Week Five Response

How does this [Different publications review different types of books and they allow different types of conversations] affect collection development?

Book review publications affect collection development by filtering the amount of information you can gather about a book. Taking a look through the top ten reviews of Booklist’s Adult Fiction section showed that Booklist seems to publish reviews that primarily center on plot points. Only one of these top ten reviews had even a slight negative comment, and at most in all of the top ten were a sentence directly about pacing or character depth. In the top ten list, appeal factors were heavily generalized or ignored altogether. In respect to collection development, Booklist becomes only handy when you want to understand the plot of a novel. Some reviewers would mention pacing in passing, but Booklist does not seem like a reliable isolated source for collection development. Kirkus’ format, on the other hand, while also allowing for sufficient plot summary, allows the reviewer to point of positives and negatives. This allows Kirkus to be a more useful source for collection development. Now, of course, this is just one reviewer’s opinion, but it can help gather a feel for a book along with Amazon reviews and popularity. Altogether, book review publications can be helpful, but it does not seem that any particular publication could be positively used in isolation, yet the availability of multiple resources allow collection decisions to be made with more insight.

Look over the reviews - do you feel they are both reliable? How likely would you be to buy this book for your library?

The Rayner reviews seem reliable because they feel like they are written by fans of the Romance genre. While these sources may not offer a critical literary look at the book, it is close to getting an inside look from the mind of a genre fan from the outside. One reviewer seemed to love the Christmas theme almost more than the book, so that in itself can be helpful for collection development or a readers’ advisory conversation. The blog reviewer was less enthralled with the overall plot, but since the blogger was reading the book in the holiday season, seemed to not mind the awkward plot because of the holiday feeling. It should be noted that this book was available on the Kindle for free, and may have bypassed some criticism because the reviewers weren’t asked to judge based on a value proposition. Based on these reviews, I would likely only add this work to my collection if I wanted to expand my holiday offerings, but if I was able to offer the ebook at no cost to my library, I cannot see the harm. 

The Angela Ashes reviews have a feeling of comparison to classical literature with mentions of Charles Dickens and a line like ‘may become a classic”. This book seemed well-liked by all the reviews which adds trustworthiness. One review stated, while others implied, this book offered a ‘truth’ about life while also mentioning multiple heart wrenching emotions. The reviewers maintained a critical look, but it was obvious that all the reviewers listed were impressed with the novel. Based on these reviews I would be likely to add this book to my library’s collection.

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?

Do I think it is fair? Of course not! Does it surprise me? Not at all, I’m sure some genres, and authors get more press because they generate more money for their publisher or have better marketing teams working for them. I find this kind of discrepancy in nearly all creative works including music and film. I think this also highlights the importance of finding blogs and forums that talk about less reviews books and genres as a resource.

How does this affect a library's collection?

It makes the librarian have to do a lot of digging if they want to include a book that isn’t heavily reviewed. The impact on collections overall has to be negative, because few librarians have the time to dig deeply to scour the net for book reviews. Also when some books are so heavily highlighted it is far more likely they will get picked up for a collection.

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

I’m not found of a publication being a review source that only offers positive reviews. The nature of reviewing something is to reveal its appeal and quality to others. A source deciding to not do that seems to have profit motives and ties with publishers more at heart of their business then aiding librarians and readers.

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?

I do not buy for a library, honestly I never check review sources for recommendations. I solely rely on word of mouth, and my own interests. The upside of this is that I hardly ever read a book that does not offer something wonderful, the downside is that my genre knowledge is incredibly weak since I mostly read classic literature and modern books by recommendations.