me, you can be a perfectly great book blogger haha 😀 x
PaperbackCassie says
I haven’t written a review in months, but I’m okay with that. I like reading other people’s reviews, but I don’t find them very fun to write so I rarely do. I definitely agree you don’t have to review books to be a book blogger, you just have to love talking about books!
Marie says
Yay, I’m so glad you feel the same way 🙂 and you shouldn’t write anything you don’t really want to write after all, it’s your blog 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! 😀
Angela says
I usually do about one book review a week. They may not get as many views as other posts, but I seem to get a good reaction to them from commenters (knock on wood!). I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to book blog, but I do think reviews, in any form, are still a part of book blogging. Even if it’s just mini-reviews or even Twitter-style reviews. I’ll admit, I don’t read every book review on every blog I follow. But, I do still read quite a few of them.
Marie says
I find it amazing when there is a reaction to our reviews, I mean, people want to chat about a book in particular and I love it. Reviews take so much of our time and it’s great to see whe they are appreciated 😀
That’s good to hear your point on the topic, Angela! I think I’ll still feel that way too, somehow, that reviews are a part of book blogging, no matter the format they take 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3 <3
ihaveabadsenseofhumor says
I actually wasn’t aware of this, like you I think I just connected being a book blogger with book reviews. Personally I don’t write that many book reviews, or about books in general, though I really am considering changing my blog up a bit and focusing more on books. I love books and reading, and since I haven’t been doing much reading lately, I thought it might help me get back into it 🙂 And since I haven’t been blogging much either it’s not like it would hurt 😛
Marie says
Ohh, I really hope that focusing on books might help you get back into reading and everything! Wishing you the best of luck and… you know where to find me if you need any recommendations 😀 <3
ihaveabadsenseofhumor says
Thanks and I will!
Priyasha says
Yeah I think so. Great Post
Marie says
Thank you so much!! 🙂
etinosa says
I totally agree. I thought so too but found out book reviews aren’t that popular and discussions get more attention or recommendations. I personally like doing recommendation posts and reviews. Great post.
Marie says
Recmmendation posts are so much fun 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3
Laura W says
This is so true! I feel like bloggers are kind of letting full-blown reviews go by the wayside (and are just saving them for Goodreads or wherever) and are posting more discussion things which I’m totally okay with. While I do read book reviews (especially if I’ve read the book myself and I want to hear other people’s opinions on it), I don’t tend to spend as much time with them as other kinds of posts. Personally, my feelings on writing my own book reviews changes wildly from week to week. Sometimes I’ll feel like it’s so cathartic and I’m really getting all my feelings out about the book and other times I really, really don’t want to write a review so it ends up being kind of short and vague. As a result, I’ve just been writing fewer of them (I think I only wrote two in March and April combined) and it doesn’t really bother me. Great topic, Marie!
Laura @BlueEyeBooks
Marie says
I feel the same way, I feel like so many reviews are just up on Goodreads, but not so much around on blogs and everyone seems to focus on discussions lately. I find it great, I love discussions, yet I’m also a bit sad because I really enjoy book reviews, too and I feel like these posts deserve all the love as well 🙂
Thank you so, so much for your sweet comment, Laura 😀 <3
Margaret @ Weird Zeal says
This is such an interesting question! I personally enjoy writing book reviews because I love gushing about the books I enjoyed, but it’s a bit disheartening when they get so fewer views than everything else. Still, there are so many other ways to talk about books, so if someone prefers not to write reviews I see no reason why they should! But yeah, it really surprised me too when I found out this was the norm
Marie says
I’m glad I’m not the only one surprised, haha. I love gushing about my favorite books in book reviews, too, but I think it’s great to see all the recommendations posts out there and all the different ways to chat about books, too 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this 😀
LFBooks says
All the books I get, I have to do reviews for, it an exchange really so each to their own.
Marie says
Oh obviously, the books book bloggers get to review, they will review – at least I see it this way, too. I was just thinking that, aside from these reviews, and even these reviews, well they aren’t that popular when you come to think about it, and there are SO many other kind of discussion posts about books out there, different from book reviews. IT’s refreshing to read, too 🙂
thank you for your comment <3
LFBooks says
Yeah do what you enjoy is all I can say. I enjoy reviews and helping people out even if it is in a small way.
Marie says
Exactly, as long as we do what we love, that’s what matters 🙂
Rebeccah @ The Pixie Chronicles says
Yay! I love this! I admit, I’ve felt self-conscious for awhile because I don’t review books and I always had this niggling feeling in the back of my mind like, ‘You’re not doing this right. You’re not a REAL blogger!’ But I’m really glad there’s still room for other types of book blogs and that even if I do things a little differently it’s still ok 🙂
Marie says
AGREE there are still room and always will be for people who don’t review as many books, or just talk about books in different ways, too. As long as you’re spreading the bookish love, for me, you’re doing awesome 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3 <3
Satou Johns says
It is sad but true, I have seen that the post I get more “traffic” is when it is not a book review. However, that does not stop me xD some people in the comments said that they like to throw their frustration in a post, which is valid. I love to talk about books and I love to have a conversation about them, which is not that easy, maybe because people do that actually read that much? Other reviews? But you can read and make posts about that without actually reviewing. 🙂 So good luck!
