Week Five Prompt

 

    When it comes to reviews, I have found that wide ranges are going to happen. However, I have noticed that I have learned from both good and not so great reviews. Sometimes you can learn about reading styles and appeals to books from negative reviews. When it comes to reviews as a selector, I tend to have an objective view because at the end of the day we cannot be responsible for how a patron reacts to a book. I know I have praised a book that others do not enjoy and vice versa.  

For the books that are only published as eBooks and not printed, are more than likely self-published. I the lack of professional reviews on eBooks can be a boost in digital sales, but that will not make a person happy if the book is not something that appeals to them. Free books are hit and miss with people and if there are lack of reviews then a person will not know if they should continue reading the book or not. Big authors on digital books to me feels as if other books are not as important or miniscule because there are no professional reviews or thoughtful ones behind them. 

For the romance suspense reviews, I think both reviews can be reliable depending on the viewer. For wanting to purchase a book, I would look more in depth for the reviews to make a decision on whether to purchase the book or not. I select for the 100's and Romance for my library and I have noticed that there is going to be heavy leaning on some subgenres. I try to be board in my selections, but if I get numerous requests for certain titles or subjects, I try to look heavy into those for current and future purchases. Clean wholesome romances are very hard to find, so I always jump on these purchases for some of our patrons. 

Angela's reviews are different towards different audiences, and by that, I mean publisher and book magazines. However, no matter which one you read they are always at least in my eyes positive for the book. I would as book selector pick this one for my library collection. 

For public libraries we more than likely have the printed and digital copy of titles. So, to me one type of book should not get more focus than others. I do think that professional reviewers should maybe have something that is their niche and maybe do something that they do not always do. This I feel would make more honest reviews of some titles and it would be more even across the board. As a selector I do see some negative reviews, but I think about how it would benefit the collection as entity. I look at Kirkus, GoodReads and Amazon for general reviews and make the executive decision.