Reviews are kind of the black sheep in the book blogging community, which, when you think about it, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I mean, we, bookworms, screaming about books all day long, are supposed to thrive on book reviews, aren’t we? Aren’t book reviews the best way to scream about the books we adore? Aren’t book reviews supposed to be the backbone of book bloggers, our very reason to be?
Another blogging expectation crumbling, burning down to ashes here.
The unpopularity of book reviews has been highlighted and talked about many, many times in many discussion blog posts, by an amount of wonderful bloggers, me included and we all came to the same conclusion. Book reviews don’t bring in a lot of traffic, they don’t rise a lot of discussions, they don’t give us a lot of comments, when you compare them to other popular blog posts. Book discussions, blogging discussions, recommendations lists are thriving. Blog posts when you talk about a lot of books, bookish tags when you talk about books in fun ways, are working really, really well, too and all of a sudden, what you imagined to be the backbone of the book blogging community, just slowly fades out in the background.
The thing is, book reviews are so, so hard to write.
How the hell are you supposed to write a proper book review? How are you supposed to rate a book? What are words when all you want is to mihkeyzgrkeibzebgkrabjhbrek your way out of this, because the book was too good and you’re just not finding the right words to say it all? (My wonderful friend Malka wrote a very interesting blog post on that very struggle of reviewing that I’d definitely recommend!)
So why bother? In front of book discussions, recommendations, bookish lists thriving, in front of recommendations threads on twitter, endless captions on instagram talking about all the books, why bother and write an old school book review that, apparently, no one will read and comment on?
☂️ Related blog post: On book reviews: unpopularity, comments and other struggles.
Most of it all, do book reviews really make you want to buy* a book?
*Or get the book from your library, if you can. Or add it to your TBR, these work too, obviously.
Or are book recommendations lists, endless shouting, tweets and bookstagram pictures, more efficient? I mean…. weren’t book reviews made for that? To recommend other people books and make them want to read them? So, what do we do when there are other, maybe more efficient ways to do that? Do we just give up on reviews, because apparently they’re worthless here?
I’ll admit two things here.
First, that I might be exaggerating here and might be a little bit of a drama queen and I’m sorry about that, but also, not really, because things are changing. The community, the way we blog, the way publishers want to promote their titles, too. Bookstagram tours, social media campaigns, other things are put into place to promote books than big old book reviews and appreciated by publishers a whole lot, too. The world’s changing.
☂️Related blog post: Is book blogging still relevant ?
Second, that, for me, if book reviews aren’t the most popular thing ever, I’m still on that old school path and I’m not quite ready to leave it just yet.
I write book reviews now and I am publishing a book review per week on my blog, have been almost ever since I started book blogging four years ago. If things have changed, if the way I blog, the way I write blog posts, the way I’ve found my own blogging voice and what I really like writing…. book reviews have always been a constant here and I don’t think that will change. I’m not saying I might do less than one a week, because sometimes, that’s a lot. I’m saying that, someplace, I feel like I will always give some space for book reviews.
Why I keep on writing book reviews
- Because I enjoy spotlighting one book -or a couple books when I’m doing mini reviews- and really talking about them. The thing is : when you’re writing book reviews, you’re really talking about the book, something that doesn’t happen too much when you write recommendations posts or book tags. Sure, you’re mentioning the book, maybe writing a paragraph about it, but reviews feel more focused.
- Because, as hard as reviews are to write, I actually get an immense satisfaction when I’m writing them and finish writing them and I like this okay.
- Because, as complicated as it is to give a review and a rating, I love to reflect on my experience while reading a book and to pinpoint exactly what I loved about it all, to better recommend it to others afterwards.
- Because book reviews give me the chance to spotlight specific books, yes and, no matter what general opinion might say or think, maybe some people will want to read the book because of me. I make a point of writing spoiler-free reviews every time, to allow everyone to read the review if they want to and, hopefully, have the feeling that they need this book on their TBR afterwards.
- Because…. well, despite how unpopular it may seem, I enjoy reading book reviews and therefore I want to write what I enjoy reading, too.
You don’t have to write book reviews to be a book blogger. Other blog posts are more popular, other blog posts are easier to write, too. You don’t have to do anything you don’t genuinely enjoy doing. For me, book reviews work. They might not be easy, sometimes they might bother me as well, like any other thing in life. Yet, I don’t think I see my book blog being without book reviews at all.
How often do you write book reviews on your blog? Do you enjoy writing them? Why, or why not?
Do you see yourself not writing book reviews at all? I’d love to hear from you in comments!
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I have to admit I’m not interested much to read book review posts because 1) the book is not from the genre I usually read and 2) generally some of the reviews overlapped because same hyped books and 3) I tend to read more reviews from the bookstagram accounts that I follow.
But, just like you said if you love writing it, it’s not a problem. I also write occasional book reviews and most of my books are not written in English but I give no shit and write it for fun.
You do you!
x Rasya
Oh this is so interesting to hear that you’re reading reviews on bookstagram. I was wondering if people did it that way 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment and for sharing your thoughts! 🙂
When I think of bloggers who mostly just write discussions, I always think of you first because it seems you write SO many discussions! 🙂 However, I gotta say that reviews definitely make us buy books. Well, me, at least xD I have bought or requested countless books because of a review for sure!! Right now, since you know I’m on like semi-hiatus (I’m blogging, but my heart isn’t really in it), I only left reviews on my blog. Cause discussions need you to have opinions 😀 and if you’re feeling meh about blogging, they just don’t come easy. But you can always count on a review! And reviews, after all, are the things publishers want from us too. It’s what helps authors. So lately I’ve switched to reviews + mini reviews, when I don’t feel like a full one. Mini reviews feel very nice to write, especially for the semi-hiatus me (lol) because it doesn’t exhaust me as much as writing and formatting a full review. So I guess I’m rediscovering my love for reviews 😀 I think blogs are changing and social media is winning – and I’d hate for blogs to die because I’m just awful at taking insta pics and I’d hate it. So I hope reviews stay alive 🙂
Oh thank you Evelina, I’m glad that you remember my discussions, it means a lot!! <3 <3
I'm so happy you're rediscovering your love for reviews! Sometimes I feel a little tired of them, but switching things up with mini reviews or lists really helps me find that love again 🙂
I'm just like you, I really hope that review stay alive on blogs, too, I'm not much for instagram either haha 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment <3
Well Marie I agree with you on reviews not being the most popular but personally, when I compare with Twitter where you barely have 290 words to express yourself, I don’t feel helped! I love reading the why someone liked or disliked a book. And they may be hard to write indeed but to me they are a mean to pour my heart out for a book I loved (or rarely hated). I want or rather NEED to convince other bloggers/readers to “just read the book” that I’ve loved and I can’t do it in just a few words. I despise the “condensed reviews” where each review seem the same (NOT the mini reviews which are a different matter) but the reviews of “serial readers/bloggers” reading about 4 to 5 books a week and writing something like “fantastic world building, hot relationship, alpha male I liked it” and that’s basically all! I love going into the nitty gritty 😉
Agree! I feel like we can get more in depth with actual reviews and I really like that, too 🙂
Thank you so, so much for sharing your thoughts on the topic 😀
It is great that you highlight the importance and benefits of book reviews. Most are underappreciated. I write book reviews and will continue writing them even if no to few people read them. I like that my opinion on a particular book is out there and my reviews tend to be long because I want to do a book justice. Book reviews are important for authors and they should be important for readers. Taking time to read someone’s review can be rewarding too and this can lead to interesting discussions, too.
