Every time I look up a book on Amazon, GoodReads (same thing now, I guess), Barnes & Noble or any of the other websites I'm amazed to find that there seem to be no bad books. None whatsoever. Every one of them is at least average.
Go ahead, think of a book you thought was absolutely awful. The reason why you think that doesn't make any difference - bad books can be just plain boring, confusing, dull, or so filled with mistakes that it drives you crazy. They can be completely opposite of your personal philosophy¹ or just plain so far out in left field that you simply can't wrap your mind around it. No matter what the reason, stop by amazon.com and take a look at the rating. Of all the hundreds of books I've checked at Amazon in recent weeks, only one had a rating below 3 stars out of 5, and it was 1½ stars (Patricia Cornwell's Isle of Dogs, IIRC, which certainly deserved it).
Why?
Beats me - one reason is that almost every book that's been reviewed by more than one person has been reviewed by a review whore or six - Harriett (known as "harstan" on B&N), Mid West Reviews, etc. - who seems to do little more than reword the publisher's press release and slap on a 4- or 5-star rating.
Well, I've read every one of these books, start to finish, and these are MY thoughts - not those of the publisher. So, who you gonna believe? me or Harriett, who often published six to ten reviews per day, which would require that she read 40-50,000 words per hour and write at pretty much the same speed? Yeah... right.
My thoughts... you're welcome to disagree.
Go ahead, think of a book you thought was absolutely awful. The reason why you think that doesn't make any difference - bad books can be just plain boring, confusing, dull, or so filled with mistakes that it drives you crazy. They can be completely opposite of your personal philosophy¹ or just plain so far out in left field that you simply can't wrap your mind around it. No matter what the reason, stop by amazon.com and take a look at the rating. Of all the hundreds of books I've checked at Amazon in recent weeks, only one had a rating below 3 stars out of 5, and it was 1½ stars (Patricia Cornwell's Isle of Dogs, IIRC, which certainly deserved it).
Why?
Beats me - one reason is that almost every book that's been reviewed by more than one person has been reviewed by a review whore or six - Harriett (known as "harstan" on B&N), Mid West Reviews, etc. - who seems to do little more than reword the publisher's press release and slap on a 4- or 5-star rating.
Well, I've read every one of these books, start to finish, and these are MY thoughts - not those of the publisher. So, who you gonna believe? me or Harriett, who often published six to ten reviews per day, which would require that she read 40-50,000 words per hour and write at pretty much the same speed? Yeah... right.
My thoughts... you're welcome to disagree.
¹ Note: just because a political book disagrees with your politics doesn't mean it's bad - just different.