Woke up this morning realizing my book reviewing stems from my love of book reports back in school; however, they are now more fun and rarely graded.
Sure, you can say the readers, authors, and publishers are now grading me, but there’s never a failing grade. Never a failing grade…am I blind?
Nope…you knew I was going to say that or Yup, you had a fifty-fifty chance of being right. Or a one in three chance of being right if we throw in the – maybe.
That’s the difference between writing a review now and a report for a teacher who was looking for specific information written in a definitive way of complete proper this and that. Some didn’t want my opinion or insight on the book. Others wanted me to back up my opinion…okay, that’s what I do now.
Insight? Only if it was the same as everyone else’s. Only if it matched what they were taught the writer was…was what? I never could tell you what the author or poet was saying, thinking, trying to teach me. I could only ever tell you what I thought and what I learned and saw within the words. And as one meme shares – sometimes the curtains are just blue cause they’re blue.
Have I said the book wasn’t for me…yes. Have I always given reasons…my back up? Not always simply because sometimes we just don’t connect…and that’s okay…now. In school, we had to explain, give reasons for everything we thought and writing that we thought the writer or composer was just nuts wasn’t good enough. Or that we couldn’t figure out what the entire thing was about…still wasn’t good enough.
It’s like explaining to someone that a certain food they like you don’t have any interest in. “You can’t say that until you’ve tried it.” Yes, I can. Oh…I hear you…so you’ll let a child not try something because they just don’t want to? Guess what, that answer is a yes, no, and a maybe.
The little green guy of so much mixed up words might tell us do no try, but sometimes you just try. Offer the food opportunity…offer the reading chance…try…and sometimes it is a try when you’re ready.
Answer for everything? Not really, I’ve just been down this conversation way too many times.
I loved book reports because I loved books and talking about them. I didn’t like the format and rules.
I review books because I get to talk about books and the only rules are mine…don’t tear people apart. Oh, and I pick what subject matter I share/allow on my site.
Funny thing, I can actually hear a couple of my English teachers telling me this is what they were teaching me all along.
Go…write a review…share it. Heck, contact me and maybe share it here…if you follow my rules LOL.