Monday 24 August 2015

Confessions of a book blogger: I prefer bad books

NB: All opinions expressed in this post are my own, I am no way generalising or expecting anyone else to have the same opinions.

Reading may be a solitary activity but loving (or hating) a book really isn't; at least not for me. If I've read a book that I really loved, then i want to thrust it into the hands of everyone I pass with a shout of "you must read this book!"
This want to share great books with others, paired with the slightly glassy eyed look of my peers as I launch into why the characters/setting/plot writing style makes THIS the next book they should read, is why this blog was born. Whilst, I am maybe somewhat better in the art of vocal reviews than written ones - there's something about seeing your feelings and opinions written down in black and white that viciously increases the self doubt and feeling that editing is needed, that sadly leads to the death of almost all of my blogging inspiration.That being said, I love blogging. I love  having my own little corner of the internet where I can rant and rave to my hearts content, and possibly even more I love that through letting my inner bookworm fly I've found other others who are just as passionate, if not even more so, as I. (The #Bookbloggers is a wonderful place to be.) But with great passion comes this incredible feeling of pressure. Pressure to successfully and eloquently put across my feelings and also, do the author justice. With this we come to the crux of this post.

I am both a worrier and someone who struggles to control their excitement and this is quite often the kryptonite for a lot of posts I attempt to write about books I loved. Jumping up and down squealing "read this, read this!" may get me so far but  its far from being coherent. The problem, I have, with trying to write in a more coherent manner is that I, more often than not, find it really difficult to pin point exactly why a book made me want to jump around, and if I can find the reasons I often can't articulate those reasons elaborately enough to warrant writing a review. If I do write a review, I often worry that it is nothing more than a collection of ramblings and fillers.

Everyone has certain things that they enjoy in a book and are therefore more likely to enjoy a book and I am no different. This is obviously no bad thing but does pose another issue for my positive reviews - they all feel  very similar and as I desperately try to avoid becoming repetitive I start to lose the essence of what I was trying to say in the first place, or at least that's how it feels to me.

Because of all this I actually get quite excited when I read a disappointing novel. Of course no-one actually wants to read a disappointing book and no author wants to feel as though they've disappointed their readers, it's just there's something so much easier to review about a disappointment. Its so much easier to pin point exactly what was wrong, what didn't work for me as a reader and I guess that, without all the excitement, its easier to remain focused.

I'm sorry that this has been so rambly but after having so many problems trying to write a review that I feel happy enough with to publish, this was just something I wanted to get off my chest. Does anyone else find this, how did, or do you, overcome it? Let me know in the comments or on my social media.


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