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To Review or Not

July 8, 2014 by Mark Rubinstein Leave a Comment

As a writer and reader, I have more than a passing interest in book reviews. While some writers say they don’t pay attention to reviews, that level of insouciance escapes me. I think it’s a natural human tendency to be more than curious about what readers think of your work—good, bad, or in-between. I can barely imagine a writer who doesn’t read reviews.

I’m not talking about reviews from trade publications such as Library Journal, Booklist Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus. They could be the subject of an entirely different piece. Rather, when asking the question “To Review or Not to Review” I’m referring to the millions of reviews posted by readers on internet sites such as Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, Shelfari and others. These can be brief, telegraphic, one or two sentence entries, or long disquisitions about a book and its merits or shortcomings.

Read more on the Huffington Post >>

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Filed Under: About Books Tagged With: Amazon, book reviews, Booklist, genre preference, Goodreads, Kirkus, Library Journal, opinion, Publishers Weekly, Shelfari, spoilers

The “Bada Bing” of the Novel

March 29, 2014 by Mark Rubinstein Leave a Comment

I occasionally read a novel in which there are many references to popular culture in the storyline. This is particularly true in James Hynes’s hauntingly disturbing and must-read novel, Next. Among other popular cultural references, Next reads:

“…so he orders an iced tea.
“With legs?” says the golden blond, absently pressing a key on the register.
“Pardon?” Starbucks is like its own country, you have to know the silly argot.
“To go?” says the fortysomething woman, in a rising Texas singsong. “’With legs’ means ‘to go.’”

Read more on the Huffington Post >>

 

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Filed Under: About Books Tagged With: "Next." imagery, "The Goldfinch, Amazon, consciousness. Donna Tartt, James Hynes, Popular Culture, Starbucks

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