Agree! Conversations about a book can be so interesting and more often than not, they start with reviews 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Diana <3
My blog is, like, 98% all book reviews.
But… I don’t do a blog to get high traffic or a lot of comments or anything like that. I mean, yeah, those would be nice… but I do a book review blog because, like you, that’s what I enjoy. I like to read an in depth review of a book. With bookstagram tours and tags and all that other stuff, I just don’t get a good idea of what the book is about. Yeah, the cover looks great, your picture is snazzy or whatever, but I don’t get a persons real feelings about the book. Normally you get a cover reveal, a blurb of the plot, and something brief about the author. Sorry, but that’s not enough to convince me to get a book (unless I already know the author).
There is also another reason I do in depth book reviews. >.> One I normally keep to myself. I’ve been writing reviews to the books I’ve read since around 2009ish. They used to be just a brief thought about the book, did I like it or not? And that was pretty much it. Reading is my fave hobby and I’m reading pretty much every free min of the day. I try to read about 80+ books a year. Well… around 2015, I did a massive reorganization of every book in the house, and around this time I also got my first Kindle. While reorganizing my books, I found some old books I had read before. While I was looking at them, I found myself going “Now, what was this story again? What happened?” and I totally couldn’t remember anything about it! I remembered liking it, but I couldn’t tell you anything about the plot. Nothing. I couldn’t even tell you the main characters name! So I looked up my review for the book. All I said was that I liked it and it was good! UGH! -.- I was like, what the hell! That review didn’t help me remember this book at all!! There are books I read a long time ago, that I could tell you everything about, but I found that there were just too many that slipped through the cracks in my memory. I was so frustrated.. So I started to write more and more in-depth (but spoiler free) reviews just so I would never again forget what I thought of the books I read.
Now I write a review for every book I read, no matter what. It could be a kids book and I still like to leave a review. I don’t really want to stop doing reviews because I don’t want to end up forgetting all my inner thoughts on the books I read. XD Yeah, I could just do that on Goodreads and Amazon or something, but I like having my own little space just for my thoughts on books.
Ahh that’s lovely! I can’t believe you are writing a review for every book you’ve read, this is dedication for sure! I love that it’s your way to remember what you read, it’s a way for me, too, I mean with so many books, it’s nice to have these little reminders of what happened in certain books, and of why we loved them so much, just as well 🙂
Thank you so, so much for taking the time to read my post and for sharing your thoughts! <3 <3
I have a love hate relationship with writing book reviews. On one hand, they seem like a staple of the community – although, as you mentioned, that’s changing quickly – and they get the word about my website out faster. That’s important to me because I use my website as my author platform, which brings me to my next big plus: I know how important it is for an author to have their book reviewed. When I read a book I feel obligated to ackowledge it in some way because I hope that people will do the same for my work. On the other hand, I absolutely hate having to come up with a rating (plus I find my opinions change about a lot of books over time so my ratings end up being ‘wrong’ in my mind), and I don’t like that sometimes I find myself thinking about the book critically as I read instead of sinking into the story.
Oh yes, I get that and I love writing reviews for that, too: they can be so, so very helpful to authors and if I can help them reach more readers, it makes me so happy.
But yes, I get what you mean SO much about reading critically – sometimes, when I read a book, I feel like I can’t… immerse myself into it, because I can’t stop thinking about these details and technicalities and flaws that will go into my review. It’s… complicated haha 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! 🙂
I find writing book reviews very difficult, but I enjoy reading them and I hope that my reviews can help someone (anyone) to make an informed decision about a book, or put a spotlight on a book that I wish more people knew about. Sometimes, I despair that a post I spent hours on will get so few views while other posts are more popular, but I don’t want to stop shouting about books I have enjoyed. I agree with all of the reasons you listed, especially the fact that if just one person picks up the book after reading my review, I have succeeded.
Oh thank you Christina, I’m so happy you could relate to this post <3 I'm with you, if one person wants to pick up a book I've talked about in a review, this makes me the happiest <3
One of the best things about blogging is hearing someone else enjoy a book you have recommended! 🙂
Agree! 😀
I feel guilty about not getting more book reviews written because (and I’ve mentioned this before, I’m sure,) I… actually get more views on book reviews than most other posts… and I love writing them. But I *throw* myself into them. Which is why I end up not having enough time/energy a lot of the time to write them.
I don’t actually tend to read blog tour posts, spotlights, cover reveals etc. I just tend to find them kinda boring. I don’t write them – because why would I write something I don’t read, y’know? I read meme posts more than I write them, but I’m not that big on those either tbh. Though it depends on the meme/theme, obv!
Book reviews are an *art* on their own dammit! I will read a well-written review even if I have no interest in the book because reviews are… reviews, done right (and I’m not necessarily saying I do them right,) are the perfect blend of insight, critique, opinion, and good goddamn writing!
Reviews rock. End of. <3
Ahhh all the love for reviews just warms my heart <3 <3
I'm with you on that you shouldn't write blog posts you don't enjoy reading, I'm so glad to hear you like reading reviews. I agree, they're really an art and some people are so, so, so very talented <3
Thank you so, so, much for your sweet comment! <3
I still like to write book reviews; even if they’re low in traffic they’re a good way to highlight specific books and if people want more detailed thoughts they’re useful! I will admit I don’t enjoy reading or writing super long reviews, but a few paragraphs is good 🙂
YAY, so happy you like writing reviews! They don’t have to be very long for me, short reviews are always fun to read too 😀
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts 😀
I definitely like the reflection part of writing the book review. Even before I was blogging, I was writing my thoughts about a book on Goodreads. It was a way for me to keep a record of what I read and how I felt about it. I like to post reviews on my blog, because sometimes other readers have read the book, and we can discuss. I don’t have an IRL book club, and it’s my way to talk about what I read.
Ahh that’s so great! I’m happy you enjoy writing reviews just as well 😀
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! 😀
I love this! Reviews are some of my favorite posts to write, even if they aren’t as well received. Maybe it’s the literature major in me, but what’s better than doing a deep dive into the story’s themes and structure?
