Question from Booking Through Thursday:
How much do reviews (good and bad) affect your choice of reading? If you see a bad review of a book you wanted to read, do you still read it? If you see a good review of a book you’re sure you won’t like, do you change your mind and give the book a try?
I'm rarely convinced to read a book I'm certain I won't like even if it gets an excellent review. It can be a very well-written book, but that doesn't mean I'm going to like it personally, if I don't care for the subject matter or genre. So those don't make it into my reading pile.
Bad reviews of books I want to read influence me about half of the time. If a book I've wanted to read gets a number of bad reviews and they're for reasons I can see myself being put off by too (not just all personal opinion), then I might knock that one from my list.
On the other hand, I add lots of book to my TBR lists that I've never heard of before at all, because they get good reviews that spark my interest. Since I've begun blogging, I've found about fifty books from just reading blog reviews.
So if I've already made up my mind about a book, a review won't do much to sway me, unless it's very strong and multiple reviews say similar things. But reviews introduce me to many, many new books that I want to read.
Blogs have greatly influenced my TBR pile. My bookshelves are straining under the weight.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, in that a negative review will only sway me if there are good sound reasons for not liking the book.
ReplyDeleteReviews are so subjective, it's important that readers keep that in mind.
Once my mind is up to read or not read a book, it is very hard for a review to change myt mind as well. Great reviews will help me add new books to my TBR pile though for the future.
ReplyDeleteBlog reviews can be especially influential in my tbr lists :)
ReplyDeleteRecommendations and reviews of other bloggers have definitely increased the size of my TBR collection and my wish list, that's for sure. But like you, when it comes down to it. My final decision is always based on whether or not the subject matter interests me.
ReplyDelete