Sunday Morning Thoughts: What’s in a Book Review Blog Post
In this edition of Sunday Morning Thoughts, I’m not just sharing my own—I’d like you to share yours.
As I’ve gotten fully comfortable with how I structure my book reviews here on the blog, I’m starting to consider ways to improve them or make sure they have all the information my readers look for; basically, I am content with how I structure book review posts and the details I put in the them, but I also want to make sure those of you who read my book reviews get all the information about a book you need in order to make the decision to read it (or not read it) yourself. This is something I’ve sort of considered for a while now, and after reading some discourse (via Twitter) in the past week about what book bloggers include in their own book review posts, I thought I would reach out to those of you who have read my book reviews—or maybe just this post—and hear your thoughts on what makes a good book review post. Plainly:
- In addition to the book title, author, cover, synopsis, content warnings, and review, what do you hope to see in a book review post? Publisher information? Author information? Genre? Purchase links? Other? Are you indifferent?
Some of these things I myself don’t necessarily look for in a book review post, but I know of a lot of bloggers who include additional information beyond the bare-bone specs, and if my readers like additional information, I would be happy to include it. So comment below with your thoughts, perspective, and suggestions – I look forward to reading them and implementing helpful changes to my book review posts (and if you have a book blogger in mind whose book review format ticks all of your boxes, feel free to shout them out!).
9 Comments
Darlene
Your book reviews are great. I don’t think it’s necessary to repeat the entire blurb in a book review and I am always very upset with reviewers who include spoilers. (which you never do)
Kelsey @ There's Something About KM
Thank you so much! And I do my best to talk enough about the story without exposing important scenes or plot points – it’s more challenging to do this with some books than others, but it’s a challenge I enjoy. Thank you for commenting!
Davida Chazan
The #1 thing I want from a book review is the writers OPINION of the book, what they liked and what they didn’t like. I see so many book reviews that have a LONG summery of the book, lots of info about the author, with every last detail about the genre, age category, publisher, page count, release date, ISBN, ASIN, etc., and then… one, maybe two, short paragraphs that tell me little to nothing about what the reader felt when they read the book. To me, that’s just not a book review.
Kelsey @ There's Something About KM
I see a lot of this too, and it actually relates to my initial reasons for providing just simple specs about the book; I want to make sure my review stays in the spotlight of the post. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Davida Chazan
You’re welcome!
ericarobyn
I love seeing purchase links, especially if they’re affiliate links! 🙂
Kelsey @ There's Something About KM
Great to know! I like seeing affiliate links too! 😀
The Deleted Story
Hey Kelsey,
I really liked your review, the way you made you made me feel to read it too. It’s good that you didn’t give any spoilers.
Kelsey @ There's Something About KM
Thank you!