I only ask you to do one, some, all or none of the following:
1. Explain your review format – if you have one. Or maybe your rating system?
2. Highlight another book-blogger’s review format by linking to a favorite example – don’t forget to tell us why they are a fave!
3. Do a review in another book-blogger’s format of your latest read. I did this just the other day when I had read a great post discussing what makes a good review and ‘borrowing’ from a comment by Ramya. That post was one of Bethany’s and my example giving Ramya the credit is here.
4. Highlight a past review that you are particularly proud of and why the format or structure may have had something to do with it.
I would have loved to have seen how Dewey would have presented this – she was always so gracious and helpful with her comments on reviews. It’s wonderful that her spirit lives on with this community we are building, the conversations we are sharing, the friendships we are making and the BOOKS we are READING!
Last, and certainly not least, Dewey’s blog featured a page devoted to her review questionaire format which is what inspired my idea in the first place.
Happy Geeks!
I don’t think I really have a review format, and I definitely don’t have a rating system. There are somethings that I think are important to have in the review but it really isn’t a hard and fast format.
I’ve toyed with the idea of a rating system but I really don’t know what to use. There are some great systems out there but I don’t want to copy something just because it works for one person. I’d like for a system to be unique to each blog. And it should be easy to follow. I just haven’t been able to think of anything that would work for me so I’ve decided not to go with a rating system.
When I write my reviews I like to include a little about the book, a short synopsis. Then state my like/dislike for the book and explain why I didn’t really like or why I did like it. I think that’s the most important aspect of a review. Without this even a rating system is rather useless.
That's the Book! 
I don’t really have a format for reviews, either. My responses are usually mostly emotional.
Happy Weekly Geeks 🙂
I think emotion have a place in reviews. After all aren’t all our thoughts on a book some kind of emotional reaction anyway? And isn’t emotion that dictates our enjoyment of the book?
I’ve been experimenting with different rating system. But I have been stumped with the fact that what makes a perfect book, meaning, what does a five-out-of-five rating entail? If I have rated a book 5/5, and later on another read comes along that earns the equal merit, does that mean I regard the two book equally? Or should I go back and lower the rating to a 4/5?
I recently adopted the Read, Skim, Toss system. It works fine except when I’m not sure a book is really for everyone to “read”, and I don’t want to rate it a “skim.”
That’s an interesting thought. I didn’t think about the possibility of having several “perfect” books. And would you use decimal points for a book, or does it have to be a whole number? I would think you could have a few books you would consider “perfect”. If you go back and read the book again and feel differently do you have alter your system or just change the rating of the one book.
Read, Skim, Toss seems over simplified but it is a good starting point. I would say if you think it’s worth read you should give it a read. Because you could give a 4/5 on a book and not all people are going to read. It’s something you would give the book and not worry about others. But that’s just me.
the only thing original is may rating system. I really need to find my own format but as for now I use someone else. You are right that the review is really not much unless it has if you like or dislike it. I am surprised at how many review are just synopsis sometimes.
I agree with Shannon about how some reviews are just the blurb. Sometimes, I prefer to skip the ‘what it is about’ and only read about how it made the reader react.