Today Ang sent me a link to a review of Melissa Bank's new book, The Wonder Spot, that appeared recently in The New York Times. The author of the review is Curtis Sittenfeld, author of the novel Prep. Not that you can really call Sittenfeld's "review" a review. Is it critical? Yes. Does it discuss the content of the book. Sure, you could say that. Is there an agenda behind it what the reviewer is saying? Absolutely. To say that I was irritated after reading the review is an understatement. But I'm not going to get into all of that here. Jennifer Weiner did a much better job of voicing her disgust at the review. So please do check out her response to it.

What I would like to address here is the issue of reviewing. You all know that I'm a librarian (the URL for this blog kind of gives that fact away). What you probably don't know is that I have what could be considered mild contempt for reviews. Now you might be saying to yourself, How can that be? Don't you regularly read reviews for your job? Yes, I do. And I believe that reviews are important in helping me and other librarians select books to add to our collection. However, I do not think reviews are the be all, end all factor in selecting books -- whether it be for my library's collection or my own personal collection. I will be the first to admit that a stellar review has swayed me to purchase a book. On the other hand, there are plenty of other times that I have gone ahead and purchased a book despite mediocre reviews (heck, I've been known to purchase books that haven't been reviewed at all). And yet mysteriously these books circulate just as well, sometimes better.

I think I'm one of those rare librarians/readers who believes that there is some piece of good that can be found in every book written. There is an article I sometimes make my students read that talks about how there are no poorly written books, just books written in a manner that is unappealing to some readers. Maybe it is me being naive, but I do believe that there is a reader for every book.

I get the importance of reviews. Really, I do. I understand why it is important to look at a work critically and point out its merits and flaws. But I just can't put that much stock into one reviewer's opinion, especially the way reviews are written today. As a librarian (and a reader) it would be much more helpful to me to know what kind of reader the book would appeal to, rather than you loved it or hated. Some reviewers do make an attempt to do this. Many, however, do not.

And before wrapping up the topic of reviews, I do have one more thing I would like to add. I have not yet had a chance to read Prep. I did put it on my summer TBR list after hearing Michael Cart talk a bit about it recently. And in case you are curious, he referred to is as ChickLit -- Sittenfeld would be so upset. But after sampling some of her nastiness in the Times it is one that I am voting off the island. Just a friendly heads up to all the authors out there. Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, is a bigger turnoff to readers than nastiness towards other authors and genres. You may think it makes you look all cool and smart, but to steal a phrase from Chris Jericho, all it does is make you look like an ass-clown. Consider yourself warned.

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