"Tiger and I thought it might be time to start a meme to discuss some of the frustrations that are unique to book bloggers. What happens when the hobby you love becomes more of a chore?This meme will appear on the first and third Mondays of the month. One of the hosts will give us a question to respond to and a linky for sharing our responses and developing community.
This week's question is: Have you ever loved a book that you know is not a great literary gem? Maybe it's filled with spelling errors, tired cliches, and is utterly cheestastic but you loved it anyway.
How do you handle that as a blogger who is used to critical thinking and analysis? Do you pretend you never read the book - never to be reviewed or added to your Goodreads shelf :-)?
Do you write a review but maybe apologize and make excuses as to why you enjoyed it or are you bold and proud of any book you enjoyed?
Umm...this bunch of questions is so full of assumptions that I think I will try to deal with it one question at a time.
Have you ever loved a book that you know is not a great literary gem?
Yes, of course. I spend a whole lot of my mid-20s to mid-30s reading Harlequin and Loveswept series romances. I can't think that any of them won or would win any awards outside the Romance genre. I still have some very fond memories of many of the books I read in that phase of my reading life. And many of the authors I learned to love there have moved into the romantic suspense genre or the paranormal genre and are now best-selling authors. You might have heard of Jayne Ann Krentz or Nora Roberts or Elizabeth Lowell; all of them were authors I first met in the romance series I read voraciously.
Maybe it's filled with spelling errors, tired cliches, and is utterly cheestastic but you loved it anyway.
Umm...nope. Grammar and spelling errors are a sure way to make me not complete a book. Cliches done well are perfectly acceptable to me. But they have to be done well. Boy meets girl is a tried and true cliche but I still like reading romances. I know the destination - happily ever after - but a skilled author can make me love the journey.
I'm not sure what "utterly cheestastic" really means but a well-written story with engaging characters will keep me reading no matter how unlikely the situations. After all, I have never met a werewolf or a vampire but that doesn't stop me from reading paranormals or urban fantasy. Again, it is the skill of the author that makes the difference.
How do you handle that as a blogger who is used to critical thinking and analysis?
Wait just a minute here! I have never claimed to be "used to critical thinking and/or analysis." I am a voracious and eclectic reader who gives my thoughts about the books I read. I might suggest an audience for the book and say what I liked or didn't like in a story. But I am not an English major who has been educated in literary criticism. I majored in Geography!
Anyone looking at my blog for an analysis of style or plotting will be very disappointed. I am looking for a story that is emotionally engaging. It has to resonate with me. I really don't know why some books work for me and others don't. I can only say if a book does or doesn't. Again, I don't know how to analyze the elements of a book to discuss plotting or pacing or characterization but I know if a book works for me.
Do you pretend you never read the book - never to be reviewed or added to your Goodreads shelf :-)?
There are some books that I read but don't review. Sometimes I have nothing to say about the book. Sometimes the book doesn't fit in with the sort of thing I write about on either of my blogs. All of the books I own are listed on my LibraryThing account. Of course, I am also getting pretty old and forgetful. I may just have forgotten that I ever read a book. I don't pretend I haven't when I have or pretend I have when I haven't. I really don't care what anyone thinks about the books I choose to read.
Do you write a review but maybe apologize and make excuses as to why you enjoyed it or are you bold and proud of any book you enjoyed?
I am more on the bold and proud side of that equation. I may call some books "guilty pleasures" but the key word in the phrase is "pleasure." Authors write books to entertain. (Leaving aside for now the many other reasons why authors might choose to write a book.) If a book entertains me, it is a success. And, if I liked it, odds are good that I am not alone. Great literary merit or numerous awards aren't any guarantee that I will like the book.
Enough with the rambling...
In summary, I am a voracious reader who writes about the books I read. I don't analyze the books I read or critique them. I am not an expert in literary criticism and don't pretend to be. I read for entertainment and find lots of different genres of books entertaining.
I do love that books entertain me and yeah some of them aren't literacy gems but they made my happy. Good answers
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to meet someone else who isn't analytical in reading and reviewing books. I was starting to get worried.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the cliches...yes, boy meets girl is very well known, but if the author can make me believe it, can bring me along for the ride, then that is a successful book.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel like I critique or analyze either. I wouldn't even feel qualified to do such a thing.
ReplyDeleteI'm with the majority of the bloggers who answered that their review comes from the emotions they feel from reading the book.
I can't imagine too many bloggers could even pull that off although I do read a few blogs that do.