Marie says
Oh yes there are tons of possibilities aside from book reviews 🙂 I enjoy writing both kind of blog posts, book reviews or not so I’m not going to stop either haha 😉
I think it’s important just to do whatever we want to , if we love writing reviews, we should keep on going 😀
Thank you for commenting! 😀
Satou Johns says
Yes, agree. At the end we are doing this for fun and passion so we shouldn’t be discourage 🙂 both posts are really good at the end. I like to talke and comment hahaha if you haven’t noticed xD
Marie says
Haha I LIKE TO TALK AS WELL so don’t worry about that haha 😛 <3
Satou Johns says
good to know! so you will see me more around your blog crashing your party, haha and you can totally crash ours anytime you wish! I will even crash yours on Twitter XD
Marie says
Hahaha fantastic, I can’t wait 😛 <3
Beware Of The Reader says
I do share your opinion: I thought it was mandatory to review books but as you said there are blogs about books without reviews. I do review all my books (except the very rare that I don’t like) because I love writing a review. I’m a genuinely enthusiastic person about books and I love gushing about the book and trying to convince others to read them. It’s really time consuming with all the fine tuning, graphics to make etc but I love it!
Marie says
YAY I’m so happy to hear that!! <3 I also really enjoy reading your reviews, and reviews overall from people like you genuinely enthusiastic and putting all the love they have in their reviews. I can tell, really, and I LOVE reading reviews like that, too 😀
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this! 😀
Kristina says
That was my original thought aswell ! And also what took me so long to create my blog; let’s face it, you will rarely see reviews on my blog (although I gave you two this month *aherm*)
My problem is not the writting part of the review, you see, As I usually start it as I go through the book so when im done of my reading I just need to schedule it. simple. My problem here was actually *FINISHING* said book to post the review. I’ve come so far from where I stood a year ago, but back then my mental illnesses made it hard for me to remember what I was reading and such .. well, If I don’t finish the book or barely remember what I have read, what do I review, you know ?!
another thing that made me stand back of creating my blog is, well, at that time I only read unknown books written in/translated in french. So in my mind.. “WHO would even want to read that ?!” — In the end, im pretty glad book blogging ain’t so much about reviews nowadays .. I’d say i’m a medium reader now, and i’m not too fan of “ONLY reviews and nothing else”.
Nice post as always my dear ! xx
Marie says
Oh thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on the topic, Kristina, I really loved reading your point of view on this. <3 I have to say, there is a huge community of French book bloggers as well, blogging in French, in case you're interested haha 🙂 But I get it, when you're not reading in the same language, it's a bit tricky to write book reviews and recommend a book when it's … well, not necessarily translated for everyone to enjoy.
I still think there's room for your amazing reviews or book recommendations, no matter how you write them – even if you sum it up in a couple words and talk about the latest ten books you've read like that or something 🙂
Thank you so much again for your comment! 😀
Kristina says
I feel maybe with other french ones we dont really have the same taste ? (Although I know you are xd) and as im more french quebec than french france … that can have its weight aswell ..
Marie says
Yeah I get it… I also feel like we can have different thoughts on books, all because of how we read them? I mean, I’m reading the books in English and sometimes, the French translations aren’t the best, so we don’t have the same reading experience :/
Kristina says
Yeaah.. sometimes stuff can be lost in translation, but as a general train of thought, I usually like them. Now I can read in both language, id still pick my translations sometiemes ahah just as they are « lighter reads » for my brain
Marie says
YEEES I so get that. I haven’t read in French for so long now though ?
Jeanette says
I love to share reviews and try to do it once a week for now, but I want to be a more active book blogger and want to write other book posts. But think I could need more ideas of what kind of posts it could be 🙂
Marie says
Oh well, if you’re looking for ideas, there are wonderful blog posts out there sharing ideas of blog posts (I think if you type blog post ideas book bloggers, something like that, you might stumble upon some great helpful posts); Also there are about three billion book tags out there, and you can take ideas from from everything, your reading habits, favorite genre, tropes, blogging, etc, I’m sure you will find great things you want to chat about 😀
Thank you so much for your comment 😀
Beth (Reading Every Night) says
I write reviews on my blog, and to be honest I don’t know what I would post if I didn’t write book reviews (well I’d probably just include more discussions, weekly memes, book tags and things like that I dunno), but I get what you mean about seeing bloggers who don’t write book review but who still have these fantastic book blogs that talk about all manner of important things. I enjoy writing book reviews, and I enjoy reading them as well because it introduces me to a lot of new stories and new genres that I may not have discovered otherwise.
It’s a shame they’re not that popular compared to all the other posts out there, but I guess it is what it is you know? 🙂
Great post Marie. 😀 <3
Marie says
Agree – well, I’d have loads of other ideas and would probably be able to maintain a blog without book reviews, but… I love them anyway and I love seeing them on other blogs, too. Like you said, they’re fantastic and we discover so many incredible books this way 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Beth 😀
Tanya Goffy says
Hmm, I’ve found reviews to be more popular, a tie with wrap-ups. Maybe because I put more effort into the reviews, so my other stuff isn’t substantial? I’ll try equalizing my posts and see.
Marie says
I’m glad to hear reviews are working out well for you 😀
Thank you so much for your comment 🙂
mundaneblog says
You have a very good point and I think there are a lot of different ways to “review” a book if not in the traditional way. Since I’m very new to the blogosphere I can only speak for myself when I say I like writing reviews, at least for books I liked ?
Marie says
Yes you’re so right, there are so many ways to review books and to talk about them after all 😀
I’m so glad to hear you’re enjoying book reviews 😀
Thank you so much for stopping by!
brooke @ bromack books says
Love this post! I greatly enjoy reading and writing book reviews, so I can’t imagine ever excluding them from my blog. But I’m also very wordy, so I doubt I could ever confine my feelings about a book to something like a round-up post! At the same time, it is interesting to see different types of bookish content people can create beyond straight-up reviews. Really motivates creativity.
