Comments on: The Sunday Salon~Various and Sundry http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/the-sunday-salonvarious-and-sundry/ A ravenous reader blogs on all things bookish Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:24:46 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: jeanie http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/the-sunday-salonvarious-and-sundry/#comment-1388 jeanie Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:57:27 +0000 http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/?p=239#comment-1388 I couldn't agree with you more about book bloggers. I never really thought about this until I started following first your blog, and then some of the others I discovered through Write on Wednesday. For whatever reason, I give a higher "purchase contemplation level" to a book I see on a blog than simply a review. In blogging, one has the opportunity to learn a bit about the blogger and why they like the book; are they a kindred spirit? Does their blog reflect images, thoughts, values, ideas that are similar to your own? If they do, then I'm going to really think more about that book when it looks like the stack is getting a bit low. Very thoughtful... I couldn’t agree with you more about book bloggers. I never really thought about this until I started following first your blog, and then some of the others I discovered through Write on Wednesday. For whatever reason, I give a higher “purchase contemplation level” to a book I see on a blog than simply a review. In blogging, one has the opportunity to learn a bit about the blogger and why they like the book; are they a kindred spirit? Does their blog reflect images, thoughts, values, ideas that are similar to your own? If they do, then I’m going to really think more about that book when it looks like the stack is getting a bit low. Very thoughtful…

]]> By: gautami tripathy http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/the-sunday-salonvarious-and-sundry/#comment-1386 gautami tripathy Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:36:35 +0000 http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/?p=239#comment-1386 BTW, <a href="http://readingandmorereading.blogspot.com/2008/09/i-am-tagged-to-write-about-blogging.html" rel="nofollow">You have been tagged?!</a> Check it out! :D BTW, You have been tagged?!

Check it out!

:D

]]> By: Dave http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/the-sunday-salonvarious-and-sundry/#comment-1384 Dave Tue, 09 Sep 2008 21:54:43 +0000 http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/?p=239#comment-1384 Becca, I enjoyed your post -- and the comments. I'm an editor at The Baltimore Sun and a writer for its Read Street book blog, (www.baltimoresun.com/readstreet), which was launched this spring. Despite the general decline in newspaper book coverage, the blog has allowed us to experiment with online features such as a U.S. map of favorite bookstores. This month, at the Baltimore Book Festival, I'll lead a panel discussion about the decline in newspaper coverage and the growth of bloggers. Heather Johnson, an excellent local blogger (www.age30books.blogspot.com), will also be on the panel. I'm interested in your views. Do you think publishers and authors pay enough attention to bloggers? Will bloggers totally supplant newspaper reviewers, or does each offer something distinct? Becca, I enjoyed your post — and the comments. I’m an editor at The Baltimore Sun and a writer for its Read Street book blog, (www.baltimoresun.com/readstreet), which was launched this spring. Despite the general decline in newspaper book coverage, the blog has allowed us to experiment with online features such as a U.S. map of favorite bookstores.
This month, at the Baltimore Book Festival, I’ll lead a panel discussion about the decline in newspaper coverage and the growth of bloggers. Heather Johnson, an excellent local blogger (www.age30books.blogspot.com), will also be on the panel.
I’m interested in your views. Do you think publishers and authors pay enough attention to bloggers? Will bloggers totally supplant newspaper reviewers, or does each offer something distinct?

]]> By: Becca http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/the-sunday-salonvarious-and-sundry/#comment-1383 Becca Tue, 09 Sep 2008 00:31:06 +0000 http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/?p=239#comment-1383 Such an interesting discussion...thank you all so much for sharing your thoughts and opinions. Not surprisingly, we mostly concur with the idea of book bloggers being able to provide a completely different, yet no less valuable, service to the reading populace than print reviews. And Rachel, I like your example of reading a blog review, and then being able to immediately click to the site to purchase the book. You're absolutely right, that's something which rarely happens when lounging over the Times in your pajamas on Sunday morning. I'm so pleased to hear so many of you say that you value my recommendations - although now I'm a bit frightened as well, hoping you'll like the books as much as I have :) How fun, when Sunday Salon carries over into Monday! Such an interesting discussion…thank you all so much for sharing your thoughts and opinions. Not surprisingly, we mostly concur with the idea of book bloggers being able to provide a completely different, yet no less valuable, service to the reading populace than print reviews. And Rachel, I like your example of reading a blog review, and then being able to immediately click to the site to purchase the book. You’re absolutely right, that’s something which rarely happens when lounging over the Times in your pajamas on Sunday morning.

