I’m picky when it comes to book reviews. I usually have to sneak reading them in 10-minute stints while my 1-year-old daughter entertains herself by pulling everything out of a drawer and spreading it over every square inch of the kitchen floor. Since I have to glance back every minute or so to make sure she hasn’t unearthed a plastic bag or an airplane bottle of liquor, some types of reviews get read by me and others not so much.

I know I’m not alone in this. A lot of us aren’t able to dutifully read every word of every blog we subscribe to. I try to keep this in mind when writing book reviews myself, and in the spirit of D.U.O.A.Y.W.H.T.D.U.Y., I’ve developed a list of guidelines I use to try to meet the needs of the wide range of reading needs.

1. Rate it—I want a quick way to figure out whether you loved, liked, or hated the book. With limited reading time, I’m not going to read about books you didn’t love unless it’s something I’ve already read myself or something I was considering reading already. If your reviews don’t have a rating or an overall verdict no longer than one line, I’ll leave them unread in my RSS reader until I have more time to read. Which is typically once every 3 months when all the chores are done and the bills are paid and the baby is off on a weekend errand with her dad.

   Example: 1morechapter.com

2. Summarize it—I’m just not into certain types of books, so I like to be able to tell that right off the bat before investing my time in a review. Also, if you’re a YA-nnabe like me, it’s good practice to try to sum up an entire book in a sentence or two, as you will have to do that for your own work when writing query letters and talking to editors at conferences.

   Example: Fyrefly’s Book Blog

3. Keep it short—I struggle with this one, especially for the books at either end of the spectrum. I either want to gush on and on, or defend my assertion that a book wasn’t that good so people won’t call me a big ol’ meanie. I try to stick to 5 short paragraphs or less, not counting quotes. And if that’s not possible, I try to keep the paragraphs super short and break them up by using lists, links, and bold or italic formatting to highlight key phrases.

   Example: propernoun.net

But every reader is different. What do you look for in a good book review? What guidelines do you have for yourself when writing a book review?

Photo by tm_lv.

• The Bluestocking Society: Writing a Book Review
• Book Escape: How to write a book review??
• Books on the Brain: To Rate, or Not to Rate
• Critical Mass: Reviewing 101: John Updike’s rules
• The Dark Phantom Review: The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing… to hit the stores this June!
• Problogger: Write a ‘Review’ Post

I’m down to 2 suggestions in my little Skribit box to the right—just waiting for both to come in at the library. I have a handful of 2009 releases checked out, but I’m getting dangerously low.

I’ve really enjoyed this setup whereby you tell me what to do, and no actual thinking is required of me in picking my next books. More, please!

To add your recommendation, enter a title under “What should I read next?” C’mon, how often does someone listen when you tell them what to do?

Photo by Misserion.

Title: Wintergirls
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Rating: 5/5
Why I Read It: Because everyone was raving about it, among other reasons.

Summary: Lia and her best friend Cassie made a pact to become skinny together. But then Cassie drops Lia, and a few months later Lia finds out Cassie has been found dead.

Review: I didn’t want to read this. I knew what it was about—a girl with an eating disorder—and I didn’t want to knowingly subject myself to that world of pain.

But then I went to my favorite locally owned bookstore to hear Laurie Halse Anderson speak. I got there too early and didn’t have anything to read with me, so I picked up Wintergirls and read the first 15 pages. It took all my self control to put it back on the shelf and wait for it to come in at my library.

I finished this book in less than 24 hours, on a workday no less. Lia was so real to me that when I wasn’t actually reading, she’s all I could think about: Would she pull through? How long til she hit bottom? Would it be too late?

Lia’s story haunted me because I know that countless girls out there have stories just like hers. Now that I have a daughter, this issue hits close to home. I can’t protect her from the impossible idea of “beauty” on TV, in magazines, from other kids. What can I do as a parent to foster a healthy body image? I really don’t know.

Reading Lia’s story convinced me that not knowing the answer to that question is unacceptable. So if you know of any good nonfiction books on this topic, please let me know.

I highly recommend this amazing book. And when you’re done reading it yourself, lend your copy to a parent you know.

Borrow: Your local library | Swap
Buy: Your local bookstore | Powell’s | Amazon

Title: Bones of Faerie
Author: Janni Lee Simner
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Rating: 3.5/5
Why I Read It: It released in 2009, and I was in the mood for something new.

Summary: Liza’s newborn sister is touched by magic, so her father abandons the baby outside of town. Then her mother disappears, and Liza discovers she might be touched by magic as well. What will her father do to her if he finds out?

Review: I enjoyed the mix of magical and real elements in this story. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic world, which is right up my alley.

This one’s not for the faint of heart, though. Check out the opening:

I had a sister once. She was a beautiful baby, eyes silver as moonlight off the river at night. From the hour of her birth she was long-limbed and graceful, faerie-pale hair clear as glass from Before, so pale you could almost see through to the soft skin beneath.

My father was a sensible man. He set her out on the hillside that very night, though my mother wept and even old Jayce argued against it. “If the faerie folk want her, let them take her,” Father said. “If not the fault’s theirs for not claiming one of their own.” He left my sister, and he never looked back.

I did. I crept out before dawn to see whether the faeries had really come. They hadn’t, but some wild creature had.

Borrow: Your local library | Swap
Buy: Your local bookstore | Powell’s | Amazon

In November, I wrote a novel for NaNoWriMo. Yay me.

But since then, I haven’t touched the poor little bugger.

My problem is I don’t know where to start. Options I’ve considered include:

• Read it straight through and write any edits that occur to me in 0.001 seconds but don’t get bogged down in the editing. Just mark what I like and don’t like, then fix it later.
• Take one chapter at a time and pore over each paragraph in great detail. Firmly in the bogging down camp.
• Outline the structure of the story and see where that takes me.

I’ve read the NaNoWriMo advice, but I still feel unsure of where to start. Help me?

What works for you? Or, what does your fave author blog have to say on the topic?

Photo by wrestlingentropy.