To what extent do reviews influence whether or not you read a particular book?
Our time is finite, yet the number of books waiting to be read is seemingly endless. If you’re like me, your wishlist is constantly swelling rather than growing smaller. (With each book I cross off my list, I invariably add five more.) I depend on reviews to help me prioritize which books to invest my time (and money) in and which to avoid. That’s infinitely easier now that everyone is a critic.
The internet has leveled the playing field, and for the better, I believe. Perhaps you do what I do. Every time a new book catches my eye I immediately turn to Amazon or GoodReads to see what their reviewers have to say. I always read the highest star rating and then the lowest, and a few in between for good measure, and I’m usually able to get a fairly unbiased impression of the book’s quality. (Although that being said, Amazon’s system has certainly been abused. Several years ago a bunch of overzealous Michael Jackson fans left a deluge of one star reviews on a biography of the pop icon on the book’s publication day, irreparably tarnishing the book’s reputation.)
If you’re a reader of our Actionable Summaries you know that they’re not traditional reviews, but rather the writer’s favourite takeaway from the book. Our philosophy is that every book has at least one great idea. We call this the The Big Idea. But, like book reviews, our aim is to accomplish something similar: to help you sift through the mountain of books out there and invest your precious time in one that’s going to change your life.
So, how do you decide which books to invest your time in? Do you put much stock in online reviews?
