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Are Honest Book Reviews a Thing of the Past?

 in Books by

The internet has brought many amazing things but it has also brought many bad things. One of these is the online Bookstagram/Booktok community. Before you run off and be like “how dare she”, hear me out! This is my super, on fire, hot take.

 

Answer this question to yourself: How many books have you seen all over it, hyped up so much, and when you read it felt it was pretty bad of a book?

 

I honestly feel like I’ve read a few of these. Fourth Wing was one, Mexican Gothic was another. I felt like as a book they were okay but as hyped as they were they really didn’t meet the mark.

 

Now, I will recognize that these are my opinions! However, I will also note I’ve seen similar comments made on these books and others that I had these feelings about too. So I’m not alone in this.

So what is going on??

We all know on social media, there is a heard mentality. I mean that happens in life too. You see someone doing something, and then another, and suddenly you get FOMO and you have to read it. If everyone has loved something, you need to as well right? Society creates a bit of a fear from swimming against the current and saying “you know…this wasn’t that good.” Unfortunately this just then adds more to the hype and it keeps snowballing!

 

Before you know it a book has taken over social media and EVERYONE absolutely loved it.

 

There’s also a fear of leaving a bad review. Social media, modern day and everything else has told us we are all perfect. We can do no wrong. But sometimes…a book is just really bad. The writing may be atrocious, the story may go nowhere, it may have just been a waste of your time. I am all for supporting authors and indie authors, but if a book is bad be honest. There’s a way to provide negative feedback in a positive way without saying “you’re a terrible author, don’t write again”. But giving a book 5 stars when it really only deserved 3, or less, is a disservice to the author and to other readers.

 

There’s an oversaturation of books on the market with the ability to public ebooks and self publish now. And I’ll say it loudly – there are a lot of terrible books out there. Just because you can publish and have the ability to string a sentence together does not always mean you should.

 

There’s a difference between writing for yourself to be creative and writing to publish and make serious money. 

 

 

Heck, I love writing stories and have so many being written. Would I ever publish them to make money? Not in a million years because I am not a writer and I know it wouldn’t do well.

 

Additionally, there is a bit of a fear about giving a bad review when you’re asked to review a book.  Support those authors, read their ARCs, give them the support they need. But be honest. I know it can be awkward because the author asked you read their review (in ARC cases) but honesty is the best policy. This is why I’d never take money to review a book because then you have this weird want to not speak negatively.

 

This leads to the next point – paid reviews can result in questionable reviews. I never trust a paid review for anything. A reviewer can say it is their personal opinion, however there was money involved which will of course have subconsciously altered their thoughts. They may not even know it. You also may have a fear about being honest in reviews since there was a financial transaction. I don’t count reviewing a book for free as financial benefits. I’m talking where they send the book and pay to have the book reviewed. That’s a big no no to me.

 

Finally, I no longer trust a book blindly that states that it was on the NY Times Best Seller List. With all the information above, the payment of promotions for books to get people to buy them and lots of other factors, a book on that list doesn’t necessarily mean it is an amazing book. It just means that it sold a lot of copies – which is not an indicator of how good a book is!

 

Ultimately, I have started a policy of no longer jumping on the bandwagon and reading a book when I see it all over Bookstagram, Book Twitter or any other place. Reviews will always influence our decision to read a book and that is not going to change. What can change is peoples honesty in reviewing the books to not waste time. I have wasted so much time on bad books because of questionable reviews. If I read a bad book by my choice that’s my decision. If I read it because it had a 4.8 average because of “false” reviews, that’s when I become a little annoyed.

via GIPHY

I absolutely recognize that this is not easy to change but I do feel that something needs to change. I’m personally a little bored of reading books that weren’t worth it because they took over for some strange reason. Will it change? Who knows but we can hope.

 

This is certainly one of my pet peeves and hot take opinions.

 

What are your thoughts on this? I’d love to hear some other view points in the comments!