Ahhh yay, so glad you like writing reviews just as well. I can’t deny it, it’s so interesting to write reviews and dig a little deeper into the stories like that 🙂
I mostly just post book reviews, I haven’t really ventured into too many other things yet, like book tags or memes. I do like blogging though so I’m sure I will.
But I just want to talk about books 😀 Mostly the ones I have enjoyed!
YAY! We all just want to talk about books, no matter which way and scream about the books we enjoy 😀
My blog is primarily book reviews… I didn’t know I was so irrelevant! ??? I’m happy providing reviews and it’s personally satisfying. However I sometimes write posts that feature lists for a bookish topic or theme …just because they’re easy to create. You’re right….writing reviews is hard! As a consumer of book blogs, I really appreciate thoughtful analytical reviews! If the blog post contains a simple assembling of covers with no content I click away quickly. Thanks for an interesting post!
Oh no I didn’t mean to make you panic, Carol, don’t worry at all, you’re doing FANTASTIC! <3 As long as you're enjoying what you're writing, that's what matters and, for me, if I've seen a lower interest in reviews, they're far from being irrelevant (and hopefully they never will be) 😀
I agree with you on that, I need a little more content to be captivated by a blog post than just book covers 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3
??? I promise not to panic! Although it is challenging to drive traffic to book review blogs, I’m here for it and thoroughly enjoy what I do! ?
As long as you love it, that’s what matters 😀
Honestly, I put myself down sometimes when I write book reviews because like you said there’s more popular blogs out there and reviewers, but when I finish writing my book reviews and read it after, I know I did a good job.
Nothing like that sense of pride when you write a book review, you should definitely remember that feeling a little more. If you’re happy with what you put out there, that’s what matters the most! You’re doing amazing 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment <3
Absolutely. I love writing about my experiences with books. Besides I want to give people a reason to go out there and read the book too.
That’s the best reason to write reviews! 🙂
This is one of the most insightful posts I’ve read. Book reviews are the hardest for me to write too, but I promised myself I’d review all the books I read in 2019 on the blog. Mostly because I love going back and seeing what I loved/didn’t love about a book! When you read a lot (at least for me), books start to blur together and I’m unsure if I LOVED or just liked “meh” that book. Book reviews are a great way to do this for me!
Oh thank you so, so much for your sweet words, this means so much <3
This is commitment and I admire that SO much, reviewing everything, wow! I get that though, it's such a great way of remembering what you thought of each book, I love reviews for that too 😀
Oh I LOVE book reviews! For a long time, I stopped doing them because they get very little love, but since finding a few other bloggers who review books well and whose reviews help immensely when I’m choosing a book, I’ve gotten onboard again. Even if just 5 people read, I’m pleased because I know I’ve helped at least one person decide on or against a book. Great post, Marie! Keep writing reviews!
Afoma| afomaumesi.com
YAY I’m so happy to still see some love for book reviews 😀 Thank you so much <3
This is an interesting post! I’m going to visit the links you provided in a minute, but first, you asked some questions:
How often do you write book reviews on your blog? – I’ve only read 21 (?) books so far this year. I don’t know if I’ve reviewed all of them or not. Sometimes I do a review on my blog, other times I do a review on Goodreads. Depends on the book. Why do I not do all of them on my blog? Because some of my readers aren’t bookish people so they’re not interested in the books I read AND I notice that my book tastes are different from a lot of the people I follow and who follow me, so I kind of think about who is reading my blog and would they be interested in that particular book. If the answer is no, then I do my review on Goodreads where anyone looking for that book will find it. Make sense?
Do you enjoy writing them? Why, or why not? – Sometimes. If the words are flowing from my brain to my fingers, then yes. If it’s a slogfest than I might just write what I wrote for one review, which was something like “Talking trees? NO.”
Do you see yourself not writing book reviews at all? – No. Sometimes I feel like I need to talk about a book. I just have to decide where the best place for the review is.
ps – I forgot to say that I don’t read a lot of book reviews, either. When I’m scrolling through my Reader and only see the first few lines of a blog post and it’s a book review and the first sentences that I can see don’t grab me I won’t bother clicking to read more.
I’d rather read a chit chatty / news-y post that talks about books within the post. Like here was my day, here are some books I read lately and a short bit about each one , and then here’s more about my day, or whatever.
But other times I come across a full length book review that really grabs me and I immediately put the book on hold via Overdrive or whatever.
It just totally depends on the timing and my mood I guess. LOL
So moral of my story – Everyone should write what they feel like writing. It might not grab this person’s attention but it very well could grab that person’s attention.
I get that, it makes a lot of sense not to review every book you’ve read, I know I don’t do that either because it would take me way too much time, and I don’t feel like I have anything review-worthy for every book, either 🙂
I don’t always read all the reviews, either, there are so many reviews out there, sometimes I’m in the mood to read them while some other times I’m not, so I 300% get that 🙂
Agree, everyone should write what they feel like writing and what they enjoy the most, that’s what matters the most!
Thank you so, so much for taking the time to share your thoughts on the topic 😀
I like reviews!
Lists are cool, and can make me interested in a book, but even so, i’m gonna check out a few reviews before i decide 😀
I’m so happy you like reviews, yay! They help me decide whether or not to get a book as well 😀
Thank you so much for your comment! <3
Omg Marie, this is such an amazing post and I love it so much. I completely agree, I can’t see my blog being without book reviews?? Honestly, I feel like tags usually aren’t that helpful for letting me get to know the book because usually the paragraph only focuses on how the book fits under a specific category and the information isn’t about the book as a whole? Also, I love having reviews to mention absolutely everything I have to say about a book. Recently, in my monthly recaps I started having far longer mini-reviews under each book that I read because there are always so many thoughts that I have but I usually don’t want to write a full blown review to describe everything! Also, while certain reviews can be hard I find some reviews far easier to write than bookish discussions because I already have my set points I want to mention.
Ahhh I’m so happy you enjoyed it, thank you so much, you’re too sweet <3 <3 <3
I agree, tags are fun but they don't really… give you a lot of information on a book, while reviews do that perfectly and I love them for it, they really help me understand a book and convince me whether I should read it or not haha 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3
Again, a wonderful discussion! 😀 I agree that reviews get the lowest views, but I actually like writing them. Even though they are hard to write sometimes, sometimes I surprise myself wth where the words come from haha! ? But I know that after I write the review I feel such a sense of satisfaction that I did it! 🙂
Oh thank you, so happy you enjoyed it! I’m so glad you like writing reviews as well, it’s so satisfying to finishing writing one 🙂
Exactly! 😀
I love this post! Personally, I love writing AND reading book reviews. It’s true that they don’t get as many comments, but I think comments aren’t a very good marker in terms of measuring how much people enjoyed these particular posts. Like what you said, book reviews don’t garner as much discussion, and if other readers are anything like me, they may shy away from leaving a simple comment that seems unthoughtful (ie. Great review!, Lovely review!, etc.). But then again, a lot of bloggers say that their book reviews don’t get as many views as their other posts (which is untrue in my case—but maybe my other posts aren’t as interesting ?), so there’s also that hahaha.