Marie says
Agree, it really is motivating and inspiring to see how different everyone is and everyone reviews. I love it! I’m so glad you love writing reviews and that you’re having fun writing long reviews, too. I know sometimes, I can’t stop myself either hahaha 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! 😀
Raven @ Dreamy Addictions says
I like writing review posts more than other bookish posts. I’ve created my blog to share my thoughts on books and even if they don’t get much views, It’s okay. I’ll never give up on them because they’re like my reading journal.
Great Post BTW! 🙂
Marie says
I love that, that reviews are sort of your reading journal 😀 I’d like to think of my reviews the same way 😀
Thank you so much!! <3
Anna @MyBookishDream says
When I started blogging I thought that book reviews = book blogger as well. But the more time I spent in the bookish community the more ways I discovered to talk about books. 😀
I do write reviews, how many per month depends on how much I read and how many of those read books I feel like talking about. But in general I, at least, have 1 book review per month. 😀 I love writing reviews and getting all my thoughts on a book out of my system. It’s too bad that reviews aren’t as popular as other posts, because sometimes they are very hard to write. Still, I don’t think I will ever stop writing reviews, I just enjoy them that much. 🙂
Amazing post Marie! <3 🙂
Marie says
I’m so glad to hear I was not the only one feeling this way, at first, haha. It’s wonderful, how creative everyone is to chat about books, I love it so, SO much 😀
I’m really happy you like writing reviews, too – I love reading your reviews 😀
Thank you so much, Anna! <3 <3
Nicole (Read. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.) says
Great post, Marie! I personally love reading and writing reviews. But I’ll read any blog post having to do with books! ?
Marie says
Aw thank you so much, Nicole! Agree haha, I just love every blog post chatting about books 😀
Melina Elisa says
When I first started blogging, book reviews were a big part of my blog. I used to blog about 4-5 reviews a month! As time progressed, I realized that people didn’t really enjoy reading them, and I didn’t even have the time to keep up with all the books I was reading. Now, I really enjoy doing like a mini group reviews in one post. Maybe in the future I’ll go back to writing long blog posts again, but for now, it’s not really my thing, and i’m totally okay with that. I really enjoy reading them, specially by my favorite book bloggers (cough cough…you).
I don’t consider myself a book blogger, but that’s okay! Great post xxx
Melina | http://www.melinaelisa.com
Marie says
Oh I get it – I can’t keep up with the books I’m reading and my book reviews, either, I just make a little selection of the books I want to review on my blog ?. If you were getting a bit bored of writing reviews, though, it’s great that you stopped and do it a bit less frequently now – what matters is that we write what we love 😀
Aww thank you so, so much Melina, you’re the sweetest <3
Olivia @ Purely Olivia says
I agree with you! I do like reading reviews, but I also love reading discussion posts and recommendations and everything else, too. 🙂 I try to write reviews, but most of the time I end up not, but that’s okay. This was a lovely post, Marie!
Marie says
Aw thank you so, so much for your sweet comment, Olivia 🙂 <3
Maddie A. says
This is a really great discussion! Personally, I love writing reviews. I don’t do it often, because I don’t think every book I read needs to be reviewed, but when I do I actually have fun 🙂
It’s true that book reviews are not the most popular posts, but I feel that the interaction on these posts are great because it lets people comment on the more specific aspects of the book compared to a general recommendation post. Maybe that’s just me? And I usually read book reviews on other blogs, too. Especially when it’s a book I’ve read, just to see if we have the same opinions about it.
Anyway, even if it’s not popular, it helps me practice translating my thoughts into actual words that people can understand, and I think it really helps improve my writing as well 🙂
Marie says
Oh I’m so happy you enjoy writing reviews as well, they’re so much fun to write 🙂
You make such a great point – people usually focus on one book on book reviews and it gives us such a focused, interesting conversation sometimes 😀
I’m so glad you find it good for your writing, too – I found that writing reviews really helped me for that, too 😀
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this 😀
Ellyn says
Haha, I so rarely write reviews. I generally only write them for arcs or if I am absolutely in love with a book, or if I loathe it completely. Apart from the fact that they get the least stats, I also just don’t enjoy writing them. I find that I get distracted writing them and babble on. I would rather write a recommendations post instead of writing a review.
Marie says
Oh I get that – I personally enjoy writing reviews, but I can understand that they could get a bit boring to write at times. I think that what matters the most here is that you’re enjoying what you do, reviews or no review 😀
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this 😀
Bookish Rita says
I haven’t done a lot of reviews on my blog, but I’m trying to get into it more. I think that reviews can be super boring or super fun. It depends a lot on the book being reviewed and on the blogger, of course. Sometimes I feel like I can only review books that have come out very recently, otherwise no one will care. Since I don’t read new releases all that often, I end up not writing proper reviews.
I think that it’s important for each blogger to have their own reviewing method. I get very tired of long paragraphs that make me feel I’m in my lit class all over again. I like it when people switch things up a bit and use GIFs, bullet points, etc… Sometimes I even think that mini reviews make me more intrigued than long, proper ones!
Marie says
Agree, it really depends on the blogger! Personally, I don’t get bored of long reviews when they’re well-written and obviously, when there are images or titles or quotes, things to make the review and my reading, breathe a little bit haha 🙂 But yeah, I love it when people switch things up as well with lists and GIFs and everything 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this 😀
Lost In The Story says
I agree. I really enjoy writing book reviews bu truth be told I don’t like reading them at all. There have been points where I’ve wanted to start a second blog where my main focus was on books and writing. However, I have always been put off my the knowledge that on my current blog book reviews always bring in low views. I’ve never really associated book blogger with anything other than writing book reviews. It’s create to hear that there’s more to it than just that.
