Barry Lyga's Blog: The BLog - Posts Tagged "goodreads-thoughts"
Feelings about GoodReads
Whew! Hi, everyone!
It's been a little while since I joined GoodReads, and that time period happened to coincide with some exciting goings-on for me. (If you've seen previous blog entries, you know what I'm talking about!)
It's only recently (like, literally five minutes ago!) that I found the time to really sit down and start thinking about GoodReads and what exactly it is I'm doing here. And the first thing I noticed -- duh -- is that I don't have any books listed on here! Books that I've read, I mean.
Wow! Talk about embarrassing! You'd think I've never picked up a book. :)
But then I realized something else. You see, I have a sort of allergic reaction to authors talking about other authors' work in public. I mean, I get that authors blurb and review each other (I've done it, too), and that's all good. But I don't like to see authors beat each other up or pan each others' work. And I told myself a long time ago that I would never, ever say something bad about another's authors' work in public. It just doesn't seem right. Or fair.
I'm not saying I don't believe in bad reviews. I'm just saying that for ME, I feel strange dissing another author.
You see where this is going?
Those damn stars next to the books!
If I give a book by one friend five stars and a book by another four, am I gonna hear about it later? If I give one book a richly-deserved one-star review, is someone going to throw that back in my face someday?
And hey -- if Stephen King joined GoodReads and gave, say, I HUNT KILLERS, a one-star review, I would be crushed. What if there's some budding writer out there who likes my books and I pan his book and he sees it...
I'm Catholic and Jewish, folks. I got enough guilt in my life. :)
So, here's what I've decided. Yes, I will list books I've read. No, I will not assign them ratings. That's my little compromise to help myself sleep at night. I'm sorry if it seems to violate the basic tenets of being here in the first place, but I just can't bring myself to do otherwise.
At least this way you'll know what I've read. Y'know, in the event you care. :)
Oh, and BTW: I'm starting to add things to my shelf with stuff I really love, so these first books are pretty damn awesome.
More later!
It's been a little while since I joined GoodReads, and that time period happened to coincide with some exciting goings-on for me. (If you've seen previous blog entries, you know what I'm talking about!)
It's only recently (like, literally five minutes ago!) that I found the time to really sit down and start thinking about GoodReads and what exactly it is I'm doing here. And the first thing I noticed -- duh -- is that I don't have any books listed on here! Books that I've read, I mean.
Wow! Talk about embarrassing! You'd think I've never picked up a book. :)
But then I realized something else. You see, I have a sort of allergic reaction to authors talking about other authors' work in public. I mean, I get that authors blurb and review each other (I've done it, too), and that's all good. But I don't like to see authors beat each other up or pan each others' work. And I told myself a long time ago that I would never, ever say something bad about another's authors' work in public. It just doesn't seem right. Or fair.
I'm not saying I don't believe in bad reviews. I'm just saying that for ME, I feel strange dissing another author.
You see where this is going?
Those damn stars next to the books!
If I give a book by one friend five stars and a book by another four, am I gonna hear about it later? If I give one book a richly-deserved one-star review, is someone going to throw that back in my face someday?
And hey -- if Stephen King joined GoodReads and gave, say, I HUNT KILLERS, a one-star review, I would be crushed. What if there's some budding writer out there who likes my books and I pan his book and he sees it...
I'm Catholic and Jewish, folks. I got enough guilt in my life. :)
So, here's what I've decided. Yes, I will list books I've read. No, I will not assign them ratings. That's my little compromise to help myself sleep at night. I'm sorry if it seems to violate the basic tenets of being here in the first place, but I just can't bring myself to do otherwise.
At least this way you'll know what I've read. Y'know, in the event you care. :)
Oh, and BTW: I'm starting to add things to my shelf with stuff I really love, so these first books are pretty damn awesome.
More later!
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