It’s Friday and the start of a new month. So, this means you won’t get just 1, but two posts today as this also means wrap up time! Since we don’t have new topics for Let’s Talk Bookish yet and I want both to plan ahead and dig a little deeper, I decided to create my own topics for the upcoming weeks. If you want to share your own thoughts on these topics, please do so! If you want to gain more information on my November 8 and November 15 topics, please get in touch! I haven’t been planning further ahead though.

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme that was originally created and hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books starting in August 2019, and was then cohosted by Dani @ Literary Lion from May 2020 to March 2022. Since April 2022, the meme moved to another host, Aria @ Book Nook Bits. Let’s Talk Bookish is a meme where participants discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and share their love by visiting each other’s posts.

So, this week I’ll be discussing book reviewing. There have been several Let’s Talk Bookish posts about this topic, but I’d like to combine them into one post. Last year, I shared how I write my own book reviews, but I know there are different tastes and styles out there. Myself, I’m still struggling with my reviews and how to write them. So, let’s discuss!

Prompts: Writing book reviews is a huge part of running a book blog. What’s your opinion on this? Do you like to write long or short reviews? Do you need a structure, or do you like to yap? What should definitely be in a book review for you? How does writing reviews for your blog differ from writing reviews on platforms such as Goodreads, The Storygraph or social media? Do you like to read other reader’s reviews, and do they need to be long or short?

Writing book reviews is a huge part of running a book blog. What’s your opinion on this?

In all honesty, I think this is true. I am definitely not one of the most creative bloggers out there, so I struggle a lot with thinking of other posts to write. I think that, if there weren’t memes such as Top Ten Tuesday, WWW Wednesday, The Sunday Post et cetera, I definitely would struggle with maintaining my blog. I actually experience this problem with my Dutch blog since memes definitely don’t work on there. This blog consists of reviews only and I don’t know how to change that. Apart from this, reviews are the best way to share your opinion on a book and therefore easier for other people to judge by whether a book is something for them or not. I envy people who are able to run and maintain a blog without reviewing books, because I know they are out there.

Do you like to write long or short reviews? Do you need a structure, or do you like to yap?

I try to keep my reviews as short as possible, but that’s quite a mission impossible. I often have a lot to say about a book – which is good – and therefore my reviews are longer than intended. I like to ramble or yap, but lately I find myself needing a structure with subheadings. Sometimes I go back to my old reviews and I’m so jealous of my old self who was able to just go with the flow and write a casual review without a structure and subheadings. I hope I will be able to get back to that reviewer in me, because I like to read other people’s reviews without a structure. Structured reviews feel a bit stiff to me and when yapping, readers can get a glimpse off the reviewer’s personality. I honestly blame official reviewing for this. Although I learnt a lot and discovered some real gems by doing this, there were several rules for the review in place. I think this sucked away my ability to just review casually. I still can’t seem to let it go although I quit early in 2023. I, for instance, wasn’t allowed to include the word “I” in my review because a review is already your opinion. I struggled a lot with this actually, and now I struggle with including this. My blog, my corner on the internet, my review.

What should definitely be in a book review for you?

For me, a book review definitely should include the basics. Book information is key to me. I want to have everything in one place, I’m a lazy reader with not too much time on her hands. So, I want to make it easier for other people as well and include all the book information, including the synopsis. I don’t want to need to open Goodreads or another website to find more about the book. I’m a synopsis reader, so that speaks more to me than the cover. I want to know what the book is about before reading your opinion. If the synopsis doesn’t interest me, I’m out. Furthermore, I want to know more about the characters, writing and plot. Especially what your feelings are regarding these aspects. I don’t need an overly in-depth analysis about how the characters interact with each other, that feels a bit too spoilery for me. Finally, I want to read your final thoughts and whether this book met your expectations before you started reading or not. And of course, your (star) rating. I include this in the book info section, but I have a plugin for this.

How does writing reviews for your blog differ from writing reviews on platforms such as Goodreads, The Storygraph or social media?

I think there is a huge difference between writing reviews for your own blog or for social media or other bookish platforms. I really dislike long reviews on Instagram, but that app has a character limit anyway so you can’t even write long reviews. This also applies to platforms such as Goodreads and The Storygraph, minus the character limit. In my opinion, long reviews don’t work on such platforms since many people are there for quick and short form content. Personally, I use these apps on my phone and often when I don’t have much time. Reviews don’t have to be just oneliners, please not. But they don’t have to be essays either. Nice, short, to the point reviews work best on such platforms. I want to see whether this book was for you or not. Please, please, please don’t include the synopsis there, especially not on social media. I see a lot of people doing this on Instagram and when I encounter this I scroll past your review. Goodreads and The Storygraph already have the synopsis on the book page, so no need to repeat it. A blog is a whole different media so there you can write more in depth.

Do you like to read other reader’s reviews, and do they need to be long or short?

I’m so bad at reading other people’s reviews. Especially on other book blogs. Many people review ARCs and I’m often not interested in them. I’m more of a mainstream reader and I only read reviews whenever I see a title that’s familiar to me or predicted to be a huge hype. I also read book reviews whenever I (want to) read the book myself, just out of curiosity. If it’s a book by an author I’ve already read before, I will definitely read your review. Whereas I write quite long reviews myself, I like to read short reviews. If there’s no book info, I’m out. I don’t have much time to read other people’s reviews, and I don’t like to read long essays LOL. If someone’s personality shines through the review, I’ll definitely read it! I’m tended to read informal and casual reviews over formal ones with a structure. I know, it’s really the opposite of the reviews I write myself, but oh well.

What do you think about book reviews? Long or short? Structured or rambling? What should a review contain according to you? Do you like to read reviews by other bloggers?