Marie says
Oh there is so much more to book bloggers than book reviews, really 🙂 I thought that book bloggers were really just reviewing books, but there is so much diversity in the blog posts we all do, discussions, the way to recommend books and everything else. It’s so much fun to read all the time 😀 I hope you won’t let that thought about book reviews and low views put you off starting a books and writing blog. There’s so much you can do besides reviews, taking a look around in other book blogs might just inspire you, there are so many unique bloggers 🙂
Thank you for your sweet comment! 🙂
Lost In The Story says
That’s great to hear! 🙂
arubunwritten says
I actually prefer reading book reviews to other content. I think lists can be fun, quick reads which is probably why they’re so popular. Though I am glad that there’s such a variety of content on the blogosphere! I also think blogs and websites are a much neater form of displaying content if that makes sense? The initial post isn’t limited to a word count and with twitter, things can get lost in comment threads and you might never find a single tweet again whereas with most blogs you can just search for a certain review. I don’t think we’ll ever end up without any reviews at all though! ?
Marie says
Oh that’s great to know that someone loves reading book reviews 😀
Agree, it’s amazing that there are so many different blog posts and ways to chat about books out there. I love it.
Oh yes, you’re so right about that. I’m an organization freak so I LOVE THAT so much as well haha 😀
Thank you so much or your sweet comment! <3
anatomyofabookthief says
Great discussion and I agree that you don’t have to write reviews in order to be a book blogger! I personally do review books but I don’t have a review schedule and I normally don’t know when I start reading a book if I’m going to review it, usually within the first few chapters if I have written any quotes or thoughts down I know I’ll be reviewing it after, sometimes I get to the end of a book and decide I need to share my feelings and sometimes I just don’t want to, so I don’t review the book ?? In terms of reading other reviews I do actually enjoy reading them it’s just difficult because I don’t like spoilers so I don’t read reviews before I have read books but by the time I get around to them their normally not so current anymore so the hype as normally died down and there aren’t too many/any current reviews to read!
Marie says
Hahaha I get that, everytime I start a book, I don’t know whether or not I’ll end up reviewing it, sometimes I feel like I will, but once I’m done with it… I forget about it or I don’t know, I’m just not feeling it overall ?
Oh I get that – I’m always a bit scared to read reviews and get spoiled on a book, I hate when that happens. Reason why I always do spoiler-free reviews and seek these reviews a lot ??
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3 <3
Cait @ Paper Fury says
Oh I so agree! I actually LOVE writing reviews but they’re definitely my lowest performing posts (sometimes it’s depressing gahh) and I don’t want to stop doing them because I love it, buuut…it definitely is more fun, it seems, for readers to just get book recs in different ways. Lists and recommendation posts and such. So I love that too! DO IT ALL, I say.? And honestly a 2 sentence tweet recommending a book is as likely to get me to pick it up as an entire blog post. Sometimes knowing less about a book before going in is fun too?! Less spoilers! So I totally get that reviews aren’t as popular anymore. Although I do like them on goodreads when I’m deciding what to buy haha.
Marie says
I love your DO IT ALL attitude ? I want to do that as well, I’m trying ? I really love writing reviews, but yes it’s a bit sad to see how they perform – reviews deserve way more love, that’s for sure.
I really love reviews on goodreads as well, I always look them up before getting a book, I can’t help it ?
Thank you so, so much for your sweet comment, Cait!! <3 <3
ShootingStarsMag says
Interesting post! Most book blogs I follow review books in some capacity, but I don’t mind other posts that still highlight books, etc. I review books still – probably not as much as I used to because I like to include other types of posts, but at the same time, I’m not going to stop reviewing books because I personally get a lot of book ideas FROM actual book reviews and writing reviews is usually the easiest way – for me at least – to share my thoughts on a book.
-Lauren
Marie says
Oh I feel the same way, I get SO many book ideas and amazing recommendations from book reviews, I love reading them – and writing them, too 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on the topic 😀
Karen (@teamsheltie) says
When I started reviewing books *ahem* 9 years ago (talk about feeling old) it was all about reviews and we all read them too.
I think…just my opinion…is that we go through phases and burnouts of certain things. Right now – discussion posts and SM pics are what’s popular. And at some point reviews might make a comeback – or not.
I think part of it is because at a certain point we were all reviewing the same books. Especially with YA. You just get bored reading reviews for the same books after awhile.
On the other hand – most people don’t read reviews for books that aren’t popular so I don’t know where we go with that conundrum. lol
And there are only so many ways to review a book. I know I don’t review as much any more because I’m bored with it. It’s a lot of work and no one seems to care. At this point in blogging, I just do what’s fun for me and hopefully people like it.
Karen @ For What It’s Worth
Marie says
You make such a great point, I guess we go through phases and burn outs, moments where some things are more “hyped” than others and so on and we never know how long that’d last. I am so impressed that you’ve been reviewing for NINE years now, that’s amazing! 😀
I guess you’re right that we see all of the same books a lot in YA book blogs, they’re the books of the moment after all, haha… but yeah, on the other hand, people aren’t that fond of reviews with books they have never heard of. That’s SUCH a struggle ?
I think you have the right attitude here, if reviewing gets a bit boring for you… well, you need to do what is fun for you and not boring after all 😀 <3
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this!! <3 <3
Birdie says
I’ll never stop writing reviews. They don’t generate the most hits, but they’re rewarding for me and they’re what pushed me into blogging in the first place. I love having somewhere to just write down all of my thoughts after finishing a book, and if someone gets something out of it then good. If not, I got something out of writing it and putting my thoughts together for myself. I also like them for those few times that it does hit on someone who wants to chat about the book, or your review made the book sound too good to ignore. Maybe it’s only once out of 50 reviews, but it’s still worth it to me.
