You would think with all the reading I do, that I would muse more about the books I read. But I just can't bring myself to actually review a book. I'll post the books I read on Goodreads and I'll give it stars. Once in a blue moon, I'll actually mention something about the book in the "review" section. Sometimes I mention something that I liked from a book I read here on the blog. That's about it.
There are two reasons why I don't review books.
1. Authors are people, too.
My mom always told me that if I can't say something nice, then I shouldn't say anything at all. I think that goes for books and their writers as well. As a writer and as a mother, I know how much writing is like gestation, birth, and raising children. Both are beautiful and excruciating experiences. A book, no matter how good or bad it is, is someone's child. So I try to treat books with as much care as I can. I might tell a friend or colleague or a student my personal opinion on a book, but I can't bring myself to review that book here on my blog or on Goodreads. I don't want an author to do a Google search of their name, stumble upon my blog with a review of their book, and then become distraught and never write again because of my opinion. My opinion just doesn't matter that much. Everyone should make their own opinions about what they read.
2. What if I'm wrong?
I also often wonder if I'm the only one who feels a certain way about a certain book, and I worry about what people might think about me if I LOVE a book they hated or vice versa. Honestly, I'd just rather have people judge me on what kind of person I am and not on my review of a book.
I like to read, and I'm going to continue reading for as long as my eyesight will allow me to do so(please, 80 more years or so!), but I probably won't be reviewing much of what I read in the near future. Unless, of course, I become a famous author and writers send me their ARCs to get a blurb on the back of their book. I might change my tune then...if I like the book.
