I have RSS feeds to various review pages of UK and US national papers and magazines( The Guardian, San Francisco Chronicle,The Daily Telegraph, Washington Post, London Review of Books, New York Review of books,) I also belong to various bookswap sites such as Bookmooch, and ReaditSwapit that have book reviews in their Forums and RSS feed them. Finally I also have RSS feeds to 50 book challenge and email alerts from Goodreads.

So daily scan for any reviews of books mostly to alert me to books that I have missed that I would like. If its a fan review I quickly get a sense if I would like the book sometimes from why they didn't like it!! Once a book has caught my attention I will go on to Amazon, Librarything and Goodreads to see what the community consensus is. Scanning the reviews soon gives you an idea of how well the book matches the ambition and skills of the writer.

A lot of the fan reviews and I must say too many of the reviews on this site are all too often the book page blurb and a paragraph on why I like/don't like it. Even worse are the reviews that are a list of 10 titles and one liners. Too many of the professional reviews are on the other side of the camp in that they show how much they know about the subject or theme of the book and you struggle to know what the actual book is about.

So the ideal review for me puts the book in to context...what genre, what traditions are they writing on, what's interesting about the author and this book. Secondly, I like to see a outline about the plot, characters, factual content etc so I can get a sense of what the author is trying to do. Thirdly, in the light of the first two factors, a review of how the author has managed to make it work in terms of characterisations, styles, plot credibility etc

I supposed its akin to a good review say of a play by Shakespeare. I like to know what the Director's interpretation is and how this links to previous versions of that play as well as what this means for choice of set, costume, period, casting, lighting, staging etc. And then how successful this was and why. Here as in the book review I want to read a critical analysis that illuminates why the play/book works/doesnt work. As suggested I also love the notion of aggregating the reposes of reviewers, I don't think we have a booksite that is akin to the rottentomatoes site that collates all the reviews and gives you the reader a community consensus. I know that individual sites like Goodreads and Library thing.com aggregate the ratings. As do the Amazon sites with the possibility of manipulation as raised but we don't have a poll of the polls.

And what do you do with all these reviews you may ask? I wishlist all the books that catch my eye on to my book swap sites and then wait until they pop up free. Well that's the theory, in practise I also buy some as well...oh and read some of course!

I don't really read them all the time, but I do get Entertainment Weekly, and always read those. A few times I've gotten some very good suggestions.

I check reviews faithfully before every reading any books, primarily on Amazon, though sometimes I will search the posts here to see what readers are saying. I'm not a fan of published reviews in magazines and such, if I come across one that sparks my interest perhaps I'll check it out, but I never search those reviews out.
I trust the average readers like me; if a book has an average 4-stars on Amazon, I like to read just those 4-star reviews instead of the glowing 5-stars or the 1-stars.
Plot spoilers are the worst, always!
I don't like overly complicated (as is the case generally with paid reviews in magazines I find) or long reviews. I almost always skip them; sum it up in one paragraph tops.
I do agree that I hate the book page blurb johnsnotes wrote of; tell me your review, and if it sparks my interest, I'll head to Amazon to read the blurb myself. One liner reviews are also a drag though.
What I look for in a review- how the book makes the reader feel. If they author did a good job conveying what they hoped to convey. If the book pulls you in and holds you. For non-fiction I want to hear that the author really did their homework. I also want to know if the author was simply showing off their smarts, or really cared about their subject. I'm picky with my reviews; I usually scan until I find one of moderate length that doesn't seem too simple.
Thanks for the discussion!

Do you read reviews before choosing to read a book?

Never.

I enjoy reading the opinions of others on books that I have already read and baulk at having to give a review on books that I have read. All things are subjective and I might unwittingly give a book a tilt that could put someone off the experience/steer someone to read something that is unwarranted.

Altogether, there is far too much written surrounding that which is written.

There are just SO many authors/books/genres that I do NOT rely on anonymous reviews (eg professional reviewers). For the most part I pick books based on the cover synopsis on the actual book. I browse a bookstore and find what looks good. Since joining this community, I've also picked up a few from people who have favorably reviewed books I've liked. I usually find that if someone likes the same types of books as I do, that I'll like what they like as well.

I think an author "fixing" reviews on amazon or wherever is immoral, but doesn't impact me personally, since I don't use those.

Another place that I somewhat trust is AUTHOR reviews. If, say Dean Koontz says a certain author is good, I'm likely to try it out because I trust HIS writing and hope that his taste in books will follow.

I've always been leery of professional reviews. a review motivated by money may be a little skewed. That said I tend to pool reviews from different sources on a single book before I read it, and I give more stock to reviews by the members here then professionals.
I've had some great reads from the recommendations here.

