This is just a quick note about the book reviews I post on this blog. In case any of you are wondering, the reviews are simply commentary of books we have here at the house, generally, for the general information of folks in our little community here. There may have been a borrowed book or two, but generally the books are ones on our bookshelf.
Nathaniel asked if I’d post a review of his book. As I recall, his request came after I’d emailed him, complimenting him on his book. I wasn’t able to post the review on the Amazon page, for some reason. (I don’t recall which type of glitch it was, now.) So, I posted it here. I’d been planning to post some book reviews and his was as good as any to start with.
Why am I telling you all this? It’s come to my attention that many online book reviews are written by folks who are being paid to provide favourable reviews. In some cases, the reviewer hasn’t even read the books in question. The reviews on here are not paid reviews.
However, the reviews are not entirely unbiased. (Are reviews ever unbiased?) In some cases, the authors are people I know and like personally, whether online or off. Hmmm. I should probably edit those reviews with a statement indicating this bias.
In any case, if I say I’d recommend a particular book as, for example, the best introduction to such-and-such a topic, it’s because I’d really recommend it as such. I might be wrong. And I might change my mind later, if I come across a better introduction. But, it’s my honest opinion at the time of writing.
Does any of this matter to you? Maybe. Maybe not. If you’re going to be paying your money for some new books (or trolling eBay for used or out-of-print works) it can help if you have someone else’s advice. That’s the idea of reviews, generally, after all. “Hmm. I’d like a new book on remote viewing. Should I buy this one or that one? Let’s see what other people have said about it…”
Or, you could ignore the reviews and just pendle the question. 🙂
Incidentally, even if you consistently disagree with my or any other reviewer’s book reviews, reviews can still be useful. You can avoid wasting your money by simply not buying the ones I or the other reviewer rate most highly.
And, of course, you have the option of not reading the reviews, too. 🙂
It’s all good.