But anyways, I really love writing book reviews for all the reasons you stated. Sometimes you just want to hold a book up to an audience and kinda… “Look at it ✨!” For me, book reviews are still the backbone of my blog because they’re the whole reason why I started it. It’s satisfying sifting through my thoughts about one book through a review versus jumping on to the my next read without giving thought to the previous one. So, even if no one cares about book reviews, I feel very accomplished when I finish one ?.
I’m so happy you’re enjoying book reviews, both writing and reading them, this really makes me so, so happy to hear that <3 I'm glad to hear that you're feeling a sense of accomplishment while writing reviews, too, I feel so satisfied once I managed to write a review and to spread the love for books that way, too 🙂
Thank you so much <3
Oooooo unpopular opinion time! I HATE book tours. My experience of them on other peoples’ blogs has always been the same: they tend to be the book summary (with or without giveaway) or an author interview (okay these are often interesting). I just feel like… the way a lot of book promotion is presented these days, it’s like a big fat ad instead of a conversation. And I feel like this has only solidified in the community and overtaken reviews in the last couple years.
I wrote one of these many many posts on my blog last month ? and I’m firmly for reviews. While my DAILY numbers reflect a heavier attraction to discussions, over time my reviews add up a LOT. Not popular books like Six of Crows or Strange the Dreamer, but small press books bring clicks because there’s not as many reviews available for them, as well as books that are loved or were popular before platforms started highlighting books in this way. ?♀️
You’re so right in that it’s nice to just TALK about the book for a while. I mean, that’s why I’M blogging, personally – to connect with other people who love books and to talk about books. ? I can’t speak for everyone, but I feel like if we stop having reviews, it removes a large chunk of intimacy between the bloggers and their books.
Keep posting reviews, Marie! ?
Oh YES well I welcome unpopular opinions ahah, thank you for sharing yours! I only like reading blog tour posts when they provide a book review or an author interview with interesting questions, I admit that I’m not interested in a simple book highlight or an excerpt because I don’t tend to read these either. I feel like reviews bring more of a conversation somehow and they’re more interesting to read, too, but that’s just my opinion 🙂
I’m so happy that your reviews are getting traffic and that you’re enjoying talking about the book, too! I love what you’re saying here as well about intimacy, somehow. If we get a ton of different posts in the community, without book reviews, I feel like somehow, something crucial would be missing, too 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Amber! <3
I recently started writing book reviews for my blog simply because I read a lot, like writing the reviews and also like engaging with other people’s posts and finding new books to read. I don’t want to stop writing a blog for the enjoyment and ‘chase’ views. I love your reasons why you like writing reviews
I’m so glad you’re enjoying writing reviews as well, yay! 🙂
thank you so much for your sweet comment <3
I see book reviews as essential too! I have actually been recommending books to my local library to purchase from these reviews and quite a few times they have obliged! More than recommendation lists, single reviews make it clearer as to what’s in a book and I feel like has more potential to draw us in ?
Yay! I’m glad you like book reviews and I agree that they’re more, in depth views of a book and they are really, really helpful for me and help me decide whether or not I need a book 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! 🙂
I generally write one book review or a pair of mini-reviews per week. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t write reviews! I would post way less often. I like convincing people to move a book to the top of their TBR! I know book reviews are unpopular, but there are so many creative and unique ways to write them.
Yay, agree! There are so many ways to write reviews, you don’t even have to do proper paragraphs, and they’re always so interesting to read. I love reading about a book in particular, too, and these posts offer me just that 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment, Angela! <3
I am actually more inclined to add a book to my to read list or check it out if I see a review. I know that reviews don’t get a lot of traffic, but my blog consists predominately of reviews (which I prefer). Lists are fun and all, but they are not very helpful to really convincing me as to why I absolutely have to. I am also more inclined to keep following a blog that posts reviews. I just personally don’t get anything from blogs that don’t share their opinions on books and I’d rather keep my feed filled with recommendations. But I may be the black sheep. Bah!
Oh that’s good to know! You’re not a black sheep at all, you might be in a minority maybe (but I’m not even certain of that!), but it’s okay too. I also love seeing book reviews on blogs and I, more often than not, add a book to my TBR because of reviews 😀
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, Sarah! 🙂
I do weekly book reviews too and it bothers me that they’re always most “least interesting” posts…like I think we bloggers go above and beyond to try and make our reviews engaging! but it’s still hard to get the clicks? But oh agreed that publishers even look for other things instead of reviews these days too. Which is nice, because social media is fun, but also ahhhhh I don’t want book blogging to fade out!!
Agree! I definitely do my best to make my reviews attractive, both with the writing and images and aesthetics sometimes, too and it’s a little frustrating to see that… well they’re still not “that” interesting compared to other things…. I’m a little sad to see that publishers and bloggers alike turn towards new forms of communication. If these can be fun and really awesome, I also think that “old school” reviews and blog posts are still VERY valuable and I hope it stays that way <3
Thank you so, so much Cait! <3
I don’t think I’ll ever stop posting reviews. All the reasons you listed are important to me as well.
Ahh this makes me so, so very happy to hear <3
“what are words when all you want is to mihkeyzgrkeibzebgkrabjhbrek your way out of this” THIS IS THE TRUEST SENTENCE EVER AND OMG I RELATE. honestly, bless this post :’)
i don’t think i ever really bothered with a regular posting of book reviews, even on Goodreads. it’s just that my feelings on most books that i read can be summarised in a paragraph and i’m happy with including those in monthly wrap-ups. but then there are those books that get an instant 5 star rating (i’m weirdly generous about giving 4 stars but equally very picky about 5 stars lol) and MAKE me want to grab my laptop at like 3 am after i’m done reading the book to straight up rant about it, book vomit and then try to somehow organize it into a faint resemblance of a book review that people might actually want to read.
so i don’t think that routine book reviews are that important if you don’t want to do them but i think it does convince the reader to buy/read the book or at least remember it more distinctly than a simple wrap up would’ve done.
GREAT DISCUSSION, MARIE, I LOVED IT ???
AHHH thank you you sweet human being, I don’t deserve your sweet words, thank you so, so much!! <3 <3
I feel like it's so, so complicated to reviews books we adore, yet they're the ones we (or at least, I) want to talk about the most, because I want everyone to read them and gush about them with meeee. <3
Thank you so, so much for your sweet comment!! <3
I love writing book reviews too, and reading them. I know they are not too popular, but I”ll go on writing them anyway 🙂
YAY! I’m so glad you like book reviews 🙂
My “book reviewing” came about almost by accident. Back in my pre-blogging days, I only posted to LinkedIn and Google+ (R.I.P.) — never been on F******k or Twitter, thank you very much. If I had a few days or a week without a significant professional (musical) event coming up, mentioning a book I’d just read would “fill in the gap”, particularly on LinkedIn. When I decided to start the blog, I took the opportunity and space to write actual reviews, though some are more like “think pieces” on the book’s subject, halfway between the Sunday Times and the New York Review of Books in spirit.