I’m so pleased to hear so many of you say that you value my recommendations – although now I’m a bit frightened as well, hoping you’ll like the books as much as I have :)

How fun, when Sunday Salon carries over into Monday!

]]> By: iliana http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/the-sunday-salonvarious-and-sundry/#comment-1382 iliana Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:00:27 +0000 http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/?p=239#comment-1382 You put it so perfectly... "The reader's personal response is what interests me...." That's why I enjoy book blogging. I love reading the reviews by the critics but I don't get the personal reasons when I read those and that's why I go to book bloggers. I've got Bridge of Sighs on my wish list thanks to you! :) You put it so perfectly… “The reader’s personal response is what interests me….” That’s why I enjoy book blogging. I love reading the reviews by the critics but I don’t get the personal reasons when I read those and that’s why I go to book bloggers.

I’ve got Bridge of Sighs on my wish list thanks to you! :)

]]> By: seachanges http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/the-sunday-salonvarious-and-sundry/#comment-1380 seachanges Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:55:25 +0000 http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/?p=239#comment-1380 Having read how Booker Prize panels arrive at their judgements of the winner for anyone year, I think convinces me even more that book blogs are excellent ways of arriving at a judgement about whether or not you want to read a book. I've got a link to that particular story in my own post in the Sunday Salon. It is quite fascinating! I agree with you that there are blogs that you feel you can trust with respect to their judgements on books - and yours is one of them. I tend to go through the Sunday papers for their reviews, but have once or twice bought books on their recommendation that I actually did not appreciate at all in the same way. And yes, I've listened to stories that I downloaded on my iPod and subsequently bought a book because of having listened to that author. Having read how Booker Prize panels arrive at their judgements of the winner for anyone year, I think convinces me even more that book blogs are excellent ways of arriving at a judgement about whether or not you want to read a book. I’ve got a link to that particular story in my own post in the Sunday Salon. It is quite fascinating! I agree with you that there are blogs that you feel you can trust with respect to their judgements on books – and yours is one of them. I tend to go through the Sunday papers for their reviews, but have once or twice bought books on their recommendation that I actually did not appreciate at all in the same way.
And yes, I’ve listened to stories that I downloaded on my iPod and subsequently bought a book because of having listened to that author.

]]> By: Rachel http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/the-sunday-salonvarious-and-sundry/#comment-1379 Rachel Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:49:56 +0000 http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/?p=239#comment-1379 Great post! Like others, I completely agree with you re: book bloggers and our role in the book review world. To take it one step further, word of mouth is a powerful advertising tool and is what online book review blogs/sites offer to the author and their publisher. One of the great benefits for these two groups is in the process of how a reader now purchases a book: after someone reads a review online, s/he can immediately check out other online reviews (which, as stated, tend to be a more personal reflection on the book) and then if interested, go directly to their online book seller and order the book. This is often not the process with print reviews for most people - I don't know anyone who goes straight to their favorite book seller,online or otherwise, and purchases a book they've just read a review for in print. I do know a lot of readers look at other review blogs and add to their online TBR lists because of what a blogger, whose opinion they respect, said about the book. Just using Bookstack as an example, how many times on this very site, do we see someone who says 'Because of you, now sits on my shelf' or something similar? You see this type of statement on many of the book blogs on a pretty regular basis - word of mouth is probably more powerful than people realize in this industry. Also, online book review sites are VERY good at finding 'diamonds in the ruff'. These are the books by new authors no one has heard of and won't appear in a print review for quite a while because they are published by a small press or self-published. I've recently read on several online author communities, a majority of new authors want to have the 'big print reviews' before they feel their books are a success. It irks me when our reviews are minimized because we are considered 'just bloggers'. We have built loyal readership who value our opinions on books and go on to purchase the books we've reviewed (see example of Becca's site above). It may not be every book, but as someone noted earlier, 'between book blogs and Library Thing, I’ve come across some other readers who have similar tastes to my own, and whose opinion I really value. Sometimes professional book reviews can’t really express what makes a book fantastic because they’re too caught up in other parts of the reviewing process'. This definitely says something about our credibility as readers (and objective writers). This turned out to be much longer than I wanted. This is a topic I've been doing a lot of thinking about lately. My apologies for the length. Great post! Like others, I completely agree with you re: book bloggers and our role in the book review world. To take it one step further, word of mouth is a powerful advertising tool and is what online book review blogs/sites offer to the author and their publisher. One of the great benefits for these two groups is in the process of how a reader now purchases a book: after someone reads a review online, s/he can immediately check out other online reviews (which, as stated, tend to be a more personal reflection on the book) and then if interested, go directly to their online book seller and order the book. This is often not the process with print reviews for most people – I don’t know anyone who goes straight to their favorite book seller,online or otherwise, and purchases a book they’ve just read a review for in print. I do know a lot of readers look at other review blogs and add to their online TBR lists because of what a blogger, whose opinion they respect, said about the book. Just using Bookstack as an example, how many times on this very site, do we see someone who says ‘Because of you, now sits on my shelf’ or something similar? You see this type of statement on many of the book blogs on a pretty regular basis – word of mouth is probably more powerful than people realize in this industry.

