Book Blogging/Reviewing – Pro’s and Con’s.

I thought it was time I did some more ‘bookish thoughts’ blog posts where I basically write about whatever is on my mind (bookish related), and share with whoever wants to read them!

This time, I’m talking about the pro’s and con’s of being a book reviewer…

Pro’s

• You get free (often early release) books, both physical and e-book formats. This is great because you often get early sight of new titles AND lots of bookish goodies as publishers usually send out bookish and edible treats.
• Discovering authors I might no previously have discovered. Sometimes there is a pro to cold-emails and this is discovering authors I wouldn’t normally have selected on my own. One step further from the above is really being able to connect with authors, when would you ever get the chance to meet your favourite author?!
• The ability to influence other peoples bookish habits. There is nothing nicer than hearing that someone picked up a book based on your review.
• Discovering other book bloggers I haven’t already heard of/found yet. If I am on a blog tour or blast I always make a point of visiting the other participants social media channels and blogs. I hope I’m not unusual for doing this, as I often find some great content I previously hadn’t find. Doing this, I have made some good friends.
• Whilst reading a book for the purposes of doing a book review I usually take notes. This sometimes helps me to really focus on the story line and helps me to not forget who is who (which I often do).
• I enjoy the sense of bringing people together by a shared love (or dislike) or a particular book, genre or author.
• As I review all the books I read, not just new ones for blog tours or ones for challenges I get to keep a full record of everything I’ve read and what I thought about it. I like the ability to look back over my thoughts.

Con’s

• I often feel the pressure to write exceptional stand-out reviews, when sometimes it was enjoyable but you don’t have too much to say (believe it or not, this happens to me A LOT).
• Sometimes you hate the book and you have the awkward conversation about doing a spotlight instead of a full review, or withdrawing from the tour all-together. Thankfully, this doesn’t happen too much as I only accept books I think I’ll enjoy (obviously). This situation is made much better by having a middle man, i.e. a publisher or book tour organiser in-between you and the author.
• The absolute onslaught of emails I get daily requesting me to read and sometimes purchase books to review. Most of the time it’s for genre’s I’ve made very clear I won’t read or enjoy or it’s an obvious bulk email where they really enjoyed my post on *insert title of a blog post I haven’t ever written*.
• As a flip to the same point in the Pro box… whilst reading a book for the purposes of doing a book review I usually take notes. As mentioned above this sometimes helps me to really focus on the story line and helps me to not forget who is who (which I often do) BUT it ALLLLSO, sometimes causes me to really lose being able to dive into the story and let go. Sometimes trying to analyse the book and keep tracks stops me from enjoying it as much.
• I find it very difficult to not compare myself to other people and other people’s reviews. As a book reviewer, blogger and bookstagrammer I post wrap-ups and I feel the pressure against the volume of what some other people read.
• It does take a lot of unpaid time and although it’s a hobby that I’ve chosen and I do (mainly) enjoy, it does sometimes end up feeling like a job or a chore, when it shouldn’t.
• You can accidently end up with too many unread books (and pressure) on you’re shelves. Now, I know, this sounds like a pro BUT hear me out. Sometimes this pressure ends up putting me into a reading slump and I struggle to chose what to read next or to pick up anything at all.