Also, I don’t think that reviews are unpopular, I think that readers are more careful. I know plenty of blogs I follow where I don’t read reviews because the book doesn’t interest me, or I don’t want to be spoiled if it does. I do love to read reviews for books I’ve already read because I feel like if we both read and enjoyed the same book, we have a connection. Like visiting someone’s house and seeing your favorite books on their shelves.
With all that said, I also couldn’t tell you what specific blogs don’t post reviews, because I don’t think they matter in whether or not your a book blogger. There are thousands of ways to be a book blogger and the only real requirement is that you love books. 🙂
Marie says
That’s fantastic to know and I’m so happy that reviews feel rewarding to you, that’s amazing! <3 I agree, it's incredible whenever someone just stops by and you make him/her/them want to read the book, or you can start having a conversation with someone about a book. That's one of the BEST things for sure <3 <3
Agree – it doesn't matter, as long as we love and chat about books, reviews or no reviews 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment!! <3
Ashley says
Love this post! 😀 Sometimes I don’t write a review for a book if I am not sure what I want to say about it. Sometimes I love a book (or hate a book), but just have no clue where to even begin with what to say about it. Some books are just harder to write reviews for than others, so I tend to just not do it at all and write a little paragraph at the end of the month in my monthly wrap up posts instead. There’s also times where I skip writing a review if it’s an older book that has been out for awhile. Most people probably have already read it, so I don’t review them. These days I mostly stick to really new releases (within the last year) or ARCs.
Marie says
Oh yes, some books are so hard to review… sometimes, I don’t even know why? it’s not that they’re bad, it’s just… I feel like I have nothing too interesting to say about it overall? ?
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this, Ashley! 🙂
Sharing Inspired Kreations says
This is really interesting and I too think it has changed over the years. I definitely still think of book bloggers as book reviewers, but you’re right in that not all of them are. It’s a strange concept to get used to. I still write book reviews. I usually post one per week on my blog. For me, I feel like I would lose part of my blogging identity in a way if I were to stop posting reviews. It’s how I started my blog and that was all my blog consisted of in the very beginning until I discovered memes and other types of posts. So, I don’t know that I will ever stop posting reviews as long as I’m blogging!
Marie says
That’s wonderful to hear <3 I really feel like things have changed, but maybe it's just a matter of time before it changes again ?
I feel the same way as you do, I started by reviewing books and I feel like, right now, I will continue doing so, because it's part of my blog for sure 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment! <3 <3
Mel says
I personally don’t really review books that much. I’ve posted a couple of bullet-y “reviews”, but that’s the closest I’ve come. I just realized that I don’t always even enjoy reading other people’s traditional reviews, so why would I write them myself. I think reviews just aren’t as fun to read, personally, since most people format them the same. Plus, I’ve realized that when I read reviews, I often go into the book with a biased opinion, which then effects my enjoyment of the book.
Marie says
Oh I understand, reading book reviews or just seeing people gushing about one book a lot, can really influence your thoughts on a book sometimes, before even starting it 🙂
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the topic! 😀
Caro @ bookcheshirecat says
This is such a great post, Marie! ? I actually started blogging (back when I wasn’t even doing so on WordPress) because I wanted to write book Reviews, but I quickly got addicted to all bookish memes and book tags, so I always mixed up things a bit 🙂 I personally love writing book reviews (even though they take pretty long, because I can never stop myself once I start), but there are many other great ways to highlight our love for books like you said 🙂 Everyone should do what makes them happy & I personally love reading recommendation posts or lists of favorites as well!
Marie says
Oh thank you so much, Caro! <3 <3
I love mixing things up a little bit, too, keep things and blogging interesting for me, too, and hopefully my readers enjoy it haha.
I LOVE your book reviews and I'm so glad you are writing them, they're briliant all the time <3 <3
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3 <3
Caro @ bookcheshirecat says
ahh you’re the sweetest! ❤ ❤
I definitely love how you include the aesthetics and have different formats! 🙂
Marie says
Aww thank you, that’s so sweet, this makes me so happy <3 <3
The Candid Cover says
I have seen this discussion on Twitter, and while I think there is some merit to the thought that reviews aren’t as popular, I think that it is what your followers are interested in. I think if you are focusing on social media followers, then your posts will be loved by those who love short, fun, and to the point posts. Personally, I have been seeing an increase to my traffic on review posts. I think that it all depends on who your readers are and what they want. Long live the book review! 😉
Marie says
YES you’re so right about that – I guess it all depends on what our readers like to see on the blog, some have huge success with book reviews, some others just thrive more on bookish memes, etc. I’m so glad it’s workin out well for you and YES long live book reviews 😀
Thank you so much!! <3
jaimieweb says
I was actually thinking about writing a book review for my blog. I am in a book club with some friends and we just finished the book. I think book reviews are useful to help others know if its a book they’re interested in reading.
Marie says
You should do it! Book reviews are so helpful, so many times they helped me and made me discover new books I ended up loving 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3
jaimieweb says
No problem! I think I am going to do a book review. I was thinking about it and then I saw your post and it inspired me more.