Right-Wing Book Extremism: Idaho Librarian Resigns

 in Banned Book / Books / Current Events by

Who would have thought that we would be in the 21st century and librarians are resigning due to fear for their physical safety.

Well, this is exactly what happened in Boundary County, Idaho where a librarian resigned due to threats from right-wing extremists due to pressure to ban LGBTQ+ books.

I’m sorry, but what exactly is the concern with these books? The themes? Last I checked, reading a book doesn’t make you a certain way. If that was the case, then I’d be a princess with a dragon as my best friend.

Reading violent books will not make you violent. Reading books with sex will not make you a whore. Reading books with gay characters will not make you gay. Reading a book with straight characters will not make you straight.

Kimber Glidden, the librarian, wrote in her resignation, “Nothing in my background could have prepared me for the political atmosphere of extremism, militant Christian fundamentalism, intimidation tactics and threatening behavior currently being employed in the community…”

Too many professions now are facing things that they should not have to face.

  • Teachers shouldn’t need a gun to protect their students.
  • Restaurant workers shouldn’t need to fight shoppers who are combative.
  • Librarians shouldn’t be scared for the life because of the printed word.

Librarians across the country have been facing difficult times due to books that are perceived to be dangerous. Even when the numbers of people actually opposing these books are small. Minority groups who are loud are making the choices. Which seems to be a theme in America. A democracy – which is what this place is supposed to be – is not decided by who is the loudest. It is decided by the majority. Yet we live in a time when the loudest and most violent make the decision. I mean what the hell?

The group involved in this – the Boundary County Library Board Recall, whose want to to “protect children from explicit materials and grooming” – are crossing so many lines here.

Books in schools are age appropriate. They will not be reading Mills and Boone books with raunchy sex when they’re in second grade. Any books that have gay characters will not be depicting explicit sex. But allowing children to explore who they are, learn that being in a box is not expected and not the norm, and expose them to life.

Life is not square. Life is not black and white.

The damage that removing books from children will do will be endless.

  • They will have no desire to read.
  • They will not question.
  • They will be narrow minded – learn what they are taught and accept that for what it is.
  • They will have no imagination.
  • They are are not “status quo” as their parents seem to expect, they will be loss.

Progress over generations is being undone by small groups of scared people. And that is what they are – scared. They don’t want their children to be exposed to other ideas and perspectives. They don’t want their children to question anything. They want their children to be like their parents, have the same view, and not be open to other perspectives. Which is such a dangerous path.

And when you start imposing your will on others, you get into even more dangerous territory. This goes beyond politics and political opinions (although that is certainly part of it). This has to do with the future, our future, the future of children and the world.

Happy Reading!

 

Baby Yoda GIFfrom Baby GIFs

I’m Back and Ready To Combat Book Bans

 in Banned Book / Books by

I’m back!!

Hello to those of you who stuck around after my near 2 year hiatus and various dips of attendance. The last few years have been tumultuous for so many reasons. I am sure you all have been experiencing some of it in your own way as well! So what have I been up to these last few years?

  • I finished my undergraduate degree.
  • I started my Masters.
  • I finished my Masters.
  • I did multiple internships.
  • I started a new job.
  • I moved!!!

But most importantly, with school done, I have gained a great work/life balance and, being an adult, means I have adult money to spend on whatever I want……BOOKS!

I’m reading a heck of a lot more than I have been for a bit (reading thousands of pages for school kind of kills the joy of reading for fun) and some of the news recently has given me a new push and a revived purpose for this blog.

Book Bans??? Are we living in Fahrenheit 415 or 1984?

I’m sure that you have seen a lot of the news recently about book bans happening in various states around the U.S. which is absolutely mind-boggling! The reasoning for this is to keep the kids safe – they don’t want them to read “sexually explicit material” or be brainwashed to believe various things about history, racism and the way life should be.

Failing to learn from history will doom us to repeat it. And the easiest way to keep people quiet and complacent is to make them not question the current status quo.

How is this done? Remove information.

However, unlike some other countries out there, the U.S. still has a vast internet with access to tons of amazing information and resources. And if I know anything about children and younger people, if you tell them not to look at something, they will.

