A Blog By Any Other Name: Musing Mondays

First, a quick announcement. The winner of the paperback copy of The Healer of Fox Hollow is ...

Beth from Hawaii

Beth, your copy will be out to you shortly. Thanks to all who entered.

If you missed the review, please check it out here. The book is amazing.

*****

And now for a Musing Mondays prompt from Should be Reading:

What attracts you to a book blog? What puts you off in a book blog? Do you share personal stuff on your book blog?

Great question, and I'm really looking forward to reading the responses. I'm always looking for ways to make this book review blog better for readers. Books mean so much to me, and I want to give reviews and recommendations that people find helpful.

I like to read reviews that seem genuine, equal parts summarizing the story and telling me why the reviewer liked/didn't like the book. Since I read cross genres and enjoy mixing it up, I also prefer book review blogs that cover a myriad of books. If I'm in the mood for paranormal, I might go directly to a paranormal reviewer. But more often than not, I'm just in the mood for a good book and not hung up on its subject matter. I also love a unique perspective. I read a review the other day where the reviewer broke down her stars based on characters, setting, and several other story elements. It was thorough and sold me on the book.

If every review on a blog is 5-star and glowing, I start to doubt the site. Not every good book is. There has to be a scale. I'm willing to consider anything 3 to 5, especially if the review is well-written and explains what was good/bad. And I will shy away from blogs that constantly rate books poorly, because then it seems overly critical. Finally, I get turned off if I see too many flashing book ads. It leaves the feeling that positive book reviews are being bought.

I don't share a lot of personal stuff within reviews, but I will share personal aspects to further explain what I like and don't like about certain books here. I share more personal experiences at my Depression Cookies blog. My most personal responses for this blog are usually within my Musing Mondays posts.

Your turn... what makes you love/hate a book review blog?