Marie says
Oh I’m so, so glad if I could inspire you 🙂 <3
Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight says
I think that like you said, everyone can do whatever they want on their own blog and still be a part of whatever community. I get too why people don’t want to review, because it’s hard sometimes and the posts don’t get a ton of love usually. For me though, reviews are often easier to come up with than discussion post topics because my brain is tired. Plus, review books ha. But I definitely wouldn’t think twice at this point if someone didn’t review! Maybe 3 or 4 years ago it would seem a little different, but now? Book bloggers blog about SO much stuff (hell, half my blog, quite literally, is nonsense about The 100!) that I’d probably not even notice the lack of reviews! Great topic, Marie!
Marie says
Yes, sometimes it’s just hard to come up with reviews and… with what to say on some particular books – for some people, coming up with discussions or memes or lists, just feels easier somehow. I feel that way sometimes too so I can’t really blame them. As long as we talk about books, we’re doing GREAT as book bloggers, I think 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment!! <3
Sophie Li says
Hello Marie!
I love the discussion post! I absolutely felt the same way as you did when I first started blogging – I thought that book blogging means that I’ll have to keep posting book reviews. However I realized that I don’t like reviewing books too much because I don’t usually have 600-700 words to say about a book, even if I really liked it lol 🙂 I also realized that the world didn’t end when I stopped posting reviews regularly. Now I write mini-reviews whenever I feel like it haha.
You are right that there are many other ways to spread love about our favourite books, such as lists, memes, tags, and (my personal favourite) wrap-up posts! It is also in reading these posts that I discover new additions to my TBR, in addition to reviews. All in all I don’t think reviews are essential to book blogging. Great post Marie <3
Marie says
Haha and you’re doing GREAT with your mini reviews, they’re always so much fun to read! Also, I feel like “reviews” are really different from what I thought they’d be. They’re not necessarily long paragraphs, they can be short, lists, GIFs, etc. So much originality there, too, I love it 😀
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this, Sophie! <3 <3
Sophie Li says
Thank you <3 I've always been a bullet point person rather than a paragraph person, so I'm glad that the mini-reviews work 🙂
Yes! Reviews can be creative as well. I want to experiment with different styles in the future 🙂
Marie says
Experimenting is always good and always fun to do 😀
Sophie Li says
Absolutely!
Kelly | Another Book in the Wall says
Such a fantastic post! I’ve definitely noticed the decline of book reviews on many popular blogs as well, and it’s intrigued me how people like to discuss books! Although I prefer to write several paragraph reviews of the books I read, I can understand why some people would find writing such a long post, tedious, and resort to Twitter instead. Loved all the point you brought up! ❤️
Marie says
Aww thank you so much, Kelly <3 <3 Agree – I just love how people come up with other fun ideas to talk about books 😀
Michelle ? says
This is such an interesting post like always Marie! I have a hate-love relationship with reviews haha. Most of the time I love it, thus why I still write them, but sometimes it’s just so difficult and then I definitely do hate them ?
I think one of the reasons why reviews may be less popular, is because they’re ‘less original’. Of course everyone has a voice and their own opinions, but when it comes to hyped books you do feel after a while like every review is saying the same thing (that happened to me with THUG, thus why I didn’t review it myself since I felt like I had nothing to add). Or sometimes I just don’t click on a review because I know I have no interest in reading that book, but with recommendation posts and the like I know there might be something there for me! I don’t know if this is the same for other people though haha.
Marie says
Ahahaha I so get this feeling – I kind of have that,too?! I mean, most of the time I enjoy writing reviews, but some other times I just want to scream because I don’t know how the hell I can write this review hahaha.
Oh that’s such an interesting point – it’s true that, even if reviews can be formatted differently, they’re a bit less original than all of the other blog posts out there.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this!! <3 <3
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts/The Novelistics) says
I’ve noticed this as well! All of my posts that AREN’T book reviews tend to get a lot more comments than the ones that are talking about blogging and book-related things without talking about my thoughts on a book. I’ve been around as long as you have maybe, but I think there were once more book reviews and that’s what book blogging WAS what it was about – books and sharing thoughts about the book with the world.
But over the years as more and more bloggers came it just became… repetitive? All of the book bloggers who have been around since 2009-2011 tend to dominate the blogging sphere, so the newer ones were getting overlooked and had to get creative, haha. But that’s just my opinion.
I used to review a LOT more books when I first started in 2012 – that was back when I was in high school though and I could afford to write a blog post a day or more. Over the past few years I’m writing less and less posts and taking more thought – reviews aren’t becoming a priority anymore, and I don’t FEEL like writing reviews anymore for some reason.
Lovely post as always, Marie! 🙂
Marie says
I think you make such an interesting point – I guess new people maybe wanted a way to stand out and that’s why so many discussion posts and other kind of posts appeared, that makes sense 😀
I get your feeling – I don’t have as much time as before and sometimes even struggle to write my posts for the week, so… sometimes I want to do discussion posts more than reviews, they appeal more to readers and to me as well sometimes 😀
Thank you so much for sharin your thoughts on this, Sophia! <3 <3
Krysta says
I think book reviews get fewer views because people like to have heard of or read the book before reading a post. But I don’t see them as not valuable for that reason. I like reading others’ thoughts on books and I do use blogger reviews to decide whether or not to read a book. I know a lot of people enjoy reviews. That doesn’t necessarily mean they will read every review I write, though–just the ones that interest them. And that’s okay with me. I enjoy writing reviews anyway.
If a book blogger doesn’t write reviews, I would still want to see other book-related content like discussion posts focused on specific titles, for example. Some book bloggers never mention specific books or feature books and I do find it odd. It would be like a food blogger who talks theoretically about food but never cooks. I think there is a credibility issue they might have to address there in regards to “why should people read my opinions about books if I haven’t demonstrated I read any.” With so many book bloggers to choose from, credibility might become key in gaining followers.