Wow, that looks very fishy. I'd not heard of that happening before, although I did sometimes consider that Amazon might remove bad reviews, just because lots of bad reviews doesn't sell books - but I had hoped that authors would be a little more realisic. Not everyone will enjoy a book, as has been said. I will definitely be a bit more careful from now on.

I find reviews very helpful in deciding on a book, either from here (when people post a rating) or sites such as librarything.com (which has a review function). Sometimes I'll read reviews on the paper, but I don't buy newspapers/magazines often so generally I rely on internet reviews. I prefer LJ etc though because it's more personal, and you get much more variety than you do in a magazine etc. I also prefer reviews that are at least a paragraph long, rather than just one or two lines, and I don't like plot spoilers but a little bit about what the book is about is helpful! I also like it when reviewers mention other books or authors it's similar to, so you can get an idea of whether you'd enjoy it too.

That's interesting about Amazon, and I'd wondered about that before, frankly. I do pay attention to reader reviews as well as literary/pro reviews, but in the end it's the plot summary of the book that will determine whether or not I get it. I don't think I've ever said "Ooo, that sounds good" after checking out the synopsis, then read a bad review (or even more than one) and said "Oh, never mind." I do read the reviews, though. I hate, hate, HATE spoilers, especially when the reviewer doesn't warn you. I think it's incredibly irresponsible.

I read the reviews on Amazon, but not to see whether the book is "good" or "bad" but generally just to get more information. If the synopsis does not give me enough information, I will go to the reviews to see more. If a book sounds interesting, I wouldn't not get it just because some random anonymous person did not like it.

I have bought or checked out books from the library because I have seen them reviewed here and on other similar communities. However, this is also based more on what the book is about and not that some person I don't know liked it, if that makes sense. It just exposes me to a book I might not have known about or considered before.

I hate spoilers! I do want to know what a book is about, but I don't like too much given away.

Yes, I do sometimes like to read the reviews after I have read the book just out of curiosity.

I rarely read reviews before reading a book. I go by word of mouth more whether it's good/bad/controversial/gaining hype/subject matter etc. I listening to what people are reading but I hate spoilers. Most of time I don't agree with what the general concensus is anyway I find. Once I'm done with the book however I usually read reviews in depth be on Amazon, Livejournal, and Facebook(of all places haha).

I always try new authors or series through my library first because even paperback books cost too much nowadays to just throw away money on bad books. I do however, find a lot of my books through Amazon and their recommendations. On Amazon I mostly read the one and two star reviews to see what problems people had with the book because the five star reviews are usually by people that will read anything the author writes no matter how bad it is. Personally I don't consider many books worthy of five stars so why would I trust reviewers who pass out five stars on name recognition or genre alone?

Secondly, I find books through all the groups I belong to on here, Myspace, and Yahoo. If the book or author is mentioned by more than one person I check into it through Amazon and sometimes on the author's site since most authors now have excerpts available.

Mostly it's professional reviews I read AFTER I've finished a book because I'm still looking for a pro with my tastes. They get paid and get books for free so I don't think I would ever go out and buy a book solely based on their reviews.

I really don't mind spoilers as long as they're not like the one I heard before I went to see "The Sixth Sense". Two days before I went to see it some dumbass online was all "He's dead!" Ok, if you haven't seen that movie by now it's your own fault. Giving the ending away is really the only type of spoiler I hate.

I read reviews on Amazon to get more information, but I make most of my decisions on what to read either from the reviews HERE on 50bookchallenge, and from family and friends.
I also mostly borrow books, so if I don't like something, I can close it and return it without regret.
I think reviews are useful for research books/travel books/non-fiction, but for fiction they are pretty useless. Personal taste, mood, and preferance cannot really be accounted for. I mean, I have even hated books at one point in my life that I love now, and vice versa.

I read a lot, and that means reading about books. I really enjoy professionally written reviews by top print folks, esp. the NY Times and Economist.

I think the whole thing on Amazon is pretty sketch. Personally, if it's not going to be professionally reviewed or something I scan on my own in the bookstore or library, I'd rather check out opinions here. I start to recognize names of folks who like similiar stuff and who, if they liked something, I will, too.

I do read Amazon.com reviews, but I tend to read them after the fact.

My issue with Amazon.com reviews is that in general, any reviews that are done by people on a self-selecting basis (i.e. they're not paid for their opinion) tend to run at the extreme ends of the normal bell curve. If book reviewing isn't your job, then you're likely to only be motivated to write a review if you OMGLOVED! or OMGHATED! a book. If the book was only "meh", the drive isn't there to share your opinion with others.

For the most part, I put my reading list together from published "you should really read this!" type lists (I'm a sucker for lists, seriously) and reviews that I read in this community. One of the advantages, IMO, of the new format that we have here is that by asking people to say a little something about *every* book that they read, you get away from the love it/hate it review issue that I mentioned above with Amazon.com. When people are taking a little time to talk about all of their reading and not just the ones they loved/hated, you can get a little more accurate picture of whether a book is going to appeal to you.

