One day, I was bitching talking to Sam about how I had a bunch of reviews to write. He asked why, exactly, I kept writing them if they were such a pain in the ass? And I pondered this. My usual answer is “because I requested them and I must”, but that isn’t really accurate, is it? A representative from HarperCollins isn’t going to come and kidnap me in my sleep if I neglect to review a title, after all. So I had to really stop and think about this. Why do I review still, when my life is a veritable clusterfuck of exhaustion and overinvolvement?
Basically, I came up with a top 5 reasons, if you will, in order of importance in the grand scheme of things.
5. No really, I did say I’d review that stuff.
Look. I know that plenty of folks request stuff and never review it, and the world still spins. I am not those people, because the guilt would absolutely eat away at me until I reviewed the thing anyway. Fun fact: I somehow forgot to put a review book on my list for April, and totally forgot that I had it. I saw it sometime in mid-June and I was appalled, and I read it and reviewed it immediately. That is just who I am, for better or for worse. Yes, I know that these publishers don’t actually care about my review or if I live or die, frankly. But I care so there it is.
4. Narcissism
AJ really said it best, we review stuff (and otherwise blog) because we want people to hear what we have to say. I won’t pretend I don’t! I like that you know my opinions, and I like to know yours. Maybe it’s part narcissism, part nosiness? I digress. I have opinions on books, and other various topics and I don’t care to keep them to myself. That’s just the truth. And frankly, blogging about it is way more socially acceptable than me accosting a stranger in line at the grocery store with my opinions on my favorite The 100 episodes or latest 5-star book.
3. I like free books.
I read somewhere around 150 books a year, give or take a dozen. Granted, I do probably own enough books to keep me going for the better part of a decade, but the truth is, I could never afford to read at my current levels without galleys. If you take the list price of an average hardcover (let’s say $25 to average between YA and Adult) and multiply that by the review books that I read last year (145- all but three of my read books last year were review books, I think I need an intervention), it adds up to $3,625. I don’t know about you guys, but I do not have that kind of money! On average, I only buy about 2 books a month these days (self control?) so yeah.
2. I want to keep the band together.
People are leaving the book blogging community in droves, my friends. That makes me so very sad! I like chatting with you guys! I like it a lot! So honestly, reviewing keeps me accountable when I might otherwise not post. This way, we don’t lose another friend (me) to the abyss of life being too difficult to continue blogging. I mean, please don’t misunderstand, it is too difficult, and it is also why I have cut back so much. But much like Rose, I’ll never let go (actually scratch that- Rose totally let go and she is a terrible example of commitment and follow through. I will not be like Rose).
-Rose, basically.
1. I like new shiny things.
Confession, the further in the future the book is being published, the more I need it in my life. Maybe there is some kind of psychological term for this, but I’ll just call it “wanting things I can’t have”. When books from the next bookish year show up on Netgalley? I am drooling, even if it isn’t a book I give a hoot about. (Luckily, I have evolved enough so that I don’t actually try to request books I don’t care about, but the impulse remains.) After so many years reading the newest and shiniest, I simply cannot go back to reading current releases like the other plebs. You can call it a character flaw, it probably is.
I’m right with you, Shannon. I review books granted to me from Netgalley because I promised. I also review books I read because I want to let people know my opinions. I stopped asking for so many books on Netgalley after realizing I couldn’t keep up so now I’m very choosy. My review ratio suffered greatly because of that.
Yeeep that is it! I *try* to be choosy, but then… Idk, something just goes wrong bwhaha. Now, it is just a mess- I DO review them but I am always stressed about it!
I’m with you with most of them…except the “new shiny things” one, maybe – I mean, I’ve always been super-choosy, and I don’t necessarily crave books that will come out in a year or have been put on NG/EW just because 😂 😉. I’ve been struggling with reviews for a couple of years now (that’s why I’ve started to only write mini reviews for books under 4 stars, with the occasional exception), but I could never stop writing them, and you know what? Maybe the only reason I have that you didn’t list (though it’s narcissism-adjacent) is that, after I’ve struggled with a particularly elusive review and conquered it, I’m PROUD of what I’ve accomplished, and it gives my stupid life an ounce of sense and purpose.
I don’t even know why I feel this way- can’t explain it, but here we are! I have been struggling with reviews too, which is why I wondered why the heck I am bothering heh. I LOVE the being proud thing though- that is a great point!
i don’t comment a lot anymore but i still read it starts at midnight and other blogs that are active. Thanks for being here
AW thank you! You have no idea how much this made me smile!
Gosh! Number 2 really hit home. I feel like my circle is forever shrinking. Sometimes, when I am really busy with non-book life, I do feel a bit stressed about reviews, but for the most part, I still enjoy sharing my thoughts. I also like free books and feel an obligation to review said free books, too. Not sure if I think my opinions really matter, but it feels good to hype something I loved and even better if it’s a “smaller” book.
Right!? It is so SAD! I like to do it too- and that is the thing, I enjoy blogging for ME, but I have such little time to do it, it seems rather unfair!
I’m glad you are still here and still review. I like discovering new books and I too sometimes love or hate a book so much I want to tell people and see what they have to say in return.