Marie says
Oh you make such an interesting point. I never thought of that credibility, but that’s a good point – I’ve come across bloggers doing loads of discussions, obviously, but there are some reviews here and there, too and… if there weren’t any reviews, sometimes it’s a bit, strange. I guess I’m not used to it though, haha. I admire people’s creativity to talk about books though 😀
Thank you so, so much for sharing your thoughts on this 😀
Elley says
I like writing book reviews. And frankly, I read so many books and my memory is so much that of a gerbil, I don’t really remember much about any given book once I start reading the next one, unless it was SUPER FLIPPING SPECTACULAR. And maybe still not even then. A friend and fellow blogger just asked me about my favorite romances with plus sized heroines and while I knew I’d read some great ones, I was coming up totally empty. I had to go back and check my Goodreads shelves, and read through some old reviews to see if I could jog my memory about what this or that particular book was about. I remember I LIKED it, but without reading my review I really couldn’t tell you why I liked it, or why I’d recommend it.
is that just me? How to people have these crazy memories? I’d LOVE to do recommendation list type things, but my brain just doesn’t work that way. I am a hummingbird – fully embracing each moment, and then moving on to the next moment and leaving the previous one in the past.
Marie says
Oh I get it – sometimes I have trouble remembering the books I have read and especially the characters’ names, too, haha. Reviews are life-savers when it comes to that, and so is my Goodreads account, at least I can keep track of everything there hahaha 🙂
Nothing wrong with being a hummingbird though, you’re enjoying the moment and that’s fantastic 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! 😀
Vee @ Under The Mountain says
It’s definitely not necessary but I won’t stop reviewing books on my blog because my blog is for me first, then everyone else and I like to have what I see as a bookish diary of all the books I’ve read – so I do review every book I read!
Vee @ Under The Mountain
Marie says
It’s amazing that you review every book you read! I wish I had the time and… will to do it all as well haha. But yes you’re so right, your blog should be for yourself, first 😀
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts <3
Zoie says
I’ve actually been struggling with this thought the past few months… I used to feel like I needed to write one book review post for every book that I read, and that worked for a while, until I found that I was actually forcing myself to write book reviews rather than having fun with them. I’ve learned to be more free with letting books go without a book review without feeling a sense of loss because, well, like you said: blogging if for whatever that makes the blogger happy, and book blogging definitely is not limited to book reviews. ? In fact, that actually makes blogging more exciting because of the amount of room I can experiment with sharing my love for books and stories! ?
As always, thank you for writing such a thoughtful post, Marie! ?
Marie says
I’m so glad you’re not feeling that way anymore, Zoie! <3 Blogging should be fun, before anything else and we shouldn't force ourselves to write reviews if we're just, not feeling it, either 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3 <3
heather says
I used to review anything I read. Now I just review books I either really loved or really hated or have other burning desire to talk about. I write them just to get all those feelings out of me.
Marie says
I think that’s what matters the most – that you review the books you want to talk about the most, too, 🙂 thank you for stopping by! 😀
flippingthruthepages says
I can’t believe I am coming to this discussion this late 🙁 I do think that book reviews are not mandatory for being a book blogger. However, I appreciate it when a book blog does have reviews. This is not only important for the publishers and writers but for the blogger community too because we get to see so many new books. I have discovered so many good books after reading your reviews 😀
But yes, the reviews are not that popular and this is rather unfortunate? It becomes important to review books, especially for smaller bloggers like me, to get the review copies in future. Not that this is any forced thing, but yes, I like to review books too. I like to give my opinions and heard about others.
But yes, it’s my thoughts. Nobody is bound to do reviews if they hate it 🙂
Marie says
Oh don’t worry about it, you’re so, so sweet reading and commenting on my discussion post, this means a lot! <3 <3
I'm just like you, I appreciate it so much when I can see book reviews, I really enjoy reading them, even if they might be a bit less popular 🙂
Vickie Noel says
Well, it’s great to know that book blogging doesn’t necessarily mean writing reviews. I’m fairly new on the scene, hardly knowing left from right but I do know that actual reviews make up the bulk of my content cos I don’t know what else to make it up with. Anyway, so long as what I’m doing involves books and words, I figure I should be all right. Thanks for this enlightening post.
Marie says
As long as you’re talking about books and doing it with love, whether it’s book reviews or discussions or recommendations, you’ll do great 🙂
thank you for your sweet comment! 🙂
Vickie Noel says
Thanks for the tip!
Marie says
You’re welcome! 🙂
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction says
I think MOST book bloggers review books, but you’re right that not everyone does. There are no hard and fast rules about what makes someone a book blogger—you just have to talk about books in some way, shape or form! I don’t think I’ll be giving up on reviewing anytime soon, though.
Marie says
I completely agree with you – there are no hard rules and that’s what makes things fun as well, we can and should do however we please, as long as we have fun 😀
Thank you so much for stopping by, Nicole! <3 <3
Zeee @ I Heart Romance & YA says
For me, reviews are the hardest ones to write, so I try to do it once or twice a week. That said, real life happens and sometimes, I’m unable to post at all. And this is okay.
You don’t have to review books to be a book blogger. My thinking is that, if you love books and blog, you are a book blogger. The great thing about the community is the different ways we share bookish content!
I’m one of those that read reviews from bloggers that share the same typea of books as me. There are actually only a few and sometimes, I leave comments on those reviews.
For the past 2 years or so, I started adding discussion questions to my reviews. And I’ve actually been getting a few more comments on my reviews that way. I think it’s easier that way for readers ro respond when you ask a question related to thw books’ themes and such.
