Question: Have you ever bought a book because of a bad review?
Yes, I am proud to say I have. And you know what else? I bought a book that only had 2 stars on Goodreads once! I heard that gasp too, don't think I didn't!
The thing is, to me, Goodreads is a great tool. An amazing tool, actually. It's entertaining and informative and I freely admit to spending ten times the amount of time on Goodreads than Facebook (stop gasping, I already know I'm weird for an 18 year old). But the thing is, I don't base my purchases solely on what I read on Goodreads.
See, ever since I was little I would wander around my local bookstore, picking out books that looked or sounded interesting. I'd write them down, and each time I bought one I'd cross it off. Each time I found something new I'd add it to the list. Sound familiar? I had my own little Goodreads system going before the day that faithful google search took me there. Nine year old me was like this with her little filing system:
And it felt good guys. I was an awesome little secretary with all my awesomeness - I don't care if that doesn't make sense. But my system wasn't flawless - I did end up getting some books that weren't the greatest.
Then I started using Goodreads and life was awesome. It was great! All I had to do was search a book's name and I could see what thousands of people thought about it. Awesome. But sometimes I'd end up buying a book based on people's recommendations and it was like "how did this have a 4.5 star rating? It sucks!" Then I bought a book that had a horrible rating, and it turned out to be one of my favourite books of all time - which is why I don't base my purchases only on Goodreads ratings anymore. Me buying a book happens like this:
- Wander around the bookstore for a few hours
- Pick up any books that interest me
- Lay all the books out side-by-side
- Read the summaries on the back
- Put back the ones that don't interest me
- Open up the books that remain and read the first couple pages
- Buy the ones that make me want to keep reading
Sometimes, if I'm unsure, I'll check the GR page for the book. But only if I'm unsure.
Anyways, this is how I found Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. I hadn't been very close attention to the whole debacle until I happened to read a copy of the petition set out by that insane guy whose name I forget and won't bother looking up because he isn't worth a millisecond of my time. I read that thing and went, "what the hell? Is this guy a rapist or something? How does he possibly get aroused by this stuff?"
And like thousands of bloggers, I went out and bought a copy of Speak. And guess what? After reading it, I looked like this:
And I thought about the guy who had the audacity to bash that book, and I got MAD. Because that book did NOT deserve to get bashed. And he did it anyway.
ANYWAYS. Sorry for the long post guys. Have a good weekend!
Haha loved reading that entire thing! Old Follower. Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy everything!
ReplyDeleteShortskie
My Follow Friday
LOL! I love your post :) You're funny xD I think I'm guilty of being on goodreads more than facebook also :) And I like to know what my friends are reading, and none of them update! So I go crazy. But yes, new follower!
ReplyDeleteBri @ Kindling the Fire
My FF (Make sure to enter my giveaways!)
I totally spend more time on Goodreads. I'm more concerned with how my Goodreads shelves are organized than how my clothes are...
ReplyDeleteAwesome post!!!
haha, I love this post. I like how you used the pictures, my friend loves those. (:
ReplyDeleteFollowed back, thanks for stopping by the blog.
Great post!! I won't usually buy a book if it gets really bad reviews..but I will check it out from the library!!
ReplyDeleteHappy reading and thanks for stopping by :D
Lol this was funny. I saw the movie speak but have yet to read the book. But now I'm interested! Definitely adding it to my tbr list on goodreads lol! Old Follower!
ReplyDeleteShae @ Understanding Shae's Story
No I haven't but I read usually bad/good reviews for the same book and as long as I feel I like the book I read it no matter what people say about it because every one has different way of thinking and taste in books :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by my blog, I'm following you back now. Ps - I agree, it's always good to try a book for yourself rather than judge on the recommendation of others.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to let you know that I'm now following you back. Thank you for the visit to your blog, and your post is not too long, it shows how passionate you are about your books!
ReplyDeleteI depend a lot on goodreads reviews. But I don't look at just the general reviews, but what my friends are saying. I think Goodreads works better when you find a good group and friends with similar tastes. They've saved me from a lot of books.
ReplyDeleteMy follow friday. Hope you'll visit.
New Linky follower
I have a copy of Speak but haven't yet gotten to it. Come to think of it, I think I got it because of the controversy lol
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by! Following back :)
Jess
LOL! I agree! Sometimes people ruin books for everyone else. they have to keep in mind that others might love what they hated. returning the favors! :))
ReplyDeleteI did this with Nookbooks last year!! Add a sample to test drive. Nope, don't like it, remove. Like it, buy it, read it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog! Following back!
Doodle @ Doodle's Book Blog
Great long answer! I'm following you back. Thanks for stopping by my blog! :)
ReplyDeleteI am the same way. I usually look at the reviews if I am unsure. I try to read the reviews only from others that seem to have my same taste too. thanks for the follow. following you back twitter, gfc, network, and linky.
ReplyDeleteGreat answer! I love Goodreads, too! And yes, I also spend more time on Goodreads than Facebook, which to the non-bookies may sound absurd but to me it makes perfect sense. Thanks for stopping by and for the follow! *Now following you*
ReplyDeleteSome people take book bashing too far. There are books I don't like but damn I just state why the book wasn't for me and move on. Why waste time bashing it when I can move on and read other things and some people might enjoy it. I like to read both positive and negative reviews but only if done well. Somoe one telling me they didn't like the different POVs lets me know I'll probably like it but someone saying it sucks helps me none lol. Thanks for stopping by! I'm following GFC and linky. I am at my limit for Networked Blogs though and can't follow anymore that way :-(
ReplyDeleteThat is a fabulous answer! I love the idea of having your own GR-system as a kid...so clever! I try not to base my purchases on reviews despite my love of reading them.