Aw thank you! Yesss that is the thing- I know if I couldn’t do it, I’d be so sad!
I totally agree with all of your reasons. I’ve been considering giving it all up, but I keep coming up with reasons not too. Thanks for the reminder about why I need to continue.
Aw you are so welcome, glad to help! Seriously though, I have days where it feels like just one more thing to add onto my plate and I just want to quit and watch TV heh. But I keep on keepin’ on, so far!
I love this! Every once in a while I vaguely wonder why I’m still reviewing too. Like is anyone even reading anything I write? Is everyone just on Booktok. But then I keep reviewing anyway. I guess I just think it’s fun.
Right?! Though I feel like blogging will never fully die- I don’t like TikTok reviews, nor did I like Bookstagram reviews when they were a thing, so fingers crossed!
Number two really hit me. I don’t quite review like I used to but my more often mini reviews let me at least say a little something about what I liked or didn’t about what I’ve been reading at least.
I do miss how large the bookish community used to be. I mean I guess it still is big, but I feel like it’s harder to find new blogs these days, so I stick with the few that are remaining. I still read and review books as much as I can. I don’t read nearly as fast as I can’t do audiobooks. My mind wanders when I listen to music or have the TV on while I write posts or reviews. It’s mindless background noise and I feel like that’s what would happen with me and audiobooks. So if there’s no time to sit and read, I’m not reading. I still read what I want to read and review it as soon as I am done and life is pretty grand that way. Are people seeing and reading my reviews? Probably not as much as it was “back in the day.” But I still enjoy putting my review out there anyway, it’s become habit now. I can’t stop. I seemed to have fallen off the publisher’s lists after Covid. I had a few contacts as I grew a name for myself, then Covid hit and I guess those contact left or moved on and my name was just removed from the lists and now I am pretty much buying the books for myself to read and review. Every once in awhile I will request something on Netgalley but I have come to realize I take twice as long to read a kindle book than I do a physical book. It’s some bizarre science that I can’t fathom, so I only request titles I realllllly realllllly need to read asap and half the time I see titles for authors I love…but who series I fell behind in, so requesting the title now is silly because I need to get caught up and who knows how long that will take.
I guess I am just a creature of habit. I still blog. I still visit other blogs and comment. I do the weekly memes still because I enjoy it. Is anyone reading my posts? I don’t know anymore. Comments have been sparse, but I also know Disqus has been weird and the comment box will disappear depending on the browser being used. So yeah. Thing after definitely different than they were 10 years ago, and holy cow I’ve been blogging a long time. I remember in 2009 when I started it was quiet, then it picked up and was booming and then it suddenly went back to being quiet. It’s weird how we cam full circle but hopefully that means the next big bang will be just around the corner!
I only review books now when I really, really want to talk about it. Sure, it feels like yelling into the void but I get the yelling out of my brain and into the world so that helps.
It’s funny, but I almost NEVER review books anymore, even for myself. I’ll occasionally make a small private note in Goodreads if I want to remember to continue a series (or avoid it), but that’s about it most days. I rarely hit the star ratings either, just keep track of the date I finished a book. Which has come back to bite me when I don’t really remember something and wish I’d taken better notes on whether I liked it or thought it was a waste of time, but for the most part, this new (lack of a) system works for my current reading season (for myself, in isolation, for fun and escapism). And I still occasionally pass along a book or a title or get mistaken for a store employee while straightening the shelves. 🙂
At least you know yourself! And I hope those books give you some measure of enjoyment. I had to stop reviewing because it just got to be too much, and nobody was really reading my blog or reviews anyway (well, except for you and I adore you for that). I realized I’m not contributing anything useful or helpful, and meanwhile it was feeling like a job, even when I only read books I wanted to read. I’m not even fighting reading slumps these days. I’m too tired for yet another full-time, unpaid, fruitless responsibility.
I have been blogging since 2012 and for many of the reasons you stated, I continue to read and review, sharing my posts, wanting others to see what I’ve been up to and me seeing what they’ve been up to. I find so many new authors to follow and books that I love that I wouldn’t have found if I wasn’t blogging. Gotta review to keep getting the freebies. I am trying to downsize my book collection, so getting books for free and reading a lot of ebooks keep the expense down and clearing the shelves easier.
I relate to all of these, except #1. I don’t like to read books super in advance because then, by the time other people are reading it, I don’t even remember it. I actually get most of my books through the library nowadays. But I also have found myself wondering lately if I should give up blogging/reviewing, because it’s a lot of work, and I’m tired. But it seems sad to give it up after so long, and I do like to share my thoughts, and it is a way to still be connected. If I sometimes have to skip a week or two because I don’t feel up to it, that’s still better than giving it up entirely.
I wish I could say I’ve never skipped reading and reviewing a book the publisher or author sent me, but unfortunately I definitely cannot say that. I used to let guilt eat me up for that, but I’ve had to let it go – there’s a whole pile of things to feel guilty about, and I would drown in it if I didn’t let some of them go. I always have the idea that I WILL review them at some point, but I am definitely not timely about it. But I can’t quite completely let go of blogging or reviewing, even now that it’s gotten really hard and I’m always way behind. I just don’t want to lose the blog completely, so I cling to it by the skin of my teeth!