So, for my first post, I’m just letting you know that beginning in 2024 I intend to start publishing my full book reviews here.
I realized that during 2023 I read a lot (just finished book 67 this morning) and all I was really doing to document my reading journey was to rate the book on Goodreads and participate in the annual reading challenges. To up my game in 2024, I’ve made a New Year’s resolution of sorts.
I can usually do an okay job of remembering what takes place in a story, but after a while, things start to blend together. Then I wonder if I want to re-read anything, not re-read anything, or whether I’ve even read something in the first place. Goodreads (and other similar apps and sites) is a great place to track this and share with others. However, I don’t know about you, but I don’t control Goodreads or any other social media app for that matter. I want to maintain my own control here.
To that end, this will be where my reviews live, although I’ll most definitely share on Goodreads and maybe even Facebook if I’m so inclined. I’ll come up with a decent format for my reviews, but I imagine it will look something like:
- Introduction
- For snippet preview
- Brief Synopsis
- As non-spoilery as possible
- Highlights and Hits
- My likes
- Gripes and Grumbles
- My dislikes
- Things and Other Stuff
- Other general thoughts, but nothing spectacular
- Conclusion
- Rating and recommendation
One thing I’m adamant about is not criticizing the authors directly. As you’ll come to find out on this blog, I’m no novelist. I don’t know what it takes to write the next great American novel. I’ve talked to some of my favorite Star Trek authors – I don’t always like everything they write, but they’re good people. And the personal views of authors is not my focus here. Hell, even if I can’t stand the quality of an author’s writing, I have to take into account that there are editors and publishers involved too. So I promise that if I don’t like an author’s writing, I won’t ever say that the author is a piece of crap. I may even try to stay away from calling their writing crap.
What I can promise, though, is my honest opinion. If I like a book, I’ll say it. If I love it, I’ll praise the book and the author to high heaven! If I don’t like a book, I’ll say that too. If I can’t stand it, even to the point of not finishing it, you can bet that I’ll report on that too. Just not in a way that disparages any people.
Because here’s the thing: I may love a book and you may hate that same book. I may detest something that is your most favorite in the world! I can only tell my truths.
Lastly, my humor may be off-putting at times. I’m a man of a certain age, but I still like occasional… shall we say… toilet humor? I’ll keep cursing to a minimum, but I won’t promise not to let my own brand of humor shine through.
I do welcome your input though! If you’ve found this site, please comment on my posts! I’d love to hear your thoughts on my reviews, my brand of humor, etc. But as I endeavor to be respectful of the authors or those involved in the creation of books, please also endeavor to be respectful of me. I can take criticism, but I don’t need no lip either.
Anyway, thanks for visiting! If you’ve made it this far through this post, there’s hope for me yet!
Happy reading!
~Casey
