I've been reading since I was three and it is my favorite hobby. I review what I read—with a heavy preference for fantasy, paranormal, young adult, and mystery/suspense.
Because I read so much, people are always asking me what's good. I had the idea to do a website on books about 12 years ago, but blogging hadn't been invented yet and I had no idea how to go about creating a website. So I settled for putting lists of my favorite books in our yearly Christmas letters to family and friends. It wasn't very fulfilling because I didn't have enough room to talk about the books and I always had to leave some off the list.
I give books for birthdays and Christmas. My kids and know they'll get at least one book at each gift-giving event, and my nieces and nephews have said they love the books I give to them. It was easy to find wonderful books when they were little, but now that they're older, it's a lot harder to find good books that are fun to read AND that are clean enough that I feel comfortable recommending them.
I'm not a prude. For my personal reading, I'll let a few curse words slip by and if a couple goes in a room and shuts the door, I'll usually overlook it. But I don't want to be slammed in the face with all the lurid details of their love life, nor deluged with swear words or gratuitous violence.
As for recommending books to teens, I draw the line a little tighter. When I give a book, it comes with a tacit understanding that I approve of it, in its entirety. If there are things in the book that I would ground my kids for doing, I won't give it as a gift, or I'll give it with a strong disclaimer—but how do I do that efficiently in a Christmas letter?
With the invention of blogging and my continual quest for good books, this site was born. I can recommend books, say what I liked about them, and discuss any concerns or cautions that I might have with it. Parents and conservative readers will get enough info to make their own decisions about whether or not to read the books.
Here are a few more details. . .
Who are you and what are your qualifications?
I am
I read a huge number of books each year, in a wide variety of genres. I do have my biases—I tend to like fantasy and science fiction; I'm not so enthused about romance or westerns.
Why should I trust your review?
Try a book I recommend and see if you agree with my review. If you do, then try another one. It won't take you long to get a feel for how I review things.
If you disagree with my reviews, that's okay. A diversity of opinion is what makes life interesting. Go ahead and tell me I'm absolutely off my rocker; I don't mind at all.
What kind of books do you review?
Mostly published fiction in any genre. I through in an occasional non-fiction when I feel like it. When doing reviews as part of a virtual book tour or at the request of an author or publisher, the books must be in print and available for sale online.
What kind of reviewing should I expect?
You're not going to get a heavy literary review that focuses on theme, symbolism, motive, structure and all that. You're going to get a reader review, the kind you want to see before you go to your local bookstore and plunk down your hard-earned money. (But no, I won't reimburse you if you don't like a book that I thought was wonderful.)
I'll give you the liner notes or a plot summary, tell you what I liked or didn't like, alert you to any cautions or concerns I might have, tell you who I think will like the book and sum it all up with a 5-star rating system. In addition, I have red, yellow and green star content ratings for various aspects of the book.
What do your 5-Star ratings mean?
The 5-star rating is basically a judgment call on my part. It's based on such things as overall entertainment value, quality of writing, believability, and how sad I was to see the reading experience end.
It works like this:
= Loved it. = Liked it.
= Okay or ambivalent
= Disappointing.
= Barely finished it.
= zzzzz.More details HERE.
You have a lot of 4.0 and 5.0 star books and not very many 1.0 and 2.0 star books. Does that mean you're not very discriminating?
No. It means I'm very selective about what I read. There are so many books to choose from and never enough time to read, so I usually won't read a book unless it's referred to me by someone I trust or it's getting a lot of good buzz. The exception to this is when I agree to review a book as part of a book tour.
Do you ever assign zero stars to a book?
There's always that possibility. Generally, a no-star rating means the book was so bad I couldn't finish it.
What do the red, yellow and green stars mean?
Content Ratings are specific, objective criteria for judging a book’s content. The red, yellow and green stars are similar to what you see in a street light. Green means go; yellow means caution; red means stop—in this case, stop and think before reading or purchasing the book. My guidelines are based on standard Christian values and are very specific.
Green: Similar to a G or mild PG rating. The book contains nothing in that area that is deemed objectionable by me.
Yellow: Caution. Similar to a standard PG-13 rating. A yellow star does not necessarily mean the book is not recommended, but rather that some readers may be offended by something in this area.
Red: Strong caution. Similar to a heavy PG-13 or stronger rating. Again, a red star does not mean I'm telling you not to read the book. In most cases, a book with a red star means that I think many Christian readers will be offended by the content.
What if I disagree with your review?
Then by all means, speak up! That's what the comments section of each post is for. You can also give the books your own 5-star rating using the stars at the bottom of each post.
Ooh, ooh! I'm an author and I want you to review my book. How do I get you to do it?
Send me a copy of your book. You can either mail it to the address below, or send it via e-mail in an electronic format. (I prefer Kindle files, but pdf or MS Word is okay too.)
Also, I prefer not to review ARCs because they often go to press before the final edit and part of the review is the quality of the writing, the number of typos and the overall look and feel of the book. I will accept and review ARCs, just know that if it's sloppy, I'll probably mention it.
I can't promise that I will review every book sent to me. There are some books that I just can't finish. But if I read the book, I will review it and give my honest opinion. I'm serious about that. Don't send me your book unless you're willing to accept an honest (but never mean or vicious) review of it.
Send review copies to:
Book Mom
P.O. Box 247
Pleasant Grove, UT 84062
I have a question that you haven't covered. What do I do?
Send me an e-mail. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. If it's a really good question, I'll answer it here.
