Recently, a friend emailed me about a job opening for a book reviewer position, “since I think it’s aligned to your career path right now”.
Every week I get emails from companies that want me to read, review, and promote their books, though most aren’t at all like what I really read.
Even without adding in my work for SF Signal, I write more words about books than I write any other kind of non-fiction.
And it’s all making me want to bang my head against the wall.
I read because I love reading, and because it’s part of the process of becoming a better writer. For me, reading is a step on a path toward my goals, not the end of it. I’ve talked before about how I’m not a book reviewer, but I admit that there are times when the bulk of what I post here is me talking about the books I’ve read. Lately I’ve written long, detailed summaries, because I’ve already had that conversation with myself in my head, so why not share it with you? Maybe someone else is looking for a book that does a thing the book I just read did, and my review will help them to find it.
But I’m not a book reviewer. My aspirations don’t include simply being a consumer of literature – I am and will continue to be a creator of it. Reading and then thinking about what I read is part of the writer equation, and by posting reviews here I’m just showing my work.
There is no possible way that I will read everything I want to before I die. It’s never going to happen. The best that I can do it to devote as much time as I can to reading and accept that there are stories I won’t get to. More and more I think that spending time writing a straight review is taking away from being able to read or write something else, but… I’ve been hesitant to talk about books the way I want to because I wasn’t sure if anyone else would care about my deeper thoughts on the book I was discussing, beyond “is it good or not?”
I wondered: Do I know enough to have my opinion respected? Am I well read enough to make the right connections, the right correlations? There’s very little mainstream junk-food reading in my reading list for this year; it’s just not my style. My to-be-read pile includes some genre classics, a lot of small press, liminal or interstitial work, non-Western fiction, poetry, non-fiction essays, and non-speculative literary fiction. Does anyone else even want to hear about the titles that I most love to read?
And then I remembered that I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I’m going to read what I like.
I will still mention some of the books or stories I think you should read, in brief. I’m more interested in talking about how I was influenced by a particular work, how books are connected, or whether I agreed or disagreed with a certain author. I hope you stick around, because I’d like for my readers to be people who have read or want to read the kind of books I’m reading. I’d like more comments, more discussion. Tell me what you thought of it, ask questions, suggest something for me to read next. Let’s read deeper.
Let’s read better.
My version of this goes something like, “Oh, you have a new story out? That’s nice. When are you opening to submissions again?”
I’ll remember not to do that to you
I get that myself once in a while, but thankfully not often. It’s part of the line we walk between writing, editing, and publishing, but I like being able to work in all three areas.
I do too, hee.
I wouldn’t mind reviewing books, although my problem with it would be that given the limited time I have for reading, I’d rather read something of my own choosing. But I do find that I understand books and writing so much better when I write a little about them. I wish I could explore the great books (and movies) I discover even further than I do now, but every bit counts. So, for me, writing about what I read is also very important.
Discussing and writing about what we read is a great way to get further into it.
“I wondered: Do I know enough to have my opinion respected? Am I well read enough to make the right connections, the right correlations?… Does anyone else even want to hear about the titles that I most love to read?”
That certainly hits home. I was having my ‘once every couple of weeks mental angst’ conversation today and it certainly fell along those lines. The stories I am MOST passionate about are science fiction followed closely by fantasy (though I do enjoy reading a wider variety of fiction) and those two tend to generate the least amount of discussion. Then I remember that I started this whole thing all those years ago to share my passions, irregardless of the results.
I’m not a book reviewer either, although I mostly talk about books. I do work to be a better writer simply because doing something like this for so long should result in some improvement over time (barring laziness).
I’ve sadly come to that same “I’ll never get everything read” realization, although my book buying habits belie that revelation.
I prefer the style of “review” that you mention, one that gives me a window into what reading the book meant to the person writing about it, how it influenced them, what they got out of it and why it made an impression, or didn’t. I refer to it as my “experience” with a book as opposed to a critical dissection of the work, something I don’t have the talent or education to pull off with any degree of credibility.
There’s certainly a high amount of pressure, when it comes to book reviewing and I mean doing it right. When I started reviewing, I just parroted the book in a very detached manner. I completely lacked the background and the ability to reference and comment on certain aspects. It’s why I ultimately said no to the whole gig, which I started with the intention to educate myself, but quickly devolved. Though I do talk about books now, it’s really more about my very personal connection and the things that make me think. Let’s read better!