Week Five Prompt

 

eBooks are more popular than ever, with the restrictions on in-person library visits and increases in time at home. According to the Editor-in-chief of Good e-Reader, Overdrive saw a 30% increase in digital book borrowing in May 2020, a trend that has continued through months of shutdowns. Expanding the eBook collection is something that has to continue, but with limited, if any, reviews, it can be difficult to choose what is worth adding to the collection. Unfortunately, many books available only in eBook format are typically far less costly and therefore more appealing, but spending any money at all, no matter how little, could be a waste if the book is terrible.

 

While both reviews of The Billionaire’s First Christmas have an informal approach, I feel like they are both reliable. These kind of books definitely have a specific audience they appeal to, like the first reviewer, an audience that wouldn’t go near it, and an audience that might find themselves with nothing better to do, like the second reviewer. Since I would be purchasing this book for the intended audience, with the added bonus of catching a few of the nothing better to do audience, I would use both reviews and likely purchase the book, to display around the holiday season with similar titles, drawing in guests who have already binged Hallmark’s collection.

 

Based on the reviews, I would absolutely add Angela’s Ashes to my collection. Each review speaks of a depressing story with death, loss, poverty, and hunger; but each review whole-heartedly recommends the story as a beacon of hope, of triumph, of overcoming what life gives you. The reviews also note McCourt’s ability to interject humor into an intense and thought-provoking tale and I appreciate any bit of levity in serious stories. 

 

Of course it’s not fair that one type of book is reviewed over and over while other types are often ignored. It can make maintaining a collection in more obscure genres very difficult which in turn can lead to a disappointing search for customers. Trying to find new titles for westerns for example will lead to quite a challenge. Even romance, while popular, will mostly see reviews for best-selling authors and not many others. I also do not like sources that only print positive reviews; I think that can be extremely misleading since it gives the appearance of unanimous approval. I understand that not every book will appeal to everyone and we need to be in a position to understand the parts of a book that make it a bad recommendation to that audience.  

 

I use reviews a fair amount when choosing books for personal reading but I work at an apartment complex so I understand how to weed out the negative reviews that should not affect my decision at all. I don’t typically rely on the opinions of people who use all capital letters to emphasize a negative point or have constant grammar or spelling mistakes in their writing. I use Goodreads a lot, both for reviews and recommendations.