What Does This Have To Do With MLCWO???

OOOO, baby. I’m gonna tell you. I love stirring the pot, I love making sure truth is stated, I love standing up to people, I love arming people with knowledge! I also happen to be a massive book reader and advocate for reading. You mess with my books – then you mess with me (and the army of book readers out there)! So that is just what I am going to do.

I’m going to inform. While I will of course continue my book reviews of normal books that I want to read, I will also revisit some controversial ones, check out the controversial ones and talk about them. I’ll review them as I used to but will pull out what the issues are, provide sources and information, and give people a rounded understanding of the book. If kids aren’t allowed to read the books, they sure as heck will be able to understand why these books aren’t allowed. Maybe I’ll inspire some to check out the books and want to learn more. Maybe it will get people talking.

Even if one person is inspired, that is better than no one.

I’ll also be discussing and sharing articles regarding this situation and others as they develop to make sure people understand what is happening, why it is happening, what the concerns are, the bigger picture and the way forward.

As a reader I cannot stay quiet. As a reader I cannot let beautiful pieces of literature be removed and destroyed because of “fear”.

I’ll be diving more into this topic in future posts, so never fear. If you’re asking, why should I be worried and what’s the big deal, I’ll get to those questions soon!

 

If you have a book that you want me to check out, or discuss, send me an email or DM on Insta!

Where Books Are Burnt & Why It Is Wrong

 in Books / Creative by
This post contains affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure here.

Book burning has been something that I’ve been seeing now and then that artists and people on Instagram are taking a part of. Is it beautiful to see? Absolutely. There’s something gorgeous about paper burning in general. But the idea behind book burning can be a very painful one which is why a lot of people lash out when they see it.

In 1823, Heinrich Heine wrote, “Dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen” which translates to “Where books are burned, in the end, people will also be burned.” Heine was a German write, poet and critic of literature.

But why is this quote important? The Nazis.

Image of Nazi's burning books on a bonfire

Image of the Nazi’s burning books on a bonfire from Wikipedia via Public Domain

During WWII, not only did the Nazi’s burn books but they would burn people, or at least corpses.

These book bonfires are a very strong symbol of intolerance and censorship.

In famous works of literature like Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, firefighters start fires to destroy books. Books are not just words but feelings, ideas and can be the soul of the individual who wrote it.

So while the idea of book burning may not seem like a big deal, especially with the fact that many of these books are available digitally, it’s the message behind it.

Book burning is one of the oldest forms of censorship, barring physically silencing an individual.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum created an incredible video which helps explain it further.

The Nazi’s decided to burn books that were classified to be “un-German” but what classifies as that? This is a subjective decision which is why it is censorship as well as oppression. If the book doesn’t fit the world that the leader wanted (ie Hitler) then the book was destroyed.

If you are considering burning a book for imagery, in many cases it will not be taken as a cute photo or something lighthearted. To make a statement or get a point across it may be an option but to do it to get a few likes, well do not be terribly surprised if it is met with some backlash.

What are your thoughts on the idea of burning books? Do you think that people doing it now for artistic purposes are alright to do so? Or do you think that there is some significance? If they’d like to burn books for artistic purposes, how do you think they could get around the ‘taboo’ nature of doing so?

Header Image: Fred Kearney

 

 

 

Why Google AdSense Doesn’t Care About Small Websites [A Personal Story]

 in Opinion by

When I started blogging, making money was never my goal. It wasn’t even on my horizon. I was only 13 and I thought blogging would be a cool way to review books I loved and share my love of reading with other people. I knew nothing about websites. But as I got older, I started to realize you could make money. Now, this isn’t story about how I make a lot of money. Because I earn $0 from this website. The only compensation I ever get is a free book to review. Book bloggers don’t generally make any money. Maybe a small bit here and there if you utilize Amazon well, but other than that, unless you were lucky to be massive and do YouTube videos, you won’t make much.

