Prompt Week 5: Review Sources!

Week 5 Prompt

Booklist will not publish negative reviews, while, as you have all seen, Kirkus has no problems with it (check out this savage review - https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sebastia-alzamora/blood-crime/). EBook only books, which are increasingly popular (especially in the romance genre) see little to no reviews in professional publications unless they have a big name author, and then still it's usually only RT Reviews (formally Romantic Times) or other genre heavy publications. How does this affect collection development?

In our library, we offer Overdrive and Hoopla access for our patrons.  We are seeing an increase in our eBook circulation especially with the Romance genre.  Personally, it seems people are more likely to read some hot romance novels that can be checked out in the privacy of their own homes rather than do the “perceived walk of shame” to the front desk with a handful of steamy romance novels.  None of us care what a person reads, but from watching people slink around and shoot a lot of furtive glances to make sure no one is looking, I can tell the patron cares.  I get patrons who peek around the stacks, do a few “psstt…. pssttt….” to get my attention, and then wave me over with frantic hands.  I get to them, and I get a whisper, “Where can I find the Fifty shades books?”   I try to soothe them by telling them I have read the books, many times, and I can find the books and take them to the front desk for them.  After the very visible sigh of relief, the patron walks confidently out from behind the safety of the see through stacks to the front desk.   

So, the bigger the selection of romance novels I can provide for my patrons, even just eBook options, the better.  I struggle with book reviews because they are all really just subjective. 

To get to the answer of collection development, I feel it is important to look outside of the big name releases.  Of course we are going to order all of the big names anyway, nearly every library does.  If the person who orders the books does not take the time to branch out, collection development suffers.  I think using options like NoveList that will give author, book, or series read alikes would really help the person to branch out and discover options the patron does not know exists.  I tend to lean towards finding the positive in books so I would look around on Goodreads and see what people are enjoying.  Most books are not going to be critical darlings so entertaining the reader is my primary goal!  I think collection development success rests on the shoulders of the person ordering.  Know your demographic, see what categories resonate with them, and then see what options are out there besides the “big names”.     

I have posted two more documents in the week five files. One is two reviews of an eBook only romantic suspense novel, one from a blog and one from amazon. Look over the reviews - do you feel they are both reliable? How likely would you be to buy this book for your library?

I would buy this eBook for my library based on the title alone.  After the success of Fifty Shades (I am bringing that up…again!) I have learned that patrons clamor for the “rich guy finding love with a normal girl” type of story.  With this one, it is a clean version with the same premise so it will appeal to patrons who enjoy that type of story without the extremes of Fifty Shades.

To address the reviews, I tend to appreciate any person that takes the time to review a book, even if their grammar or approach is not the best.  These are not professionals; these are every day folks who took the time to share their thoughts.  Luckily in our library, since we are smaller, we do not have to contend with choices being questioned at every turn.  We have to spend a certain percentage of the budget on books (whether eBooks or physical) and if we are purchasing items that fit into our demographic interests, then we are successful in meeting their needs.    

The book does feel like a Hallmark channel movie so again, that alone tells me patrons would read the book.  Hallmark makes a killing with those movies so they are on to something.  Our paperbacks fly out the door so an eBook version in the same vein will be well received.  (Interesting fact with my library…our Director REFUSES to purchase romance paperbacks, even though it is extremely popular with our patrons.  Instead, we rely on donations and Evergreen interlibrary loans!)     

The other document contains some reviews of Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt, an incredibly popular memoir. These reviews are all from professional publications, feel free to find more on your own I just nabbed a few from the Book Review Digest database for you. How do these reviews make you feel about the possibility of adding Angela's Ashes to your collection?

The professional reviews were excellent and based on those alone; I would add the book to the collection.  In addition to the “strictly entertaining books” there is a need and a want for more critically acclaimed novels as well.  There are all types of readers so it is important to have something for everyone.  I do appreciate with our Evergreen, Overdrive, and Hoopla, we are able to find something even if we do not have a physical copy in our building.  Also, if a movie is made from a book such as Angela’s Ashes, when the movie is released there is a renewed interest in the book.  I think it is important to be aware of when books to movies are being released to make sure we have at least one copy of the book for patrons to read.

I went to Amazon to see what the “everyday folk” thought of the book. 86% of the 2109 reviews were rated 4 stars or higher; so this book also appeals to the everyday people.  Only 5% gave it 1 star so I was curious as to why.  It seemed to boil down to two issues; the copy of the book they ordered had a defect (such as someone’s snack left stuck to it) and/or they found it depressing.  From reading the description, it was pretty obvious it was going to be depressing so that should not have been a surprise; but again, not all books appeal to everyone.

Do you think it's fair that one type of book is reviewed to death and other types of books get little to no coverage? How does this affect a library's collection? 

It really is not fair but all big name authors started out the same way; struggling to get noticed by “the right people”.  Also, some publicists do better than others.  So, for the rest of the crowd, it is claw and scratch to get the book information out there.  There are a lot of avenues to take such as Amazon, appealing to blog writers, Goodreads, paying for Kirkus, and Facebook to get the book information in front of the librarians’ eyes.  The author has to do a lot of self-marketing in order to be noticed.  If the title is never seen, it will be nearly impossible to be included in a library’s collection. 

And how do you feel about review sources that won't print negative content? Do you think that's appropriate?

It really depends on what type of book you are looking for.   I tend to try and find reasons to purchase or read a book so I would be more interested in the positives.  Where I would be more interested in negative reviews would be controversial non-fiction new releases.  I would want to know what critical reviewers thought and how the public might perceive it.  I don’t think any book should be excluded based on content.  I would still purchase the titles; I just want to be prepared for any questions that might come up. 

It is also important for the content of a book to be appropriate for your demographic.  (Urban planning would not be useful in a southern Indiana rural farming community; that is what I mean by being appropriate.)  Fluffier titles are not very likely to get critical positive reviews but if that are what patrons read, then there is a need to find reviewing resources that target that genre specifically.  I really appreciate this class for teaching me about the review sites that do exist for specific genres! 

If you buy for your library, how often do you use reviews to make your decisions? If not, how do you feel about reviews for personal reading, and what are some of your favorite review sources?

At this time, I do not purchase books for circulation but I have purchased books for the summer reading program. There was not much reviewing there since the books were prizes.  I am picky about reviews when it comes to my own reading.  It really irks me when there is so much detail included that there is not much point to read the book.  (Don’t get me started on today’s movie trailers!!! Ugh!!! I try to avoid them at all costs!)  I tend to want a short review with a pretty simple reason of why the book appeals or why it doesn’t.  Again, all of the reviews are subjective so I try to find sites where I can find reviewers whose taste in books line up with my own.  I do use Goodreads, Facebook friends, talking to co-workers, Amazon, and my new favorite source, NoveList!