You mention that book reviews don’t attract the attention of other bloggers. Well, since mine is a general “fine arts” blog — mostly discussing classical music and recordings, but also touching on concerts, theater, and eventually film — it’s ironic that, in fact, my book pieces are the only ones that do attract significant notice from other WordPress members! (Looking forward to writing some more of those soon: I’ve been dealing with some family problems, and have been reading less than I ordinarily do.)
I agree with you, however: a decent book review is _not_ the easiest thing to write!
I’m so glad to hear that your book reviews are attracting a lot of audience, this is amazing! 🙂 keep on going and writing what you love 🙂
Thank you so much for stopping by!
I gotta admit I’m not the biggest fan of book reviews and with so many other posts to read, I usually only read reviews when they’re books I’ve read (and therefore can comment on) or books I wanna read. They’re also my least liked posts, as well. But it’s alright. I think book reviews I write are the most helpful for myself, since I can look back on my thoughts when recommending a book to other people …
Oh I get what you mean, sometimes you have to be in the mood to read book reviews and, other kind of posts are easier to read somehow, too 🙂
I love looking back on my reviews as well to see what I thought of books 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts 🙂
I love this post so much, Marie!! I have totally been feeling the difficulty in writing book reviews, especially since I’ve become less of a full-time blogger. I can understand why they’re not as popular though, too. Recommendation lists are some of my favorite posts to read, and I like how they function. Reading a full book review is sometimes too much if I have yet to read the book. I like to formulate my own opinions, but sometimes book reviews can cross that line into too much information…
Oh thank you so much Emily, so happy you enjoyed it 😀
I also love recommendation posts and, somehow they demand less, effort to read, too which is good sometimes ahha 🙂
I always try my best to write all of my reviews spoiler-free, but sometimes I’m a little nervous of reading other reviews, because I would hate knowing too much about a book beforehand as well. It’s a quick line to cross between information and too much information :/
Thank you so much for your sweet comment <3
Ahhh, I totally agree with you on all of this! Reviews are SUPER hard to write but there is an immense satisfaction when you’re done. And yes things are changing in the blogging community but I still prefer the old school way! Lovely post ❤?
Oh thank you so, so much, I’m so happy you get that satisfaction when writing reviews as well 😀
I’m still a big fan of book reviews! I think I’m more inclined to read them when either I’ve read the book and want to see other opinions, or I’m pretty sure I’ll love a book and I want more ´positive reviews to convince me I should read it ASAP!
As for writing them, even though I know they aren’t as popular, I guess at this point I do it more for myself sometimes. It’s fun to work out how I feel about the books. It’s good that it’s been a while since I’ve felt the stress of reviewing each book I read. It wasn’t much fun then. But now if I have something to say about a book, I can always write a review on it. No pressure. And hopefully, if I enjoyed it, it’ll also lead someone else to their next great read ♥
Yay I’m so happy you still love book reviews, Pam! I’m with you on that, I’m reading reviews when a book interests me or when I’ve read it as well 🙂
And reviews are a great way to keep track of our reading and our feelings, too 😀
Thank you so much! <3 <3
I love this post so much! Thank you so much for mentioning me! ❤
It’s funny because as I was writing my post about how I struggle with reviewing I was considering the very thing you mentioned. Should I just stop doing reviews in favor of other posts that highlight a specific book? I think I’m going to try it at some point and see how I feel about it. I sort of did that when I wanted to highlight The Kiss Quotient, but didn’t want to write a review. Or rather, I tried writing a review, but it REALLY wasn’t working, so I did my 5 Things I Like Seeing in Romance post instead.
I definitely hear that a review makes it easier to focus on just one book by itself, but I think that’s why I have such a problem with reviews. My thoughts are too all over the place to just focus on one thing. I also still feel new to this whole reviewing business, and so I feel like as I get more comfortable with blogging and reviewing, I may have a different perspective in a few months from now. I guess time will tell!
OH I think you should try with different kind of posts if these inspire you more, Malka, definitely do it! I think it’s so important to write things that make you happy and make you feel enthusiastic about it all just as well, so if reviews in a traditional way don’t work out for you, maybe other ways will do better 😀
I hope that time will tell you if you should review or do it a different way, or not at all. It always takes a bit of time to feel at ease, I know even now I’m not always at ease with everything I write and how I write it haha. <3
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!! <3 <3
I so agree with this post! I still enjoy writing book reviews, especially for the books that I love, because I want to be able to express my feelings in more than a simple, short paragraph in a wrap up or recommendation post. They might not be as popular, and they can certainly be a challenge to write, but often they’re the posts I’m most proud of.
I’ll admit that I’m not as good about reading other people’s reviews, though, except for books that I’m already interested in reading or have already read and loved ?♀️
I’m so happy to hear you’re proud of your reviews – and you should be, they’re always so good to read!
I get that – reading reviews somehow takes… more effort, than reading a simple recommendations post. I do try to give love to reviews as much as I can, but some books just don’t interest me either and I guess it’s only human ahha 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3
I love book review. I don’t read every single one I come across, but usually if the book catches my eye, I’ll read the review. I also love when people review books I’ve, it’s always so interesting to read about their opinions on the book! It’s happened quite a few times, after I read a book review that I’ve added the book in question to my TBR.
I couldn’t tell you exactly how often I write book reviews; usually while I’m reading I’ll think “Oh I’d love to write a review about this one, I have things to say” and so I write it. Some books however, even ones I’ve really liked, don’t inspire me for a book review. I really enjoy writing them though ♥ I just love talking about a book, what my thoughts were, what worked or what didn’t …
I’m so happy you enjoy book reviews, Noémie! They’re so helpful when you want to hear more about a book and to decide whether or not you want to read it 🙂
I’m right here with you on that, I’m not inspired to write reviews for every book I read either but when I am, I love to do so 🙂
Thank you so much!! <3
Great post!I love writing book reviews! 90% of my blog is full of book reviews! I seriously don’t care about getting traffic! My blog is my personal reading journal!
YAY, I think that’s beautiful <3 Thank you so much, Raven! <3
I really love book reviews. I’m trying to do them more often, and I always like reading them. I do get a lot of book recs via reviews.
