Weekend Update
Changes Not Influenced By Poll: aka, 2011 Resolutions
I thought I had no real 2011 Goals. I was wrong. Behold, some thoughts for 2011's habits. :)
1) While this change isn't influenced by the poll, it's something I've been mulling over for a long time, and that's my cross-posting to communities. I've always done it because it's a great way to let people know I've got new reviews, and since there's always new people joining those communities, that means there's always new people who haven't yet discovered my blog. Sue me, I'm dying for attention! I imagine there's a great many of you who found this blog because I cross-posted to a community. But that's going to change, because starting this year, I'm no longer posting individual reviews to communities any longer.
I may make an exception. Maybe I'll do the monthly round-up there, or maybe I'll cross-post reviews of books that I really think people need to be aware of. But by and large, the past few reviews have shown me that not cross-posting doesn't really affect the number of comments per review, so I'm going to stop. It'll give me a little more time, and a little more time can go to something more productive, like reading more books and writing more reviews. :)
2) This is something I started back in 2010, but I'm going to try my best to be firmer with this rule: stop buying installments of a series I'm not enjoying. And by not enjoying, I don't mean books I outright dislike: I won't buy the sequels for those. I mean those series that mindlessly pass the time that, once I'm done, I tend to complain more than praise in the review. Those are the books that it's easy to keep going, and those are the series I mean to stop. Don't ask me to mention names, because I won't give you any. It's an on-going thing, so if an author suddenly proves him or herself to be below par, it's time to let them go.
3) Read all poll selections by the end of the challenge month. You know my personal resolution that if a title makes the Book Club poll that I'm going to read it whether or not it gets selected? Rather than trying to read said books ASAP, I'm gonna give myself until the end of that specific challenge month. For example: right now, we voted for March's Book Club Selection. That means that I have until the end of March to read ALL of those books. Before, I was trying to read them RIGHT AWAY, but I need to space them out more, and allow more time for new releases I can't wait to get my hands on.
4) This is a long-view goal, but I need to start paying closer attention to the type of reviews I'm giving. If I find that I'm giving more negative reviews than positive, I need to sit back and really think about what the problem is and act accordingly. Am I reading more and more mediocre books? If so, why? If it's because I bought a book long ago and lost interest, I need to cull those potential titles out of the TBR pile and move them to the FOR SALE pile. If it's because I'm impulse buying, I need to hide my credit cards. If it's because I'm reading other reviewers praising them, I should reconsider the reviewer.
There's another reason for negative reviews, and it's something I've been worried about for the past five months: that I'm becoming a grumpier reviewer and not giving books a fair shake. That's one of the reasons I've restructured my review system to make me actively consider the good and the bad of each title, in order to be more fair. But I'm worried that I'm going to find I'll have more to complain about, not less, and if none of the above reasons for negative reviews apply, I may need to reconsider my book-reviewing hobbies. I've done this for five years now, and the shine's bound to wear a little thin. And no, I'm not saying I'm going to throw in the towel, not yet, anyway. I am saying, however, that I want to pay attention to what I'm doing and why, because if it's not fun anymore, it shouldn't be done.
That said, the year's kicked off with some really solidly enjoyable reads, so don't worry. Right now, I'm in good shape. :)
5) I may be tweaking the new rating system just a tad. Why? I've been going through all my old reviews and changing the tags so that I can delete those tags that no longer apply. Don't worry: I'm not changing the review itself, so you may find a rating in the review of "Must Have" and discover in the tags it's been changed to "Treasure It." That's because books can get better (or worse) over time, and also, many of the changes are because the new rating system requires me to be more specific, whereas the old one gave me lots of room for ambiguity.
One of the tweaks I'm thinking of making: "Worth Reading Despite Issues" instead of "Flaws." Flaws is a pretty strong word, one that implies the author did something quantifiably wrong, whereas often, it's just a matter of my preference and/or likes/dislikes. So that's one change.
I'm also considering another category between "Below Standard" (which is my way of saying the book should've had another critical pass before getting published) and "It's a Gamble" (which implies that whatever my reaction, I think there's no way you'll know how you'll like it until you read it yourself). What rating would that be, and why? "Not My Cup of Tea," which would be for books that there's nothing really wrong with them, it's just that I didn't care for them. All my issues and dislikes will apply, of course, but my preferences are a lot different for not liking something than saying a book shouldn't have been published as is (which is pretty harsh). Of course, "Waste of Time and Money" are reserved for books I end up absolutely hating, but I think there's a difference for books I didn't care for and books that have potential, but should've gone through another rewrite before publication.