My father has a list of books that he compiles from the New York Times book review, and he will NOT read anything that isn't on that list.

I, on the other hand, hardly ever read reviews first. I go mostly based on recommendations from friends or things that come up here enough times that I remember them. Of course, even then the library has to have the books in stock.

In a fit of pique, I started reading everything in the science fiction section of my library. I've hit on some terrible books, but I've also gotten a few wonderful ones that I probably wouldn't have come across otherwise.

I do not mind spoilers for books that I probably won't read. This may seem confusing, but what I mean is, if someone said "I read the worst book ever, it was about this guy and, in the end, it turns out he's a sentient plant!" I don't mind so much, because it's already supposed to be the worst book ever and the description of the ending helps prove that. Things that people are likely to read like, say, Harry Potter, should NEVER be spoiled. "Hey, it's really awesome when Snape turns out to be a ninja robot-zombie!" is entirely unacceptable.

So, to sum up:
1. I don't read reviews
2. I do listen to recommendations, provided I remember them.
3. It's ok to spoil books nobody should read anyway.
4. It's NOT ok to spoil books people ought to read or are going to read no matter how bad they are (if Snape HAD been a ninja robot zombie, it still would have been evil of me to say so).
5. People should not be held accountable for spoiling endings that are common knowledge. If, in writing a review of Romeo and Juliet, I mention that they die at the end, it's not fair to get cranky at me.

Alas, if only there were money to be made at it.

Actually, I hear there is, but I have no idea how to get a slice of that tasty pie. If anybody at the New York Times wanders up to you and asks you to recommend a book reviewer, you give them my name and I'll bake you cookies.

Thanks, though. You made me smile.

As for the question, oh... I don't know. Back in the day, before the mod tightened up the rules for the community and when I was reading Edgar Rice Burroughs novels online, all of my reviews were EXTREMELY spoiler-heavy. (for reference: http://community.livejournal.com/50bookchallenge/7101008.html). That was because I really didn't expect anybody else would be into the idea of reading old-school adventure novels and because I was captivated by the ridiculousness of them. I couldn't talk about them WITHOUT spoiling them, because the spoilers were all part of the fun and because Burroughs is formulaic and I was trying to pin down the formula.

Perhaps #4 is easier to define. You shouldn't spoil major series that everybody's excited about. You shouldn't spoil books published within the past ten years. You shouldn't spoil books that rely on twist endings to keep suspense (Agatha Christie books are older than ten years, but only a jerk would give away the ending for a murder mystery). You shouldn't spoil books that you really want other people to want to read.

Other than that, I guess, you should only spoil books if the spoiler is necessary for the review to have the desired effect. Like all tools, the spoiler should be used appropriately.

Sorry, guess I'm feeling a bit wordy today...

I don't, but I kind of wish I did, since when I went back looking for an old example and read the one I posted up there ::points:: it made me laugh. It's wonderful to be reminded that you're actually as funny as you like to think you are. I did go looking for more of them but had trouble because I got into this whole community when everybody else did, back when it was a community hilight or something, so there were something like 80 posts a day. Granted, back then I was working data entry and read about a book a day online, but it's still a lot of posts to sift through. There isn't a way to sort a community page by people posting, is there?

Oh, hey, I don't know if you're interested, but I've started a basic cooking community over here feedthyself.

I try to be funny over there too. =)

I don't put much stock in reviews. I only really read short summaries of books online if I read a rec and am curious as to the plot of the book. I just find book reviews to be so subjective to taste. Word of mouth is much more important to me, because if I am familiar with someone's reading style, I am more likely to know whether something they like will be something I will like.

I do, on the other hand put, probably too much, stock in awards. I often pick books that have won awards because I figure they suggest a book has some literary merit.

More than anything else, though, I don't buy books often, and instead use the public library. I start books, and if I don't like them, I sometimes just put them aside and read the novels that catch my attention in the first couple of chapters.

I often look at the reviews on Amazon, taking them with a grain of salt. But in some ways, I trust them more than reviews by real critics, who I too often disagree with. The reviews on Amazon are usually by the average person or someone with more similar tastes than a professional critic.

But I also write reviews whenever I finish reading a book. And I have noticed very often that my reviews get a ton of "unhelpful" points when I don't like a book, even when I give very detailed and clear reasons why I don't. It's annoying, but I just ignore them and keep posting my opinions. If I stop just one Janite from suffering through "The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen", I don't care if my rating suffers. I don't necessarily think that it is always a conspiracy or anything like that, but I think it might be fans of the book just being idiots and trying to help the book. People are abusing that button to say that they agree or disagree, when that is not the purpose.

