More than Just a Rating discussion

I've let goodreads take over my life. My youngest is almost grown, so I'm able to read a lot. I try to read in most all genres, from children's to science fiction, poetry to science. I host the GR group Fans of Maps.

I also manage an OBCZ for bookcrossing.com, where I'm known as cherylllr. And I do a little geocaching with my husband Ralph, where we are known as nevada carma. It's fun to go on a road trip, wild release bookcrossed books, and find some caches!

Well done Cheryl, thanks for starting this group! Just a bit about me: I love reading, but get really choked when I buy a "wall-banger" book, even a floor dropper doesn't make me happy with the cost of books... my kids are grown and for the past (view spoiler)[Ha! Thought I might tell? ;-) (hide spoiler)] few years, I have read non fiction works. Now I am revisiting the reading interests of my youth and having a blast.

I truly value reviews and comments about books, and when I find a reviewer whose writes great reviews, I will try to see if they have reviewed a book I am interested in.

In the interests of improving my own skill in this area (I don't feel deficient, just I would like to improve), I am glad to join this group.

Welcome Steamywindows! It's a pleasure to 'meet' you! I hope none of us feels deficient... ;) Well, but actually, I do right now, because I don't know what you mean by 'choked' or 'wall-banger' or 'floor dropper' - help please?

Yes, Cheryl, I'm here. You knew I couldn't stay away.

I read as a child and have some still-loved favorites, but I wasn't a voracious reader. I read as a young single mother. I read now as a retired woman. But there were long time gaps throughout and I desperately feel the gaps in my reading. So I try to make it up to myself and read every day, sometimes several hours in a day.

Welcome Elizabeth, I know you'll have exciting ideas to share!

Hi! I'm Sarah! I saw this as new in the groups area and was like, what a coinquidink, I've been writing a lot more reviews lately and here's a review group. Clever!
I live in Texas and I read a lot... a lot a lot. My teachers when I was a kid would take books away from me because I read too much and wouldn't do my work... in 3rd grade!
I'm doing a 100 book challenge this year so I'm reading even more than before. Having fun doing it too!

Wonderful to have you here Sarah! I look forward to getting to know you as we share ideas here.

Hi everyone, I'm May. I join this group more to receive than to give. I hope that's ok. I grew up bilingual and English is one of the language I speak but mine's just not very good. I love reading reviews but I always feel stuck writing one. I've been reading the topics in this group and it has been really helpful thus far.

Welcome! I have only about a dozen Spanish words, nothing else - anyone who is more bilingual than that gets my 100% admiration. I'm thrilled that you can get help here.

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "Welcome Steamywindows! It's a pleasure to 'meet' you! I hope none of us feels deficient... ;) Well, but actually, I do right now, because I don't know what you mean by 'choked' or 'wall-banger' ..."

LOL I will endeavour to explain myself: choked = choked up, not happy...

wall-banger (not literal)= bad enough you want to throw it against the wall. reading the book is frustrating or causing the reader to be angry etc.

A floor dropper = a book that doesn't hold your interest or is "Meh". Not to be confused with the floor dropping that happens when I fall asleep reading and the book hits the floor! *winks*

I certainly hope no one feels deficit. I mean I think this is a constructive way to improve my skills.

SW

Thanks SW, now everything makes perfect sense! Oy, I've had a long day. I'd better get offline 'til tomorrow.

Hi I am Cheryl’s husband, fellow geo-cacher and generally supportive tag along. Hope we all have fun and find interesting stuff to do here.

Hey, I'm Vicky. I was stalking the threads in Feedback about reviews and when you decided on a group I figured I would join. :)

I have a lot of old books that I haven't reviewed and whenever I go back to them I can hardly remember what they were about or how I liked them, so I've been trying to write reviews as I finish books - if nothing else, so that I can have a record of how I felt about them. But it would also be nice if they were beneficial to the community as well, so I'm looking forward to getting some good tips here. :)

Welcome Vicky and Ralph. :3

yay, more active members! :)

Hey Cheryl thanks for the invite. Maybe I'll learn something about writing better reviews.

Or be able to teach the rest of us something. I really truly believe what I said in the invite, that we all can learn from all... Thanks for joining!

Hi there! As I've already commented several places I guess I'd better drop in here too... at school I dropped English as soon as I could because I hated having to waste time dissecting/writing about what other people had written which could be far better spent either reading more, or doing my own creative writing. Happily, I've grown up a bit since then and seen the error of my ways. Still, I lack confidence when it comes to expressing my thoughts on the books I've read, and while I've started getting over it to some degree, I feel I've still got a lot of developing to do in my review writing.

Hello all, old friends and new. Great idea for a group, Cheryl.

I'm with you, Darkpool. I hated English at school and hated dissecting others' works, and being forced to read books I wasn't ready for and/or had already read... I did have a few really good teachers, fortunately, who taught me how to write a decent essay, but I do wish I could write those brilliantly funny reviews. You know, the ones that have you chuckling for hours afterwards.