ReplyDeleteNew GFC and Linky follower.
Jennifer @ Feminist Fairy Tale Reviews
Awesome post! Love the pictures. They are so cute! Thank you for stopping by my FF. I'm a new follower too! :)
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend! ♥
The list...yeah, I did that too!! Then I stumbled on GR and was extremely relieved, as I didn't have to tote around my 10 page TBR list anymore, haha.
ReplyDeleteI thought Speak was great, that was one of the first books I read!
I know what you mean about 4.5 star avg. rating books being disappointing. I've had a few of those. I tend to find my opinion is the odd one out in most cases.
Thanks for stopping by, I returned the follow!
Jessi @ Auntie Spinelli Reads
wow, I really enjoyed your answer! That's awesome you were so organized and ambitious about your reading at 9 years old! I think you (who, at 18, have a lot of years ahead of you) may one day go on to invent the next Goodreads or something:) Thanks for checking out my blog, following you back:)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for joining me at Create With Joy! I am now following you on Linky Followers and look forward to getting to know you! If you'd like to connect on Twitter, I'm at @CreateWithJoy1 (I can't get on at the moment to follow but if you follow & tweet me I will follow back!) Have a great weekend and I look forward to exploring your blog!
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http://create-with-joy.com
P.S. I have a book on my list to get right now that I've been wanting to read that another blogger just gave a bad review to. Since the book initially sounded so intriguing, I am now doubly curious to read it and see what my take is on it! :-)
Terrific answer! I am so grateful for Goodreads, it has made my life so much easier! Thanks for stopping by my blog, I am following you!
ReplyDeleteThat was a great post :) Little you was great! I love a good list too :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post, and thanks for stopping by! I have to say I hadn't been aware that there had been bad press around Speak. It's been on my TBR for awhile now, and after reading this I want to read it even more!!
ReplyDeleteOMG!!!! I totally agree with EVERYTHING you just said. That is exactly how I buy my books and base a lot of my decisions. Everything you just said is me as well.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the follow, I am following you back now. On all three. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
P.S.
I will have to look into reading 'Speak' now. =D
I haven't read Speak but am definitely interested to find out what sets that guy's 'meltdown'..lol! Thanks for stopping by earlier on. New follower via GFC :)
ReplyDeleteSpeak was an amazing book and I totally cried too.
ReplyDeleteYou totally cracked me up with your little list of books on paper... I totally did the same thing. I actually had a list compiled in an excel spreadsheet and I'd keep track of dates started/ended and it even included color coding. Goodreads is so much better. :D
Thanks for visiting! New follower. :)
Bonnie @ Sweet Tidbits
Well I haven't read a book because of a bad review but I've read a lot of books that have bad reviews. A bad review isn't why I would take a book to read.
ReplyDeletenew follower.
I know what you mean, sometimes people will love a book you hate [and vise versa], but I just wouldn't be swayed by a bad review.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean: I'm also a Goodreads nerd! I like that site more than facebook :p
ReplyDeleteFollow you via GFC!
I don't go for books that have low ratings, but great post! I haven't heard of Speak, but I'll check it out on GR :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my FF, following you back now.
Have a great weekend!
Thanks for stopping by earlier.
ReplyDeleteI love reading reviews before reading a book as I like to know what may happen later. You have got a organised system there, I just get on GR and find books my friends loved.If they like it I'm sure I'll love it too.Life is too short to read terrible books.
New Linky follower.
Haha, this made me laugh :') Thanks for following, followed back :)
ReplyDeleteI love your description on how you choose books! Following back!
ReplyDeleteHaha I love your book shop process! I love Goodreads too but sometimes it puts me off books that I have gone on to read later and loved...so it can be annoying! Following on ALL the things too! :-P x
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by our blog! I followed you via GFC and Linky! Happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteJamie@Addicted2Heroines
Love your answer!! (and don't worry, I spend more time on goodreads then I do on facebook too!). Hope you have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteKristina
Ladybug Storytime
New follower :)
I loved the long post! You are so funny:) I'm a follower, thanks for stopping by my FF.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post! We all have our systems for reading books. I just haven't figured out mine yet. I think it might be a combination of laziness and budget. But who knows.
ReplyDeleteMy FF Post
I love the mental image of mini-you with your notebook. I kind of still do that, though mostly with review requests, now I have a book blog: write them down, mark off whether I want to read them, and then cross them through when I'm done. Yeah, I love lists!
ReplyDeleteFollowing from FF - sorry it's taken me a while to get round to you! It's my first week joining in, I hope you might have time to visit my FF post.
This is a great perspective! Reading this post really made me think about how much I rely on Goodreads and other book bloggers to help me pick me next book to read. I used to work by your system: go to the bookstore and just pick out what looked like something I'd enjoy reading it. I know Goodreads isn't a perfect system and that reader tastes vary wildly, but I still find it hard to ignore those 1- and 2-star reviews (yes, I was one of those who gasped lol).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thanks by stopping by my FF!
Funny post! I'm definitely a wander around the bookstore (or library) type as well. Thanks for stopping by my post. New follower!
ReplyDeletexDDDDDD I can't stop laughing! I haven't read Speak yet but I heard it was emotional (thanks to GR). To be honest, I love buying books randomly, and often I would like them better than the books I planned to buy instead! And although bad reviews always floats inside my head, I still went ahead and bought them.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late FF reply! Thank you for stopping by my blog, I'm following you back :)
Natasha @ Dreamland Teenage Fantasy