Week Five Prompt Response

Romantic Suspense eBook: The Billionaire's First Christmas

I'm unsure about this book. Since it's so short, maybe if I read it for myself I would consider it, but the summary of the book and the reviews didn't have me fully convinced it was worth it. I felt the blog review was slightly more reliable than the amazon review, however I received helpful information from both. From the amazon review, it was clear that this book reads like a Hallmark Christmas movie and gives the reader some feel-good warm fuzzies. It was also helpful to learn that it's told in the POV of both characters and that there is a sequel. If I were to consider buying this I would likely want to see if I can locate the sequel and purchase it as well if a patron were to ask for it.

The blog review didn't mention the sequel, but it was a more critical review and confirmed the feelings that I had about this book. Reading the summary of the book told me that it has a very cliche premise - although given that it's a Christmas story this can usually be forgiven. Most Christmas romances are very cheesy and I'm actually a fan of a lot of them. As someone who would enjoy this kind of thing, I wasn't really too invested in the premise of this story so that's a big red flag if I were looking to buy. Just my opinion- I'm sure that some people would really like this book, and I'd at least be willing to pick it up and give it a try. I wish the blog reviewer would have gone into more detail about why the plot was "Odd". I can see why people would like this story based on these reviews, and may consider purchasing it because even though my personal opinion wouldn't go for it, I do think that based on these reviews that a lot of patrons would enjoy it as a quick read for the holidays.

Also, there's no way this is a romantic suspense...there's no talk of secrecy other than maybe the CEO's reason for why he hates Christmas? I don't get that impression, neither review mentions any element of unpredictability or leaving the reader lingering on a "will they? won't they?" thought. Maybe there is a little suspense here, but I don't think enough that would likely deem it a romantic suspense. Amazon even categorizes it as "Contemporary romance".


Angela's Ashes


I would love to add Angela's Ashes to my collection after reading those reviews. It's clear from reading the reviews that the author is capable of telling an account of real and gruesome circumstances while incorporating humor. I think the first review from Kirkus almost told me too much because I usually want to read the best bone-chilling moments for myself, but the information that the Kirkus review shared definitely made me want to read it. The end of the Library journal review did confuse me a little bit because it said the book was appropriate for 'any age'. Really? Kirkus and Booklist both mention that McCourt talks about sex a little bit in the book. I know it's nothing graphic, and maybe uses special wording to refer to those instances, but the contrast here between these reviews makes me unsure if this could be a juvenile (it was written in the POV of a child) or teen/adult book. I know that this book definitely falls in the YA/adult category, but for someone who previously didn't know that it may come across a little misleading.

I don't think that it's fair that more books are reviewed more so than others. I personally read a pretty narrow scope out of all of the books in the world so if I was purchasing for my library, I would want my collection to have a broader scope to serve a diverse public. I would need to rely on quality, honest reviews to make purchases so if I can't find enough reviews on certain genres that would certainly make my job more difficult. 

I think that positive reviews are a good thing, however I wouldn't trust a perfectly positive review alone. I would look for others that may share a more critical review. When I'm looking at a book I need to see the good (or fantastic!) the bad, and the ugly. I like Good Reads for this because I can usually find some thoughtful reviews from readers who either loved, hate or were indifferent about a book all in one place. I also like Kirkus because they are pretty honest as well. Sometimes those "positive only" reviews are nice because it means that at least someone saw some merit in a book, but if there's too much negative out there, it still might not be enough to sway my decision to purchase it. 

I do not buy for my library but I do evaluate books for programming and story times so I sometimes look for reviews. I use reviews a lot for personal reading especially with genres that I'm not familiar with. I mostly stick to Good Reads for personal use as well as some YouTube reviewers that I know share a similar taste with me.