Marie says
I love the way you’re thinking and I completely agree – as long as we love books and chat about books on our blogs, we are book bloggers. There are so many different ways to talk about books and that’s the beauty of it all 🙂
I agree, I also love asking more questions at the end of my reviews, it’s a great way to get interactions and new book recommendations, too 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3 <3
theorangutanlibrarian says
And yeah that’s true about book reviews not being as popular. hehehe love your Northern Lights analogy!! It is surprising that it’s not as big of a deal as I thought. But I personally love doing book reviews, so I won’t stop doing them- but I think it’s upto the individual to do what makes them happy of course! Fantastic post! 😀
Marie says
Agree – there are bloggers who love to write book reviews, while others just don’t . As long as we keep on doing what makes us happy, that’s what matters 😀 Thank you so much! 😀
May @ Forever and Everly says
I love this discussion, Marie! I think for me personally, the book reviews I post on my blog are book reviews of physical ARCs I’ve received from publishers. I just don’t enjoy writing book reviews as much as I like writing other posts, and I’d rather keep them to Goodreads! But I think it’s great that a lot of other book bloggers post reviews on their blogs — they can do whatever they want! I admit that when I was a smaller blogger (I’m suppressing a shudder at the thought of those old posts) I didn’t consider myself a book blogger since I didn’t post book reviews so I don’t think it’s a good mindset to have that you NEED to post reviews to be considered a book blogger. After all, like you’ve said a lot in the past, all that’s required for you to be a book blogger is to blog about books! Great post, lovely! <3
Marie says
I 100% get this – some people really enjoy writing reviews, while others just don’t and that’s okay, too. I have to admit that it feels a bit weird, sometimes, when I don’t or rarely see reviews on a blog, but in the end, as long as there are bookish chats and the blog is still books-focused, for me, it still means I am looking at a book blogger anyway 😀 <3
Thank you so much! xx
Angela @ Angel's Guilty Pleasures says
When I started my blog reviewing was easy, but this year I’ve been in a slump and reviewing just hasn’t come as easy as it use too or I just don’t feel it. Not sure if I’m burned out or not. I have come to a point where I read what I truly want and post what makes me happy. For my blog it’ got a verity of posts each month, from book tours, book reviews, discussion posts, movie reviews, kid book review and random stuff, but everything is book related or close too it. Great posts.
Marie says
Oh I’m so sorry to hear you’ve been in kind of a slump! I think what matters the most is to focus on what makes us the happiest to write and read. After all, we’re doing this for fun 🙂
Thank you for your sweet comment! 🙂
Olivia-Savannah says
I LOVE YOUR USE OF THE DAVID TENNANT GIF! I LOVE IT, YUP.
Also I agree! I write reviews on my blog but it is less for my readers and more so for the authors because I want to share about their work. They’re not as popular, but I am happy with the reach they do give to authors, ad if people are looking for book reviews of a book online they might stumble mine and I would like to contribute to their decision. I try to do a 50/50. A book review and then a different kind of post, and then a book review, etc, etc.
BUT I LOVE ALL POSTS. And recommendation list posts are the bomb dot com. So I’m happy with all and everything. Everyone should blog the way they want to, including book bloggers!
My recent post: https://oliviascatastrophe.com/2018/06/may-wrap-up/
Marie says
AHH thank you so much, Olivia! 😀
I understand and I agree with you – I also like doing reviews, even if they’re not that popular for my readers, at times. I just appreciate it if I can share the word about a book and, even if just one person reads it and might want to buy it, well that makes my day, too 😀 I just love spreading the word for books I really loved 😀
suckerforcoffe says
I do write reviews though they bring the less traffic to my blog. I also put up other bookish content to balance out the reviews so that it doesn’t become monotonous.
Marie says
I think it’s so important to keep on writing reviews if you’re enjoying it – you’re blogging for yourself and you should do what you love 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! 😀
shelfishforbooks says
This is a really interesting take on book blogging!
Marie says
Oh thank you! I’m happy you enjoyed the post 🙂 <3
anathadad says
This was incredibly helpful! Thanks for posting! I am just now starting my own book blog and trying to get ideas on how I want it to be and this has given something to think about.
Marie says
Oh you’re so, so welcome, I’m so happy this could help! I hope you’ll have fun blogging! 🙂
debjani6ghosh says
Great post, Marie! I’m a new book blogger, and my blog is primarily about book reviews. So, I’m still unsure about the the reason behind low page views on my blog. Is it because I’m new, or because no one reads reviews any more? I don’t know, but you have given some serious food for thought.
Marie says
Thank you so much, happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
It’s not that no one reads reviews anymore, people do, I just noticed that people are also more attracted towards different kind of posts than reviews, such as discussion posts, recommendations, lists etc. I’m glad if I could make you think 🙂 Don’t worry about low page views, you’re just getting started and what is really the best about book blogging is talking about books to other people, for me 🙂 In case you might be interested, I wrote a blog post about growing your blog, too : https://drizzleandhurricanebooks.com/2017/06/07/how-to-grow-your-blog/ 🙂
I hope you’ll have fun blogging, that’s what matters the most, write what you love! 😀
Thank you for your comment <3
Aria says
I have been blogging for a couple months now, and in the beginning I only posted short book reviews, but now I rarely write book reviews, and most of the time I do weekly memes or tags. I do want to write more reviews; it just takes a really long time! Anyways, great post, Marie!
Marie says
Oh I get that, reviews take me a whole lot of time as well. What matters is that you write them if they make you happy! 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3