I don't come from a tradition of reviews. I get most of my books from recommendations, either from 50bookchallenge, friends, or word of mouth. Occasionally I'll find something in the book section that's really good, but not usually. I feel that the critics' attempt to make book reviews similiar to the way in which movie reviews work just doesn't fly. I'll take book jacket synopses any day.

Plus, I think the four-page letter I got from my grandmother last week, filled with books she thinks I should read, is going to last me a few years.

I realize the disadvantages of review mentioned above, but in all I am for review. I adore reading them - I buy literature magazines mostly not for short stories and novels, but for book reviews. Even if the critic does not like the book and shouts bout its weaknesses, I can see that the book might be much to my liking. Reviews don't form my views, but they tell about the existence of many books I simply could never stumbled across.
I've never read reviews on Amazon, but from time to time I read them on lib.aldebaran.ru - the largest Russian-language library of e-books. They are rather impressions, not real reviews - pretty much amateur. But it's always very interesting to learn what people think on this book or another. Even if the thoughts and expressions used are a bit inadequate, it is real fun to read them and imagine the author (of the review, not of the book)

I almost never read bestsellers, simply because I don't like the overwraught, deliberately angst-ridden/sappy and/or manipulative style so many of them are written in. I'm sure I miss a few good ones that way, but if they're *really* good, I'll find them eventually.

So reviews don't make me read a book. I'll look them over, read the official synopis, etc; then I'll see if the author has written anything else-maybe something I'm familiar with. I'll check what kind of search prompts apear at the bottom of the amazon page, for related topics and maybe look around a few people's listmanias, just to get a feel for if I might like it.

Then I go look at it, if it's in the bookstore and take it from there. If it's not, I might put it on my wishlist, from the cheapest used place I can find it-I'm not risking *too* much money on any one title. I've got too much else to read!

If the book review is particularly thoughtful, says *why* the reader liked the book or didn't like, and shows a real understanding of literary criticism, I'll probably mark it as "helpful". If it's just an enthusiastic 'squee' of fannishness-and you *can* tell-I label it "not helpful".

Overall, reviews don't make me decide to read a book, the subject does.

My reliance on reviews depends on the type of book.

For non-fiction (where I'm most likely looking for a book on a certain topic), I'll read the five star and 1 star reviews at Amazon to help wittle down the possibilites and then check out if there's something on the NY Times or Guardian site.

For Audiobooks, I'll look for reviews at Audible.com and AudioFileMagazine.com. Audiobooks can be made or broken by the narrator, and I like to have some idea what to expect if its a new-to-me reader. If I'm the fence about whether to get a book in audio or hard copy, it's the audio review that makes my final decision.

For just published fiction, once or twice a month I scan the book review pages of the NY Times, Guardian Unlimited, NPR, and New York Review for suggestions. Also, my local paper has a review a day and still publishes a weekly book section, and I almost always read those. So, yeah, I still trust the professional reviewers. About 50% of the time when I read a book based on a review I wonder what they were smoking when they read the book, but that means 50% of the time it's a good book.

The only fiction reviews I read at Amazon are from Publisher's Weekly, and even those I take with several grains of salt.

And then there are the reviews here at 50 Book Challenge, some of which I find very helpful for discovering new books. They're short and to the point and generally without pretense.

Short answer - yes, I use reviews. There are too many books and too few days to go it all on my own.

I have access to all the latest from the publishers about their new releases. I will skim those books in case anything in particular jumps out at me and screams while waving a flag. I mainly want to know the subject. I read newspaper reviews if the subject or author interests me. I do read some of the reviews here (again, only if it is something about which I am curious or already have an interest). I admit that there are a few folks here whose reviews I always read. Some of you always seem to be reading the book I have been considering. Some of you fascinate me with your choices alone. Some of you write such a damned fine review that I can't help myself. And there you have it.

I always take Amazon reviews with a grain of salt. Generally I trust livejournal and LibraryThing reviews a bit more. Whenever I get a chance I check what else the reviewer has to say on other books, do they only give positive reviews, etc.

How well the review is written is another major factor, do they note good and bad points and are they familiar with the genre/subject. I also like to read reviews of books I've already read and compare my opinion with the reviewer's.

How do I choose new books to read? Online reviews, the local paper, browsing the catalogs and magazines we get at the library, browsing the bookstore, finding lists of books on a particular subject, personal recommendations, and prior knowledge of an author or publishing house.

It's rare that a bad review will make me not want to buy a book. Usually what reviews do are convince me to either hold on or give up when I'm halfway into a mediocre book, and introduce me to new books.

I read reviews on book blogs and communities, but not so much Amazon or "professional" ones. The book blogger community seems to be more on par with how I think about books, anyway.