RAnn writes a book blog for This That and the Other Thing at http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com/

Here is my interview with RAnn!

Q: How did you become a book review blogger?

A:  I’ve been blogging since 2005, but always had trouble thinking of topics about which to write.  I started discovering book blogs and eventually I decided I could do that too.  I started just reviewing library books or books I acquired through Bookmooch.  Then, in 2008 I surfed onto a blog that was part of the FIRST alliance, a group of bloggers who review Christian literature.  That was my introduction to the concept of books in return for blog posts.  As a part of that group, I started reading book blogs more regularly and discovering more sources for review books.

Q: How do you decide what books to review?

A:  Basically, I review everything I read.  I’ve joined several blog tour groups, several publicists have me on their mailing lists, and I even go to the bookstore periodically.  I  keep my Bookmooch account active.  I also review for Thomas Nelson, The Catholic Company and Tiber River.  As books are offered for review, if the summary or teaser sent out appeals to me, I order the book.  Once I establish a relationship with a publicist, I keep an eye on his/her website to see if there is anything there I’d like to read, and if so, I volunteer my services.   That’s how I discovered your books, Four Wives and Power Moms. 

Q: What is the demographic of your readership, and do you choose books that are marketed towards them?

A:  Judging by my followers, I’d say mostly  women.  Quite a few are Catholic; others tend to be Christian of one sort or another.  I don’t really choose books marketed toward my audience; rather, I think I attract a certain audience because of the books I choose. 

Q: Do you ever do reviews to intentionally expose your readers to books they might not otherwise pick up on their own?

A:  No.

Q: How much does cover design and title influence your decision about doing a review?

A:  An interesting cover design or title may influence me to pick up a book at the bookstore or library.  However, at this time, much of my reading material comes from publicists or blog tour groups, and the cover is not part of the message sent to me asking if I want to review the book.  The title may pique my interest, but mainly what I read is the blurb from the publicist asking if I want to review a book. 

Q: When reading a book for a review, do you read as you would strictly for your own pleasure or are you keeping an eye out for certain components?

A:  My goal in writing a review is to give my readers a summary of the book and to let them know if they are likely to like it.  Given that goal, I’d say that I read review books as I do any other pleasure reading (because book blogging is a hobby, not a job). 

Q: What is more important to you, quality of writing or the actual story?

A:  In general, as far as quality of writing, I put books in three categories:  awful, average and extraordinary.  The overwhelming majority of books put out by traditional publishing houses are in the “average” category; which to me means I don’t notice the writing quality.  I base my opinion about whether I like the book on the actual story.  The writing in a very small number of books is extraordinary.  There is something about the way the author uses words that just hits me somehow.  When that happens, you can be sure it will be mentioned in my review.  So far, when the writing has appealed to me, the book has; though in one case, because of the way the story ended, I moved a book from the five star category to three stars.  As far as awful writing, think self-published.  While I’ve read a few well-written self-published books, generally speaking, it doesn’t take long to figure out why mainstream publishers didn’t pick up these books. 

Q: Do you compare your reviews of a given book to those of your peers? If so, do you find your views are generally similar or dissimilar?

A:  When I participate in a blog tour, I generally try to read some of the postings about the book.  In general, I’d say book bloggers tend to be positive about books, probably because, as unpaid reviewers, we don’t HAVE to read anything; and if we really don’t like it, we just don’t finish the book or write about it.  That being said, there have been times where I wrote a less than stellar review of a book and found that other reviewers felt the same way. 

Q: Do you think the consolidation of the publishing industry has been positive or negative for the quality and diversity of books that make it to the market?

A:  I don’t know enough about this to intelligently answer the question. 

Q: Do you think e-books are going to make printed books obsolete like CD’s have become in the wake of the ipod revolution?

A:  Well, you never want to say “never”, but I think the Kindle and its ilk will have to become a lot cheaper before they give books a run for their money.  It is one thing to take a $10.00 book to the beach—if it gets sandy or wet or whatever, then I’m out $10.00.  If my Kindle gets wet or sandy, then I’m out a lot more.  It looks too big to tuck in my purse.  As far as the “books” themselves, I guess part of it is a price point thing.  Many readers buy relatively few books, especially new books.  We use the library, swap with friends or use book swapping services.  If there was some way the software could allow you to rent a book for a given length of time for a relatively small cost, that could be a win/win for authors/publishers and readers.  I’m sure that the sophisticated used book market that has developed in the internet has hurt you; yet as a reader I cannot spend the full price of the average book for the number of books I read.  If I could rent them for $2-3 each and the software involved insured that I didn’t share them with my friends and the production and distribution costs were low for you, then we’d both win.  So, to answer your question, yes, I guess I do think it is possible, but not with the current hardware and pricing scheme.

Q: What is the best reward for you from blogging about books?

A:  The books of course!  I’ll also admit to enjoying the idea of having an audience  read what I write. 

Q: What are your three favorite books?

A:  Honestly, I don’t have any.  I’ve always loved to read, and at times in my life have gone through what many people would consider a huge number of books.  I’m on a reading kick right now, and in the first six months of this year, I read and blogged about 125 books (though I think about ten of them were children’s books).  That being said, books are temporary visitors in my life.

Thanks RAnn!