Hi everyone. Unlike Hayes and Darkpool, I loved English at school. I went on to major in English literature and completed a master's degree in the same subject area. However, that was a long time ago. So while I've spent a lot of time writing about books in the past, I don't find it easy to say what I want to say when writing reviews now. That said, I like the discipline of writing a review. Also, the idea of writing a review makes me really pay attention when I read a book, It makes me think about things that I might otherwise ignore. I'm looking forward to reading what others have to say about review writing and getting some new ideas to put into practice.

Kim wrote: "Also, the idea of writing a review makes me really pay attention when I read a book, It makes me think about things that I might otherwise ignore. "

Yes, this! I have gotten so much more from reading since I joined Goodreads and started expressing my thoughts about a book.

Hi, I'm Pamela and I'm not a big reviewer but I'm trying to start. Most of my "reviews" are short and only one or two sentences long. Maybe I'll be inspired to do better reviews by reading you alls posts.

For a long time after college I didn't want to have to analyze my reading. But after quite a few years of writing fanfiction and not reading as much, I've gotten back into reading and diverted my writing into reviews. I still don't like to analyze my reading all that much, and prefer to go with impressions, emotions and reactions. When I get overly analytical, I start to bore myself. :P

Hi, I'm Sonia. I joined about an hour a go. This looks like so much fun - I hope I don't get addicted!I love writing reviews and I am sure I will learn a few things from you all. Best wishes Sonia

Hi everyone, thought I'd better come over and make my introductions. Well I loved English at school for many years, have got qualifications in it, and for a long time I really thought that was going to be my calling at university - at one point I almost ended up skipping two years and going straight to uni for an English degree... but as it turns out I pursued another passion of mine for my degree and now I'm a post-graduate. I found myself writing reviews purely for my own private pleasure for about a year before I showed them to anyone and was encouraged to post them online places like here. I love review writing now, look forwards to it every time I pick up a book; I enjoy the process of writing them, of creating a mixture of opinion and analysis and bring a new light to a book that people may not have considered before, and I enjoy using flair and exercising my personality in my reviews. I like reading reviews too - it's interesting to get other peoples' perspectives and their reviews have got their own particular flair and flavour.

Welcome everyone! Some of you are making me feel a titch intimidated - I look forward to learning from you-all!

What a great idea for a group Cheryl. I started writing reviews on Amazon just as a way to keep track of what I read and what the book was about and things just took off from there. I still review at Amazon but I mostly hang here and a couple of other reading places. I like to read the good reviews, along with the critical ones so I can make my own judgment if a book fits for me or not.

Goodreads is also running MY life, Cheryl! I'm here every day trying to keep up with everything and failing miserably. I would never get any reading done if I didn't pry myself away from my computer.

I came to this group because Cheryl commented on one of my long-winded "tirades" in the Goodreads feedback group. She admired my comment and told me about this group. So here I am!

Got my own group called "Books Stephen King Recommends" which is growing very quickly since it's currently a Featured Group. I'm very excited and very busy with it.

I read an average of 3 books a week and am ahead of schedule on my 150 book challenge for 2011. I read every single day and my coworkers are always asking me at lunch what I'm reading. I delight in sharing my excitement with others, making recommendations, and raving about my fav author, Stephen King.

I hope I can get back here to provide input now and then.

Hi everyone, I'm so happy to join this group - great job, Cheryl! I participated in the original thread on the feedback group and am so pleased to see what has come out of our discussion. :)

I was always an enthusiastic reader, but have become more what I would call a voracious one since joining GR. Writing is relatively new to me as well, so I'm looking for some ideas on how to write reviews, and a place to discuss them.

As Tammy points out, the idea for this group wasn't entirely my own, and without support from her and other like-minded feedback participants, I wouldn't have started this. So, really, it's *your* group, everyone, I'll just try to facilitate...

....but Cheryl was the impetus behind all of this. :) Thanks again for agreeing to start it up and facilitate.

I'm looking forward to some great discussions and new ideas.

Hi I'm Tom. Father of a twenty year old daughter, and two little boys one three and one. So I read all kinds of books from board books, childrens books, through the years I have read to my daughter as she grew up through the years. I love books and am excited to participate in reviews, about, why and etc. As a new Author Reviews have a whole new meaning to me as feed back from those who invested their time and money to read my hard work.
Thanks for having and letting me join your group!

Oh yay, another reader of children's books! I'm off to start a topic...

... and thanks Tammy et al for appreciating the effort I'm making. Y'all are making me < blush >.

Oh, the last thing I need is another group to join. In fact, I've been deleting groups. I'm already on Goodreads' too much, but I like the idea of being encouraging to reluctant (for whatever reasons) review writers.

I've been at Goodreads since 05/07 and am completely addicted. I've met friends here, and enjoy interacting with many members.

I love contributing to this community.

When I joined the site, it took me a few months to start writing reviews. I've experienced moderate to severe writers' block since my sophomore year of college, with some periods when it's been easier than others to do some writing. My first reviews here were basically blurbs but now I write reviews for most of the books I'm reading, and occasionally go back and also write reviews for books I read a long time ago, but I don't do that unless I can remember the book well enough.