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
I’m so glad you love book reviews, this makes me so happy <3
I love this post, Marie!! I definitely agree with you that there are so many different ways of promoting books popping up now, and I think that’s great (and I participate in those ways as well!). But I think in general, book reviews are The thing I’ll read to decide whether or not I should prioritize a book or buy it or check it out from the library. And I’m also just constantly in awe of those who write their reviews so well (like you) and it’s very inspiring! For me personally, I don’t have the time to write as many reviews anymore, so I stick with reviewing ARCs only — but I do think that while sometimes I dread it, I do enjoy reviewing for the same reason as you: being able to talk in length about my opinions on a book!
Oh thank you, so happy you enjoyed it!! <3 I agree, there are many fun ways to review books now and I appreciate them, but I also feel like, reviews really talking about the book in length allow me to make my mind about it all and make me decide to add it to my TBR, too 🙂
Thank you so much! <3 <3
This is very thought provoking. I know exactly what you mean about getting to focus on one book at a time. I don’t have many (or any) bookish friends irl, so writing and reading book reviews is a way for me to fangirl, rant and discuss everything that’s bubbled up inside me. I dont think I’ll ever be able to give up on book reviews, no matter how unpopular or outdated they become.
Yes yes exactly! Reviews are a great way to fangirl about a book and discuss everything about it all and I love that so very much 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment, Nisha <3
I have a love/hate relationship with book reviews. I love to put my opinion about the book online, because who knows if I might inspire someone to read the book that I loved!
But at the same time, I find it so hard to write good and spoiler free book reviews. I find it very important that it’s spoiler free, but what if there is a big plot twist that you cannot talk about (like there is in most books)? How can you write a proper review then?
Still though, on my blog there is a review posted every week, so even if I hate it sometimes, I’ll definitely keep on writing them! 🙂
I agree with you that reviews are both great and really complicated to write, too. I’m with you on spoiler free reviews, it’s so important for me to write spoiler free reviews, to allow the most people to read them, but… yes, sometimes when there are massive twists and turns you want to talk about, too, it’s complicated. Maybe you could try writing your reviews in two parts, one without and one with spoilers, to talk about everything? 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on the topic 😀
Before I started blogging I thought book reviews were the heart and soul of book blogging and since I really don’t enjoy writing reviews it held me back from starting my own blog. So for me, finding out that book reviews aren’t even that popular was really encouraging!
I’m always on team do whatever makes you happy ? And I’m happy so many bloggers do enjoy writing reviews, cause I love reading them! I’ve definitley added books to my TBR after reading one of your reviews ❤️ So thanks for that!
I’m so happy you were positively surprised then, yay! There is room for everyone, those who love writing reviews and those who don’t 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3
I agree with what you have said– book reviews aren’t the most popular posts but I do like to write them as I like to write now all my thoughts. I think going through the process of writing a review allows me to think about the book in a different way and can make me appreciate it more. Also they can be some helpful for myself if I am reading the sequel– I can read my review and it jogs my memory of the first book.
Even though they are not the most popular and take me so long to write I do enjoy them and will continue to do them on my blog– I think I do 2 a month in general and I want to do more on goodreads too.
Great thoughtful post!! ?
I’m so happy to hear you like writing reviews! They’re so good when you need to remind yourself of a book, I agree 🙂
Thank you so, so much for sharing your thoughts on the topic 😀
This is a great post Marie, I’ve definitely talked before about how book reviews are the least popular posts, and they definitely are, but I’ve never talked about why I write them. It’s never crossed my mind to stop writing them, I’m not sure why but for me part of being a book blogger is about writing reviews (and I know it’s not that way for everyone but it’s how it is for me). When it comes to books I’ve been convinced to pick up it’s largely been down to glowing book reviews. As fun as it can be to highlight loads of books in tags or memes it’s rare I can be convinced to read a book up because I saw it in a Top Ten Tuesday post the same way I can because I saw a five-star review. 🙂
I’m never going to stop writing book reviews, no matter how hard I find them at times, and I’d never want to see them disappear from the blogosphere either. 🙂
Again great post. ❤️
I’m with you on that, I’m more convinced after reading a review on a book than seeing it in a list or recommendation post, overall 🙂
I’m so happy you love book reviews as well <3
Thank you so much, Beth! <3
MARIE, THIS IS SO AMAZING. I love your discussion posts so, so much…and I also love your book reviews! <3 I agree with all the points you made here.
I personally have a love-hate relationship with book reviews- some of the aspects that I love are ones you mentioned, like the ability to spotlight a book and talk more in depth about it, as well as allowing for a better way to give direct book recommendations. I'd have to say that I'm more likely to add a book to my TBR if I read a review a blogger wrote of it rather than seeing it on a recommendation list. The "hate" part is less hate and more just slightly dislike, haha- but as you also pointed out, of course the fact that book reviews get less traffic can sometimes be disheartening. Sometimes I'll think about writing a review, but I'll change my mind because I know it will be a lot of work with little results. However, I definitely need to change my mindset on this!
Also, YES, it can be so hard to articulate thoughts on a book you loved. I find myself just typing gibberish more often than not.?
Oh thank you so much, Olivia! I completely get what you mean and I feel the same way, getting so much work done for so little results sometimes is frustrating, but I love the feeling once I’ve finished writing a review, of satisfaction, it’s amazing <3
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, Olivia, you're the sweetest <3 <3
YESSSSS book reviews are super hard to write – what even is the proper way? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve changed my styles, or if a book is really difficult for me (or I’ve finished a while ago and just got to writing the review) how long I stare at the screen before wandering off to do something else.
I don’t think I can see myself not writing book reviews at all – maybe in the future sure, but definitely not right now. Book reviews, to be honest, give me content when my discussions are well… in a back burner at the back of my mind. Despite the fact some people do write reviews on Bookstagram, I just feel that social media I can’t be wordy with reviews. I have to be shorter and I feel that sometimes, that’s not enough for what I have to say for a book, and a book review on a blog or Goodreads is perfect for that.
Oh yes, it’s so complicated to write book reviews and I stare at my screen for SO LONG sometimes just as well haha you’re not alone!
I agree with you, I feel like I can’t be as wordy and I love to rant a whole lot hahaha 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment Sophia 😀
I love book reviews, both reading them and writing them. It’s like a mini book club discussion! I tend to skip meme and tag posts on book blogs, unless they are very specific (ex: Can’t Wait Wednesday, because it helps me keep up with new books coming out!).
So glad you enjoy book reviews 🙂 it’s true that memes can get a little repetitive sometimes.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts 😀
I love writing book reviews. I mean, they are the hardest thing to write ever, and I am one of the best procrastinators ever, but I still keep writing them! I’ve been doing 2-3 per week to catch up on my immense backlog of books I haven’t written reviews for, but one day I think I’d like to drop it back to 1-2. One day when I catch up!! (which will likely be never unless I don’t read anything for 3 months…)
I also love reading other people’s review. But in saying that, I tend to only read them if I have heard of the book, or it’s a genre / author I read, it’s on my TBR, or I have already read it. It’s mostly the last one. I like to gush with people or debate points of interest. But if I’m not so down with the book, then I’ll probably scroll, like the post and then move on.
