This week’s top ten topic is about books, or bookish things, you want to quit. I don’t really have bad reading habits – I generally like what I read and how I read. I push myself to read new authors and books that are challenging or diverse, although I can always do more.
Still, while there aren’t book-READING habits I want to quit, there are definitely book-REVIEWING habits I’d like to improve upon. So that’s my list.
- Bad Reviewing Habit #1: waiting too long to write a review after I finish a book. The problem here is I love to read, but I tend to get a little writers’ blockish about writing reviews. And yet they’ll come to me at odd times, like in bed or in the shower or at work. Just not when I’m sitting in front of the computer.
- Related Bad Reviewing Habit #2: when I have the time, reading instead of blogging. This is directly related to Bad Reviewing Habit #1. Reading is comfort-time for me, so I’ll always reach for a book when I have downtime. Only this results in a lot more books read than reviewed.
- Bad Reviewing Habit #3: not posting reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. I know I should. But I let them pile up and then I have to spend a Saturday or Sunday posting them all at once, or I don’t get to them at all.
- Bad Reviewing Habit #4: not highlighting interesting text as I read. My Kindle makes this wonderfully easy. But I get caught up in the book, and then I find I love a book but have to go looking for just the right quote. When I highlight as I read, those quotes are there waiting for me when I write the review.
- Bad Reviewing Habit #5: waiting too long to respond to review requests. I like being contacted by authors, I really do. I’m just terrible about responding.
- Bad Reviewing Habit #6: not responding to all commenters. Honestly, most comments don’t seem to need a response. But most bloggers seem to feel this is very important so I’m sure they feel insulted when I don’t respond. What do you think?
- Bad Reviewing Habit #7: uninspired post titles! I’m terrible with titles so I just go with the default title and author. But I know a catchy title is helpful in catching readers’ interest.
- Bad Reviewing Habit #8: poor use of Twitter. My husband gets on me about not including relevant authors and hashtags in my tweets. Plus I know I need to use Twitter for more than just linking to my posts. I’ll admit it, Twitter makes me nervous.
There are plenty of other things I’d like to do better on my blog, but they don’t relate to reviewing. And really, eight things to work on is more than enough.
And since I didn’t get to ten, I’ll finish with another suggestion from the folks at The Broke and the Bookish: books I’ve quit on this year. I feel like I’ve been more impatient lately, or maybe I’m pushing myself to read books I don’t really want to read. So here are my DNFs for the year, and yes, I know some of these are really good books! I started tracking my DNFs this year on Goodreads, and came up with nine:
- The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
- How to be Both by Ali Smith
- Bringing Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
- A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter Miller
- The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
- I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
- The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
- Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld
- Yes Please by Amy Poehler
So, kind of a negative topic this week, but hopefully an interesting one! I’m really interested to hear from others about their bad reviewing habits – or suggestions for doing better!
And now, I REALLY have to work on some reviews. Have a great week!
