The Craft of Reviewing: Or How I Amended My Evil Ways Over the Years 😀

Hello sweeties!

This post was inspired by an email conversation with a lovely soul who told me my reviews are art. I replied that I don't know if they are art, but they surely are craft. I usually sweat over them - even the ones that flow more easily are (almost) always the product of a couple of days' work, at least (only one day at the beginning, but then I became more self-conscious...or my reviews more complicated, which is the point I'm making with this post). And since I started blogging, the way I review has changed, if slightly. Of course, the voice is the same - but I've been adding or detracting things as I went on. Not that my way of reviewing was actually evil to begin with, of course 😀. That was just a clever (um?) and attractive (um?) title for a blog post. But I've made a lot of slight adjustments over these five years and a half, and today I want to share my journey with you. I hope you'll do the same 🙂.

Oops, I did it again. Enjoy your David 😁

Tell Me Something Tuesday: Debut Authors/New to Me Authors. What Books Have You Read Lately by New Authors That You Want to Read More From?

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post on Rainy Day Ramblings, where the blog's owner Heidi discusses a wide range of topics from books to blogging. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog.

Here is what is on deck this week:

DEBUT AUTHORS/NEW TO ME AUTHORS. WHAT BOOKS HAVE YOU READ LATELY BY NEW AUTHORS THAT YOU WANT TO READ MORE FROM?

Confession: I'm very much a "book reader" as opposed to an "author reader". Apart from a few classic thriller writers (Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, John Dickson Carr/Carter Dickson/Carr Dickson and Rex Stout) my only modern go-to-author used to be Christopher Pike (here is the blog page I set up for him), because I love his crazy plots 😂. Except for the authors I have an ongoing blogger/writer relationship with, I wasn't going steady with any, and I rarely did read more than one book by the same author (series aside, of course). But lately (does "during the latest three years" qualifies as "lately"? 😄), I've read a handful of books that put their authors on my radar. In strictly alphabetical order...

A Tennant gif? How...Ood 😂 (...yes, non-Whovians, Ood are a thing LOL. Or better, an alien people)

Tell Me Something Tuesday: Are You More Inclined/Less Inclined to Read Books That Are Compared to Other Popular Books or Authors?

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post on Rainy Day Ramblings, where the blog's owner Heidi discusses a wide range of topics from books to blogging. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog.

Here is what is on deck this week:

ARE YOU MORE INCLINED/LESS INCLINED TO READ BOOKS THAT ARE COMPARED TO OTHER POPULAR BOOKS OR AUTHORS?

Premise: I rarely read popular books/authors as it is. It's not out of snobbery - it's just that I usually want something out of a book that most of them don't provide. I very rarely read straight-up fantasy - unless there's a specific premise. I'm not particularly keen on vampires, werewolves, elves or whatever. Me and retellings are mortal enemies 😳😂. I only read contemporary that have little to no romance - and we all know how rare that is.