Ahah catching up on reviews is impossible, I know I won’t be able to do that… well, I’ve kind of given up on doing that and going with the flow hahaha. So many books, so little time 🙂
I get that, I also tend to read only reviews of books that might interest me, too, there’s only so much time in the day unfortunately and we can’t be interested in everything, either!
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! 🙂
I often wonder about this! I love book reviews, writing them and reading them! They’re my favorite posts, and weirdly, they are quite popular on my blog (God knows why, haha!)
I enjoy discussions etc, but I wish book reviews would get the appreciation they deserve! xx
I think you write fabulous reviews, that’s why they’re so popular 😀
I agree, reviews deserve appreciation, they’re amazing <3
Thank you so much!! <3
This is a really interesting discussion! The unpopularity of reviews is definitely talked about but I feel obligated to with books I’m sent by publishers (not necessarily a bad thing though). I have shifted into discussions a lot more in the past year or so but I still love reviewing; it’s what got me into blogging in the first place! I’m at a stage where I no longer feel that it’s necessary to write long, full length reviews of books I love; I can get the same message across with less effort through a bullet point review/gif review, for instance.
Thank you, so happy you enjoyed it 😀
I’m with you, I’m at a lace where I no longer feel like I need to write long, thoughtful reviews and can also make my point with shorter reviews or lists and I love both so much 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3
I write book reviews whenever I have enough thoughts to share. Or when I’m reviewing an ARC or a book I received from the author. Mostly I write full reviews whenever I feel like sharing more of my thoughts on the book I read, sometimes I write short reflections on goodreads. It all depends on how much I have to say about a specific book. 😀 I do enjoy writing reviews, that is actually what got me into blogging in the first place. To be honest, I write reviews mainly for myself – as I love looking back at them. Because of that I don’t ever see myself stopping writing them, even if they aren’t the most popular posts out there. 🙂
Amazing post, as always!! <3
I’m with you, it all depends on how much I have to say on a book, sometimes I can say a lot, while some other times I don’t feel too inspired ahah 🙂
Thank you so, so much for your sweet comment <3
This was such a lovely post + discussion, Marie! Even though book reviews are not very popular, I feel that they are the spine and a key staple of the community, and I personally like seeing other people’s takes on books, especially since everyone’s opinion can vary so much! I’m literally the worst at doing reviews but I’m going to try and do better. I’m not sure how, but I’ll find a way to make this happen. I really like reflecting on the experience of reading a book, my thoughts on it and just analysing it, so I do like writing reviews! I hope you’re having an amazing day ?
Oh thank you so, so much, I’m so happy to hear you feel that way about reviews, it makes me so happy and I’d love to see more reviews from you, I’m certain they would be AMAZING 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment <3 <3
When I think about the purpose of my blog I just can’t get rid of book reviews… even though its tempting! You’re so right that publishers are starting to see that other forms of promotion are just as good as a review but I feel like reviews are for readers. I think that’s why I love Goodreads so much even if its an imperfect platform. It surprises me to see what blogger friends have read of books I’m thinking to read. It’s a way to connect even if its not on my blog. ❤️
I’m with you on that! I love reviews and I’m so surprised to see just how helpful they’ve been to me ever since I’ve been in this community. I love them so much for that, too, so many have guided me to my next favorite books <3
Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Dani! <3
Honestly I’m happy being a book reviewer, rather than a book advertiser. There’s room for all of us, and the book blogging community has more breadth than it is given credit for, particularly among those bloggers where stats and social media likes are the priority.
Agree that there is room for everyone, no matter what we prefer 🙂
thank you for stopping by! 🙂
This is such a great post, Marie! I personally love reading book reviews. Hell, that’s mostly all I do! I read some before buying a book, while reading a book and after reading a book. I adore seeing what others thought of it and it always open my eyes on some things I could have missed. And, as you said, book reviews are hard to write and I love to support it as much as I can!
I do love writing book reviews, though I don’t do it as often as I used to. Maybe I should get back to it, it’s always nice to have something to reread in a few years to remind yourself what were your thoughts on a book!
I’m so happy you love book reviews! <3 I find them so, so useful and they have helped me picking up books for years now and I'm SO grateful for that, too <3
Thank you so, so much for sharing your thoughts <3
I’m very new to book blogging (and I just discovered your blog so wow, hi!) and I didn’t know this! I personally love reading reviews on goodreads because I think everyone has something interesting to say (did they like it because of the protagonist? is the plot too fast-paced to appreciate?). I’m surprised that it’s fallen out of fashion, though it makes sense. Reviews are harder to write and read in a world of quick consumption.
But hey, I still read them, and I made my blog specifically to write them! (Or rather, to cater to friends who like the same tropes I do). I appreciate you staying to write them 🙂 Thank you for writing this!
Hi Frankie and welcome to book blogging, yay!! I hope you’ll have tons of fun 😀
I’m so happy you love reading reviews, and I agree, there is so much to learn from them and it’s always so great to read reviews and see what others thought of the book, too, I love that so much 🙂
I’m so happy you enjoyed this post, thank you so much!! 😀
I am right here with you in the book review camp! I find that traffic on my reviews actually depends on how popular the book is. I also have spent quite a bit of time learning how to better format my posts for SEO and it has really helped. Maybe the initial buzz happens on social media for books, but people definitely still read reviews when they want to decide on purchasing a book. I think we still play a large role in book promo as reviewers. 🙂
I love that you’re saying that and it makes me so, so happy and feel a little better about my reviews, too, haha 🙂
You’re so right, reviews might not feel, important in the moment, but they’re great in the long term for sure 😀
Thank you so much! 😀
When I started book blogging, people almost exclusively wrote book reviews! We still feature tons on our blog. I love writing and talking about books–that’s why I became a book blogger! Discussion posts are fun, too, but I want to be able to talk about books that moved me, fangirl over books I loved, and, sometimes, share my disappointment with books I wanted to love! It’s hard to do that in a discussion post. And our book-specific discussions don’t get much traffic, either.
I agree, and it’s so good sometimes to just rant away, fangirl or scream about a book really in length on a blog post, something we can’t really do well in recommendations or other types of discussions 🙂 reviews are always the best for that! 🙂
thank you so, so much for sharing your thoughts on the topic, Krysta! <3
I am so so so behind on reviews, and honestly I’ve pretty much given up on forcing it unless I feel like it. I wrote about it this week, but honestly, the more I think about it, the more I realize part of my problem. I feel weird writing reviews about books everyone else has already been screaming about – which is how it feels, on the internet, that everyone’s reading the same things. I’m shy about adding my voice to the crowd (especially if the book doesn’t represent me – how am I supposed to speak to the rep when I can’t?). I do think that as I hopefully expand my reading list out of my comfort zone, I’ll be inspired to review books that aren’t being screamed about as much. There really isn’t anything quite as satisfying as knowing someone added a book to their TBR because of you, because they’d never heard of it until you wrote about it.
