When I was an
elementary school teacher, I assigned lots of book reviews. Depending on the
grade level, I had certain outlines created by a committee or an individual
teacher or even the Ministry of Education. None of these templates ever
considered the Internet world. Why? Well, in my time, it didn’t exist. These
days, the cyberworld is still ignored by schools because their goals are far
different from writing a review for Amazon or Goodreads or any of the other
myriad online sites.
The goals in
school are two-fold. One, the student must prove to the teacher that s/he has
actually read the whole book. Thus, a sufficiently detailed summary of the
novel is a prerequisite. Two, the teacher focuses on certain skills to be
demonstrated, all the way from the ability to predict outcomes based on clues
to spelling or grammar.
A review for an
online book site is entirely different. Firstly, there should only one goal
(although the reviewer may have a personal second). That goal ought to be to
tell other readers about your own reactions to a novel you have read. However,
some reviewers have a second goal: to support/promote the author OR to take
them down a notch.
Let me wax
prosaic on the first objective and make my apologies to students who have
followed their teachers’ rules into the present. Here are some entirely new
ones, from me. When you do an online review, do NOT summarize the book. All the
online sites, such as Amazon, provide excerpts, summaries, or synopses. As a
reader, I can check out up to three whole chapters for free. I don’t need you to summarize. If you haven’t really
read the book, you are just cheating yourself, or the author. And if you are a
cheater or have an agenda to attack the writer, I’ll be smart enough to see
very clearly through your subterfuge. So please don’t bore me with your
perception of the novel’s plotline. Or worse yet, tell me the entire story and
spoil the end. Leave the summarizing to the professionals.
What I am interested in is your reaction to the
novel. This is your opportunity to write two or three sentences giving your opinion. You are not bound by the
old rules. You are relieved of the summary task. You don’t have to prove any
expert literary skill to anyone, although you may want to demonstrate correct
spelling and grammar to be taken seriously. Your only goal is to tell other
readers what you thought of, reacted to or how you felt about this particular
book.
This method
translates into perhaps five minutes of your time. You don’t have to get very
technical about each of these categories, but you can if you want to; e.g.
search plot types and categorize the book if the online site hasn’t done it to
your liking.
One last thing:
about honesty. Of course it’s preferable to be truthful. But that doesn’t have
to translate into mean, vicious and soul-destroying. There is a gentle way to
say “that jacket makes you look fat”. A professional, responsible way to state
that your reaction to the book was negative. I can say, “I disagree fundamentally
with the viewpoint” or I can say, “The author takes a stupidly ridiculous
stance”. One accepts responsibility for the opinion; the other blames and
demeans. Another way to accept responsibility and be professional is to use
your own name when you review a book.
Don’t hide
behind a moniker. If you are a friend/relative of the author, say so. As a
reader, I will take your relationship into consideration. If you are one of my
students trying to seek revenge for a low mark on a book report, let me know,
and I’ll be sure to put an A on your review this time.
Now, go ahead
and review your favourite authors’ books!
Everything you
ever wanted to know about Catherine and her books (including contact links) is
on her website. Come and visit! www.catherineastolfo.com
Check out Astolfo's latest psychological suspense, SWEET KAROLINE
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Catherine Astolfo retired in 2002 after a
very successful 34 years in education. She can recall writing fantasy stories
for her classmates in Grade Three, so she started finishing her books the day
after her retirement became official. Her short stories and poems have been
published in a number of Canadian literary presses. Her story, "What Kelly
Did", won the prestigious Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Crime Story in
2012.
In the fall of 2011, she was thrilled to be
awarded a four-book contract by Imajin Books for her Emily Taylor Mystery
series (previously self-published), and has never been happier with this
burgeoning second career!
Catherine's books are gritty, yet portray
gorgeous surroundings; they deal with sensitive social issues, but always
include love and hope. They're not thrillers, but rather literary mysteries
with loads of character and setting. And justice always prevails.
Website: www.catherineastolfo.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/cathyastolfo
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