Writer. Reader. Human. Managing editor of Forge LitMag. Winner of the Excellence in Prison Libraries Award.
Two reviews of mine have just gone live at Pulp Net. Kuzhali Manickavel and Tania Hershman have written very different debut story collections, but I can whole heartedly recommend both, and its not often I can say that!
I contributed a fake review to Jenn Ashworth’s collaboration with Tolu Ogunlesi. You can read the whole online dual blog story at Adore Adorna and here.
Reviewing is taking up a fair bit of my time lately. I think I should probably spend more time writing my own stuff than writing about others, but I love reading, and when I find something brilliant I really want to share.
Anyway, I pride myself on integrity and honesty and all that good stuff.
But.
Yes, but.
I am not putting up reviews of books I don’t like.
I feel concerned for the author; they may be offended, they spent time writing the book, who the fuck am I to trample on their words?
And yet…
A lot of the books I recently read were proof copies. I read 9 proofs in the last few months, and of the 9 I thought that 1 was good. Not my kind of book, but good. I expect it to do well and I will be glad when it does. The other 8 were varying degrees of not good. From disappointing to utterly shite. Now they are appearing in the bookshop, being reviewed in the papers and online. I am feeling a wee bit disgruntled actually. There is definitely a jealousy thing going on. A “this crap is published whilst I struggle” feeling.
I read a review on a respected blog yesterday that said one was ‘a cracker’. I found it trite, obvious, dull. I was going to post a reply to that effect, but then the publisher posted, said how pleased they were with it, how hopeful they were for its success. I’d be wrong to damn it, not that I think loads of people listen to me, but…
What if that was my book? What if finally I finished my novel, and it was published, and someone influential said it was ace, and then someone else said, no, actually I though it was caca? How would I feel?
So. What do you think? Is it best just to keep my mouth shut?
I began putting short reviews of books I had read here on my blog so that when I inevitably forget what I thought of such and such a title I can check! Yup, I really am that vague. Now I review for several different places, which is kinda a mixed blessing.
When buying books I am careful, I know what I will probably like, I avoid what I’ll probably loathe. One of the reasons I signed up to read and review proofs for work was to force myself to read outside of my usual range. Most times my impulses are right and I have to force myself to grind on through, hating it, and yes, frankly resenting the fact that somehow the author has managed to get a book deal. Once so far, out of say 15 books, I have read something that I would never have picked, and I thought it was okay, good even. I can see there will be a market for it. Big whoop.
What is fascinating to me though is the marketing that goes with these as yet unpublished books. They come with covering letters and blurbs hailing the author as a fresh, new talent, the next [add name of famous author], an exciting voice etcetera. I usually roll my eyes and ignore. However this latest made me really quite grr.
“This is a true word-of-mouth bestseller and a classic bookclub read.”
Now call me pedantic, but to be a ‘true word of mouth bestseller’ I would have thought that the book would have had to be published, no? And talked about? And to be a ‘bestseller’ erm, wouldn’t it have had to have sold a lot?
This months edition of the fabulous Short Review is now ‘live’. And you can read my review of Fifteen Modern Tales of Attraction by Alison MacLeod over there:
http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/15moderntalesofattraction.htm
plus reviews of many other delicious collections.
My writing chum Tania Hershman has launched a new site today. It is called The Short Review, and is a place for, da da, reviews of short story collections. The reviews are written by short story writers, and it is going to be a wonderful place to find out about small press publications, classic collections, new big league collections, all short story collections in fact. It looks wonderful already, she has done a brilliant job.
Go look!
http://www.theshortreview.com/index.html
(Oh, and yes, one of the reviewers is me!)
Sara Crowley 