I am hoping this group will be useful for members who'd otherwise not rate or just rate a book but not review it. The more member written reviews on Goodreads, the better, in my opinion.

Hi! I live just outside Philadelphia with my wife. We have four grown children and five grandchildren. I am 17 months away from early retirement which of course will mean more time for reading. I'm a recent addition to Goodreads, but in a very short time, I have found it a great place to hang out.

I joined this group because, as the name suggests, I appreciate a reader's thoughts about a book beyond the simple rating. I write reviews for all the books I read, some of which I'm proud of, others even I think are rather boring. I'm hoping the interaction here will hone my skills in this area.

Thanks to Cheryl for starting the group and thanks to Debra for inviting me.

Hello, I'm Kit. I'm from Ohio. I only recently (within the last year) started writing reviews on here, never wrote any before that. It's been fun, but I can definitely learn some new things. Thanks to Debra for inviting me here :)

Hi, I'm Natalie.

I enjoy thinking and talking about books and reading almost as much as I love the experience of reading itself!

I am a digital librarian by day and a voracious reader by night.

I am very interested in digital forms of communication and how reading, writing, and reviewing are expanding to fill new niches in a networked society.

How exciting to see so many new faces here - and welcome friends both 'old' and new!

Just introducing myself. First, I feel I need to explain why I've started doing reviews. A reason I've never admitted publicly, until recently (actually here on GR), out of feelings of fear, shame and embarrassment. I suffered a head injury years ago which affected many cognitive functions, including my reading comprehension. This means I literally would read a sentence/paragraph and not understand anything, very frustrating. After years of cognitive rehab, I thankfully can read again. Unfortunately I read less than 1/2 as fast as I did but my appreciation for reading is ten-fold what it was.

Then in 2009-10 I noticed I was starting to have problems again and that's when it was mentioned I should take notes, which evolved into reviews. So, I started intermittently doing reviews but really want to do it for all books, because it does help. Also, I feel readers have something to say and I want to contribute to that collective. I am joining this group to learn how to write a good review and learn what others look for in reviews because I'm finally ready to try to put myself out there and put the fear to rest.

Hi everyone!

I am Uday, father of twenty four year old son, twenty two year old daughter. I and my wife are in computer software development profession.

I used to read, but started again recently reading after I won an iPad in a Lucky draw!!

Cheryl, thanks for starting this group and inviting me.

I am going to write a review on every book I read. I think writing review helps you do some critical thinking and also may develop more critical reading.

Welcome Dawn and Uday! You both give me the impression that you're tackling the business of writing reviews with vigor & determination. I hope you find joy & satisfaction in your efforts, too. And I hope your time in this group is productive.
I'm so glad you're here!

Uday wrote: "I think writing review helps you do some critical thinking and also may develop more critical reading. "

What an apt description. That's exactly what it does and that's why it works for me as cognitive therapy.

Cheryl, thanks for the welcome. I would love productive along with educational and supportive, that would be wonderful!

Hello all. I'm Ella from RI. Glad to see this group open up and appeciated seeing the link to join by invite. I am always reading reviews but don't write many of my own. Looking forward to this!
Have a great day all!

This IS a great idea for a group..not only for those who have had long practice at writing a review,but also for those who are too timid to do so but would like to know the "how's" & give it a go. I never paid much attention to them until I came across Misfit on Amazon. I found that not only did she write "honestly" of her opinion of a book,but left the review open to the "good & the bad" and then it is up to the reader to choose if that book is right for them.As I came over to Goodreads I have found the friends I have formed here have really helped me in making choices with books from their reveiws. I have tried my hand at a few,hoping I can do the same & can someday be as good(or close to) as Misfit & Karla.
Thanks ladies for honest,delightful, and sometimes down right entertaining reviews! I look forward to learning more & chatting with others here.

Welcome more new members Ella and Sandi! I'm so excited we'll have enough members for quite a diversity of viewpoints!

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "Welcome more new members Ella and Sandi! I'm so excited we'll have enough members for quite a diversity of viewpoints!"

Thank you Cheryl!

I heard about this group via the Moderator Support group and it really sounds like a great idea. I really have a hard time writing reviews for some reason and I'd like to be able to write my thoughts down about books so I can look back on them. Hopefully I'll be able to learn from you guys :)

Hi Sashana! Welcome!

Maybe this would be a good time to give a little spiel to you and to everyone:

I've tried to make this whole group a comfortable place to learn and share. And I'm getting lots of help from all you wonderful folks! Feel free to read existing threads, or to start your own discussions.

I hope it's easy for everyone to find their way around in the group, but if you have any navigation questions you can ask them in the 'off-topic stuff' topic in this folder.

Sandi (The Pirate Wench) wrote: "This IS a great idea for a group..not only for those who have had long practice at writing a review,but also for those who are too timid to do so but would like to know the "how's" & give it a go. ..."

Love your comments, especially your opening remark. I discovered both of those ladies at Amazon too and they suggested I head over here. I'm so glad I took them up on that.