Oh I get that so much, I agree! I can’t help but want to read so many books because of the hype they’re getting, but then again, I can end up reviewing a lot of the same books people have talked about before, which feels unoriginal and frustrating and… well, sometimes I feel like I have nothing more to bring to the table about these books, either haha.
I hope you’ll get to write reviews for books you loved and that you will keep on making me add books I haven’t heard of before to my TBR (because you do, A LOT). <3 <3
Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Christine! <3
I write a book review everytime I finish a book now. I love writing about what I just read & kind of discussing it, y’know? I also feel that big wave of satisfaction when I finish one, too.
I’m so happy you write all the reviews and I admire you so much, I can’t write a review for every book I read because I’m just so. damn. sloooow for these things hahaha 🙂
Thank you so, so much for your comment! 😀
That’s totally understandable!
This is such a great post!!! ♥️
I have a weird relationship with book reviews. On the one hand, I love reading and writing them, because, as you said, they make it possible to focus on one title and to reflect your own reading experience; I love including quotes and speaking about characters, story and world-building in detail — and I think it’s so wonderful that you get to read other people’s thoughts on a book in so much detail, too. On the other hand, I am SO behind on writing book reviews, because they are the kind of post I want to be perfect and that stresses me out a lot ?
Oh thank you so much, Hannah! <3 I get the feeling – I am so behind on book reviews because of procrastination, which is completely different, but it stresses me out as well ? I feel like, I'm very satisfied once I managed to put reviews out there, but the work and commitment it takes to do so is frustrating, sometimes!
Thank you so, so much for your sweet comment and keep on writing reviews, I love them SO much. <3
Oh, I get that, too. I’m the worst procrastinator, honestly! ?
Writing reviews is a lot of work, but I definitely agree that it’s worth it! Thank you so much, Marie ?
Wonderful post, Marie! I personally feel like the black sheep here because I love book reviews. I love reading them and as difficult as they are to write, I love writing them to because I like the process of sorting through my feelings and the accomplishment after I’m finished.
I also find that book reviews tend to stay more relevant, so to speak. They may not get as many views/likes/comments in the 48 hours that it is first post but in my experience they are evergreen content that will continue to bring in traffic. Unlike lists and recommendations posts, which I find tend to get a lot of traffic right in the first 48 hours and drop off into oblivion.
At the end of the day though, I write them because I enjoy it. I kind of miss being in university, and reviewing taps into that pedagocial part of my brain that thrives for literary analysis.
I’m so happy you love book reviews as well, yay! There is this sense of satisfaction when you wrote a review, I love it too so, so much 🙂
You make a great point here and I agree! Some posts don’t stay relevant too often, but book reviews always do. Some themed book recommendations might, too, but reviews are always searched and always appreciated, I know I love reading reviews and stumble upon “old” reviews that way, too 🙂
Thank you so, so much for sharing your thoughts on the topic! I’m really happy you love reviews, too, let’s keep that love alive 😀
Marie and Kal, keeping the review spark alive one post at a time!
You are right on the themed recommendations though, I STILL get search hits from my Books With witches post from 8 months ago!
AHH I love that so much, we should have that on banners or something haha 🙂
YAY that’s great! Some recommendation posts definitely work well and they’re fun to write too 🙂
Oh this was such a wonderful discussion and really spoke to me, Marie! ? I actually started blogging, because I wanted to Review books and I still like to do that very much. I know that book reviews aren’t the most popular posts (though that depends on what book), but I genuinly like writing them ? For me it has always been imported to reflect my reading experience as well and now I have found a way for me to feature Reviews on my blog (I only do Arcs and 5 star Reviews, the rest are always up on GR), that makes me really happy!
Oh thank you so much Caro, this makes me so happy <3 I'm so glad you love writing reviews and I can really feel it in your writing, too <3 <3
Reviews are some of my favorite posts as well. Currently, I haven’t written one in over a year because I find it difficult to write them and I want to find my own “style” since I have so much trouble thinking them out. My biggest reason for reviewing books is because I read a lot of small press/ Indie books so I love being able to share them and highlight books that not everyone has heard of and I really miss that! I think I’m also a little overwhelmed with how many books I read and what ones “deserve” a review. I do love the accomplished feeling of finishing a review and having my thoughts laid out so I’m excited to get back into book reviewing hopefully soon!
I hope you’ll be able to write reviews again, they can be exhausting to write at times and really difficult, too, but the feeling of accomplishment we get afterwards is so worth it and how we’re helping promote the book is, too <3 I hope you'll be able to find your own reviewing style, don't be afraid to try things out and make lists or things like that, that could help 🙂
thank you so much for your comment! 🙂
I love this post! Like you’ve mentioned, reviews don’t really bring in a lot of traffic but for me, while they are hard to write, they are also the easiest type of post for me to do when I’m exhausted and in a blogging slump. So I kinda love them because I will always have something to post when I’m struggling with coming up with original posts! I also do really love reading reviews too, but I do mostly stick to reviewers I’ve come to trust and that have a similar reading taste to me! Anyway, great post!
Ahh thank you so much, I’m so happy you enjoyed it <3
I agree, they're always content and I enjoy writing them a lot as well, plus I really look forward to the reviews from my favorite reviewers so, hopefully some people look forward to my reviews, too? haha. Thank you so much!! <3
I’ve started writing fewer book reviews, probably in part due to how unpopular they are on my blog, but I do enjoy shouting out my favorite books, and I’m terrible so it’s fun to trash horrible books, so I mostly write a lot of 5 and 1 star reviews despite most of the books I read being closer to 3 or 4 stars lmao
Hahahaha well…. not here to judge at all, somehow it’s easier to write these kind of reviews, too, isn’t it? haha 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3
Awesome post again, Marie! I resonated with this so much because I am STRUGGLING to write reviews (or to write, in general) these days. I’ve been doing a great job of continuously reading, but my writing and motivation just can’t keep up. 🙁 I want to be active in the blogosphere so bad, but I just can’t get over the big writing slump. Hoping to get over it soon!
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear that, Pam, I hope that you will get over this slump, soon <3 Doing other things, keeping on with reading blog posts, reading stories help, but also completely stepping away from it, even just for a little while. Often, when I do that, I know I miss it tons even after just one day, and it makes my motivation rush back again haha 🙂
Thank you, so much for your comment <3 <3
Thanks, Marie! <3 I agree with constantly reading blog posts (including yours!) motivates me. I guess I just don't really want to disappoint. 😀
Story of my life, not wanting to disappoint, which is why I take hours and hours to write everything ? you’re not alone ahah. but you’re doing FANTASTIC Pam, always rooting for you <3
LOVE YOU, MARIE! <3
Ahhh love you too! <3