Also, online book review sites are VERY good at finding ‘diamonds in the ruff’. These are the books by new authors no one has heard of and won’t appear in a print review for quite a while because they are published by a small press or self-published. I’ve recently read on several online author communities, a majority of new authors want to have the ‘big print reviews’ before they feel their books are a success. It irks me when our reviews are minimized because we are considered ‘just bloggers’. We have built loyal readership who value our opinions on books and go on to purchase the books we’ve reviewed (see example of Becca’s site above). It may not be every book, but as someone noted earlier, ‘between book blogs and Library Thing, I’ve come across some other readers who have similar tastes to my own, and whose opinion I really value. Sometimes professional book reviews can’t really express what makes a book fantastic because they’re too caught up in other parts of the reviewing process’. This definitely says something about our credibility as readers (and objective writers).

This turned out to be much longer than I wanted. This is a topic I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about lately. My apologies for the length.

]]> By: sadie http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/the-sunday-salonvarious-and-sundry/#comment-1378 sadie Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:07:12 +0000 http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/?p=239#comment-1378 The sort of reviews I like to read are similar to your own preferences: ones that indicate what a book meant to the reviewers...how it touched them as you say...what they take away from it personally. But I also want to know what the book made the reviewers think about, what questions it raised, what it reminded them of, or what new places it took them to. I don't find much of this in the major book review venues. I find it in spades in blogland. Thanks for a wonderful post! ~ sadie The sort of reviews I like to read are similar to your own preferences: ones that indicate what a book meant to the reviewers…how it touched them as you say…what they take away from it personally. But I also want to know what the book made the reviewers think about, what questions it raised, what it reminded them of, or what new places it took them to. I don’t find much of this in the major book review venues. I find it in spades in blogland. Thanks for a wonderful post! ~ sadie

]]> By: anno http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/the-sunday-salonvarious-and-sundry/#comment-1375 anno Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:44:27 +0000 http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/?p=239#comment-1375 Because of you, Bridge of Sighs now sits on my shelf. And, lately, I find nearly all of my reading from book bloggers. You all are doing something marvellous -- please don't stop! Because of you, Bridge of Sighs now sits on my shelf. And, lately, I find nearly all of my reading from book bloggers. You all are doing something marvellous — please don’t stop!

]]> By: Litlove http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/the-sunday-salonvarious-and-sundry/#comment-1374 Litlove Mon, 08 Sep 2008 07:47:26 +0000 http://ravenousreader.wordpress.com/?p=239#comment-1374 I do like your reasonable and measured view on book blogging! For my own part, I have never recovered from seeking reviews online from the major newspapers of a book I'd just read and finding three out of the five contained serious factual errors (confusing characters' names, getting the plot wrong, etc). My faith in professionalism took quite a drop. And I've just discovered I have Three Junes by Julia Glass on my shelves - yay! I do like your reasonable and measured view on book blogging! For my own part, I have never recovered from seeking reviews online from the major newspapers of a book I’d just read and finding three out of the five contained serious factual errors (confusing characters’ names, getting the plot wrong, etc). My faith in professionalism took quite a drop.

And I’ve just discovered I have Three Junes by Julia Glass on my shelves – yay!

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