I suggest this because I suspect it's going to be too easy to say a book is a gamble just because I didn't like it, you know? Especially as I'm revisiting old reviews and updating their rating tags. Any thoughts?
BTW: I'm still in the process of updating tags, and will let you know when that's been complete so you can go back (if you want) and see which new ratings apply to what books. That should give you a good idea of how these new ratings are going to work out in the future too!
6) I'm thinking of splitting "The Weekend Update" into two posts. One would be on Saturday, and it would be the bottom portion that lists all the reminder links that I think should be kept in front of you. The other would be the top half of this post, the discussion portion, which can sometimes go long. Thoughts?Book Club Selections
January: The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
February: Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler
March: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Calico's Dare: Replay by Ken Grimwood
Book Sale: In order to buy new books, I have to sell old ones. Help me out? :) Details are here.
Follow me on Facebook, and find me on Paperback Swap!
FAVOR!! When I review a book you've read and reviewed yourself, would you kindly provide a link to your review in the comments of mine? I love seeing what others think, and sometimes I see those reviews when they're originally posted, but don't read them as I don't want to spoil myself on something I know I'll read in the future. The problem, then, is I often forget to go back and read the reviews I missed! So please, if you've reviewed something I'm reviewing, shoot a link my way. :)
Giveaways & Challenges
SIGN-UP: Want to participate in the 2011 Book Club and get participation points for it? Click here.
Sign up for Dreams & Speculation's 2011 Book Club: The Women of SF! I've already signed up and will be participating every month. The Women of SF is a great theme with a LOT of variety, so if you're interested in the slightest, go check out the details here.
But if you're worried about reading TOO much SF in 2011, why not balance it out with Jawas Read, Too!'s The Women of Fantasy book club? Another great theme with lots of variety, and Jawa has posted the details here. I know I look forward to participating, and I hope you do too!
Got a giveaway or reading challenge you'd like to promote? Please comment.
This Week
Monday: REVIEW: N.K. Jemisin's The Broken Kingdoms
Tuesday:
Wednesday: REVIEW: Seanan McGuire's An Artificial Night
Thursday:
Friday: REVIEW: Scott Westerfeld's Behemoth (maybe)
Currently Reading: The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
2011 Reading Total: 5 out of 50
2011 Comics Total: 6 out of 365 (I've been SO BAD and not reading comics lately. I'l fix it, I promise, but I'm still trying to get used to the new reading year, as odd as that sounds).
I thought I had no real 2011 Goals. I was wrong. Behold, some thoughts for 2011's habits. :)
1) While this change isn't influenced by the poll, it's something I've been mulling over for a long time, and that's my cross-posting to communities. I've always done it because it's a great way to let people know I've got new reviews, and since there's always new people joining those communities, that means there's always new people who haven't yet discovered my blog. Sue me, I'm dying for attention! I imagine there's a great many of you who found this blog because I cross-posted to a community. But that's going to change, because starting this year, I'm no longer posting individual reviews to communities any longer.
I may make an exception. Maybe I'll do the monthly round-up there, or maybe I'll cross-post reviews of books that I really think people need to be aware of. But by and large, the past few reviews have shown me that not cross-posting doesn't really affect the number of comments per review, so I'm going to stop. It'll give me a little more time, and a little more time can go to something more productive, like reading more books and writing more reviews. :)
2) This is something I started back in 2010, but I'm going to try my best to be firmer with this rule: stop buying installments of a series I'm not enjoying. And by not enjoying, I don't mean books I outright dislike: I won't buy the sequels for those. I mean those series that mindlessly pass the time that, once I'm done, I tend to complain more than praise in the review. Those are the books that it's easy to keep going, and those are the series I mean to stop. Don't ask me to mention names, because I won't give you any. It's an on-going thing, so if an author suddenly proves him or herself to be below par, it's time to let them go.
3) Read all poll selections by the end of the challenge month. You know my personal resolution that if a title makes the Book Club poll that I'm going to read it whether or not it gets selected? Rather than trying to read said books ASAP, I'm gonna give myself until the end of that specific challenge month. For example: right now, we voted for March's Book Club Selection. That means that I have until the end of March to read ALL of those books. Before, I was trying to read them RIGHT AWAY, but I need to space them out more, and allow more time for new releases I can't wait to get my hands on.
4) This is a long-view goal, but I need to start paying closer attention to the type of reviews I'm giving. If I find that I'm giving more negative reviews than positive, I need to sit back and really think about what the problem is and act accordingly. Am I reading more and more mediocre books? If so, why? If it's because I bought a book long ago and lost interest, I need to cull those potential titles out of the TBR pile and move them to the FOR SALE pile. If it's because I'm impulse buying, I need to hide my credit cards. If it's because I'm reading other reviewers praising them, I should reconsider the reviewer.