However, I didn’t know this back in the day. I started to research how to make money. There’s sites all over the place that claim to give you money, affiliate links from every company possible, but you don’t earn much. But Google AdSense kept coming up. Google is a reputable and big company, right? If I joined them, I’d have protection and make money from legitimate ads. That’s true in some sense. 

My website was established. I had a decent viewing for a book blog and for my age in those days. I joined Google AdSense and learnt how to implement their ads. I went to a self-hosted website. I did the whole shabang. I was super excited!

My first few pennies started to drip in. Like one visitor may click a link and I’d make a cent a week. It was incredibly exciting. It was not much, but it was something. A rewarding process.
so excited can't wait meme with excited baby

I made $40 legitimately. But AdSense’s threshold is $100 before you get a payment. 

Now, I didn’t know about all the little minutiae in the policies for Google. I knew not to ask friends to click links. However, my friends read my blog, and sometimes were interested in ads or wanted to help me. I can’t control what they click. I was in university at this time so it clearly showed up that I used the same wifi as these links. Google assumed that I was asking friends to click.

At this time, I had $60 on my account.

I got an email.

“Your account has been closed.” 

My heart dropped. I was so confused and conflicted. I was angry and didn’t know what to do. I googled what it could be and turned out that google would have assumed I told my friends to click my link. They just saw the shared geographical location. Amazon does this too. A friend on another coast used an affiliate link to get something, not asked by me, but because Amazon saw she had sent me a gift before, I got $0 and a warning. I argued it but it was the traditional “This decision is final.” 

Anger and frustration was the understatement of the century.

via GIPHY

I appealed Google and was rejected. They pretty much were generic saying it was reviewed and I did not meet the standards. I, by definition, broke their rules. However I had no control. I wrote a full appeal with information, links and information. I put time and effort in. In 72 hours I got a tiny email. That’s it.

I googled what to do and fixed it. I’m a small site so I grew as I could. I told my friends to leave my site alone and that was that. 2 years later, I re-appealed. 

I was excited, I thought I made changes. NOPE! Rejected again.

Then I got this piece of mail for a class action lawsuit which I was being invited to. AdSensePublisherSettlement.com has the full information. Essentially it was getting at the point that peoples accounts were closed down for whatever reason and were never paid for what they were actually owed. I organically earned $40 and never got that. So I jumped on the chance to get money.

About half a year later I got a check for $30. The lawsuit one and Google had to pay up. Great! I got some of my money. Google was clearly in the wrong. 

via GIPHY

So a few days ago I decided to reapply to Google AdSense again. I figured nearly 4 years has gone on (I completely moved on from Google) so though I’d reapply. Refilled out the form. 24 hours later, rejection. AGAIN!

What am I doing wrong? What happened? WHY IS THIS HAPPENING???

Then it hit me. 

I’m a tiny website. I get less than 100 views a day and don’t post every single day. I get it, I’m small. But honestly my motivation sometimes to write awesome posts is lacking because I get nothing in return from the website. And with life, it’s hard.

But, Google has no reason to want me. If I pulled in multiple-thousands of views a day and would actually bring in some revenue for Google, they’re much more likely to let me back, because I’m going to help them. But because I’m small, Google won’t care about me.

My legitimate mess up from when I was young, has never been forgiven because I’m small. I’m not important in their eyes. They want money. Even though they claim they want what is best for various groups. I call total, and utter, BS!

bullshit, bullshit everywhere meme with buzz and woody from toy story

Google doesn’t care about small businesses. They will steal your money. This is clear in the lawsuit. They LOST! That says a lot of them. 

Am I annoyed? Yeah, a little. But this isn’t going to stop my from working on websites and finding my own way when I have time. But, this is my PSA to other bloggers out there not to think that the biggest is the best. Find smaller sites that provide ads, do affiliate through smaller companies and direct sources instead of the massive ones. Yes, I get Google and Amazon are the most useful and convenient. But are they the best? Unless you are in a particular niche that is popular, you most likely won’t earn much. And to hit their crazy thresholds for payment, you will be waiting a longggggggg time.