I encourage any of you who love reading contemporary fiction to seriously give book reviewing a try. It's not as daunting as you think. Read other critical book reviews and get a feel for the style. Then go for it! I've enjoyed writing for Open Letters Review, and Steve is right...it's a great foot in the door if you've ever wanted to get into book reviewing. Plus, OLR is a recognized and often "blurbed" online publication. As Steve says, it really does punch above its weight. For writers wanting to beef up their writing portfolio, this is the perfect venue.
Hello Steve, I am now officially certifiably insane! Which is the only reason I keep on watching. I have tried to kick the Steve habit, but I keep on coming back! Certifiably insane!
I know I'm three years late to this party. I'm actually writing my first review now. It will probably only go to Amazon and Goodreads. I can't seem to get it beyond about 400 words. Is that okay?
Going through my goodreads read shelf, I must admit that I am guilty of reading predominantly contemporary. Though no YA, I just don’t seem to like most of it. I’ve only written some reviews and reports of books in college for writing classes (psych major). But I also minored in philosophy which involved a lot of reading and writing about books that would surely cause our omnipotent Irish lord to roll his eyes. I know you tend to get annoyed by modern philosophy books and contemporary poetry but I really like them, so long as they have nothing to do with Hegel of course. I would be keen to try my hand at reviewing either philosophy, poetry, or contemporary fiction. Especially any Arab or West to Central Asian literature. Being an Irish American myself, and having spent time in Palestine as a kid, the culture and literature has become a second home for me as an adult and I read it ecstatically.
It's still the strangest thing for me, having a video record of two of my dogs. It's an odd mixture of wonderful and painful, to watch those old videos with my girls in them.
Steve Donoghue How about one specifically on reviewing fiction? I know your last one used a novel as an example-but I know I would love to hear your words of wisdom before biting off non-genre fiction.
Reviewing contemporary literature would be so hard, I don’t even read them:) I bought a couple of books once to read on the plane and they were very mediocre
Are there any middle age, male UA-cam's that you would recommend? I'm 54yrs old, married man, and read a lot of non fiction. I do read fiction, but rarely YA.
I encourage any of you who love reading contemporary fiction to seriously give book reviewing a try. It's not as daunting as you think. Read other critical book reviews and get a feel for the style. Then go for it! I've enjoyed writing for Open Letters Review, and Steve is right...it's a great foot in the door if you've ever wanted to get into book reviewing. Plus, OLR is a recognized and often "blurbed" online publication. As Steve says, it really does punch above its weight. For writers wanting to beef up their writing portfolio, this is the perfect venue.
The History Shelf Indeed!
Thanks for the great advice! I definitely will study these critical book reviews and work on my review style and give OPR a go down the road!
So happy I found this video! I want to start reviewing books.
Just wanted to chime in and say the app is, in fact, great! Kudos to your friend who did a wonderful job.
I’ve been hanging around this corner of Book Tube for a long time..I hope you continue for many years to come.
I've thought about book reviewing, especially science fiction and fantasy. But I've never gotten around to seriously trying my hand at it.
To those interested in trying out this adventure of reviewing, I will say that I’ve done a couple and it is tremendous fun! Give it a try!
Hello Steve, I am now officially certifiably insane! Which is the only reason I keep on watching. I have tried to kick the Steve habit, but I keep on coming back! Certifiably insane!
Steve, do you first read the whole book and then write the review, or does the review shape itself on the screen during the reading?
I know I'm three years late to this party. I'm actually writing my first review now. It will probably only go to Amazon and Goodreads. I can't seem to get it beyond about 400 words. Is that okay?
Thank you for the invitation! You have put a spark in my brain. ♥️
Going through my goodreads read shelf, I must admit that I am guilty of reading predominantly contemporary. Though no YA, I just don’t seem to like most of it.
I’ve only written some reviews and reports of books in college for writing classes (psych major). But I also minored in philosophy which involved a lot of reading and writing about books that would surely cause our omnipotent Irish lord to roll his eyes. I know you tend to get annoyed by modern philosophy books and contemporary poetry but I really like them, so long as they have nothing to do with Hegel of course.
I would be keen to try my hand at reviewing either philosophy, poetry, or contemporary fiction. Especially any Arab or West to Central Asian literature. Being an Irish American myself, and having spent time in Palestine as a kid, the culture and literature has become a second home for me as an adult and I read it ecstatically.
Day one viewer here. It was special to be here with your other dogs. Four years flew by!
It's still the strangest thing for me, having a video record of two of my dogs. It's an odd mixture of wonderful and painful, to watch those old videos with my girls in them.
Steve Donoghue I’m happy you have them!
perhaps a new video with tips about formal book review and beginner's mistakes not to make?
But what about the two videos I've already made on that very subject?
Steve Donoghue How about one specifically on reviewing fiction? I know your last one used a novel as an example-but I know I would love to hear your words of wisdom before biting off non-genre fiction.
Reviewing contemporary literature would be so hard, I don’t even read them:) I bought a couple of books once to read on the plane and they were very mediocre
Are there any middle age, male UA-cam's that you would recommend? I'm 54yrs old, married man, and read a lot of non fiction. I do read fiction, but rarely YA.
Recovering Know It All Try Brian at Bookish. He’s a favorite.