There's another reason for negative reviews, and it's something I've been worried about for the past five months: that I'm becoming a grumpier reviewer and not giving books a fair shake. That's one of the reasons I've restructured my review system to make me actively consider the good and the bad of each title, in order to be more fair. But I'm worried that I'm going to find I'll have more to complain about, not less, and if none of the above reasons for negative reviews apply, I may need to reconsider my book-reviewing hobbies. I've done this for five years now, and the shine's bound to wear a little thin. And no, I'm not saying I'm going to throw in the towel, not yet, anyway. I am saying, however, that I want to pay attention to what I'm doing and why, because if it's not fun anymore, it shouldn't be done.
That said, the year's kicked off with some really solidly enjoyable reads, so don't worry. Right now, I'm in good shape. :)
5) I may be tweaking the new rating system just a tad. Why? I've been going through all my old reviews and changing the tags so that I can delete those tags that no longer apply. Don't worry: I'm not changing the review itself, so you may find a rating in the review of "Must Have" and discover in the tags it's been changed to "Treasure It." That's because books can get better (or worse) over time, and also, many of the changes are because the new rating system requires me to be more specific, whereas the old one gave me lots of room for ambiguity.
One of the tweaks I'm thinking of making: "Worth Reading Despite Issues" instead of "Flaws." Flaws is a pretty strong word, one that implies the author did something quantifiably wrong, whereas often, it's just a matter of my preference and/or likes/dislikes. So that's one change.
I'm also considering another category between "Below Standard" (which is my way of saying the book should've had another critical pass before getting published) and "It's a Gamble" (which implies that whatever my reaction, I think there's no way you'll know how you'll like it until you read it yourself). What rating would that be, and why? "Not My Cup of Tea," which would be for books that there's nothing really wrong with them, it's just that I didn't care for them. All my issues and dislikes will apply, of course, but my preferences are a lot different for not liking something than saying a book shouldn't have been published as is (which is pretty harsh). Of course, "Waste of Time and Money" are reserved for books I end up absolutely hating, but I think there's a difference for books I didn't care for and books that have potential, but should've gone through another rewrite before publication.
I suggest this because I suspect it's going to be too easy to say a book is a gamble just because I didn't like it, you know? Especially as I'm revisiting old reviews and updating their rating tags. Any thoughts?
BTW: I'm still in the process of updating tags, and will let you know when that's been complete so you can go back (if you want) and see which new ratings apply to what books. That should give you a good idea of how these new ratings are going to work out in the future too!
6) I'm thinking of splitting "The Weekend Update" into two posts. One would be on Saturday, and it would be the bottom portion that lists all the reminder links that I think should be kept in front of you. The other would be the top half of this post, the discussion portion, which can sometimes go long. Thoughts?Book Club Selections
January: The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
February: Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler
March: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Calico's Dare: Replay by Ken Grimwood
Book Sale: In order to buy new books, I have to sell old ones. Help me out? :) Details are here.
Follow me on Facebook, and find me on Paperback Swap!
FAVOR!! When I review a book you've read and reviewed yourself, would you kindly provide a link to your review in the comments of mine? I love seeing what others think, and sometimes I see those reviews when they're originally posted, but don't read them as I don't want to spoil myself on something I know I'll read in the future. The problem, then, is I often forget to go back and read the reviews I missed! So please, if you've reviewed something I'm reviewing, shoot a link my way. :)
Giveaways & Challenges
SIGN-UP: Want to participate in the 2011 Book Club and get participation points for it? Click here.
Sign up for Dreams & Speculation's 2011 Book Club: The Women of SF! I've already signed up and will be participating every month. The Women of SF is a great theme with a LOT of variety, so if you're interested in the slightest, go check out the details here.
But if you're worried about reading TOO much SF in 2011, why not balance it out with Jawas Read, Too!'s The Women of Fantasy book club? Another great theme with lots of variety, and Jawa has posted the details here. I know I look forward to participating, and I hope you do too!
Got a giveaway or reading challenge you'd like to promote? Please comment.
This Week
Monday: REVIEW: N.K. Jemisin's The Broken Kingdoms
Tuesday:
Wednesday: REVIEW: Seanan McGuire's An Artificial Night
Thursday:
Friday: REVIEW: Scott Westerfeld's Behemoth (maybe)
Currently Reading: The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
2011 Reading Total: 5 out of 50
2011 Comics Total: 6 out of 365 (I've been SO BAD and not reading comics lately. I'l fix it, I promise, but I'm still trying to get used to the new reading year, as odd as that sounds).