January 2, 2011 • reading •

Sunday Salon: Reviewing Review Policies

The Sunday Salon.com
I posted a revision to my Book Review Policy a couple of weeks ago, stating that I would not accept most review offers for the first six months of 2011 due to various other commitments, including recovery from shoulder surgery scheduled later this month. (That may be a good time for reading, but probably less than ideal for writing reviews!) I’ve been trying to dial back my review commitments for over a year, yet over half of my reading in 2010 was books I’d received from publishers, authors, and blog tours. In addition,  there’s still a good-sized stack of review copies unread and un-reviewed, since books for tours – which have a committed posting date – and ARCs get prioritized over other review books.


Some bloggers address the towering TBR stacks with book-buying bans, but it seems increasingly common to see mention of review-copy bans as well. Whether it’s called “reading without obligations,” “reading deliberately,” or just “not accepting review copies,” there seems to be some movement toward the roots of personal book blogging: individuals reading what they choose, and then writing about it. 


And even though I’ve just made the same decision, I know I won’t turn down every review offer – I’ll still take books I really want to read. I don’t think I’ll ever cut off the flow entirely, especially not after publicly discussing the increasingly important role of book bloggers in connecting authors and readers in various places last year; I think it matters more than ever. But as I continue to be taunted by the books I’ve bought and received as gifts waiting on my TBR shelves – which I will also review here when I (eventually) read them – I feel conflicted. For now, I’m addressing that conflict with a review-copy cutback. Have you felt the same conflict, and how have you dealt with it?

The year-end reading recaps and “best books of 2010” lists have been everywhere during the last week or two, but I’m waiting it out just a bit – please come back tomorrow for my “2010 in Review – Reading” post, in which I’ll start 2011 by reporting my final 2010 stats and revealing my Books of the Year. In the meantime, Sherry at Semicolon has dedicated this week’s Saturday Review of Books to links of book lists; you can add your own there, and find others you may have missed.


New additions to TBR Purgatory
Christmas gifts:

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (which I’d forgotten was on my Christmas list, and had bought as an e-book to read for Indie Lit Awards judging – oops! But now at least I’ll see the pictures!)

Books I won:

Edges by Lena Roy (from the author, in a giveaway at The Debutante Ball)

Books I bought (with gift cards!):

(for me):
(For the Faith and Fiction Roundtable 2011):


All of these additions spurred me to a long-overdue – because long-dreaded – winnowing of the TBR collection, but I’ll talk more about that next week.


Recent reviews (December)
Sisterhood, Interrupted: From Radical Women to Grrls Gone Wild, by Deborah Siegel
Stiltsville, by Susanna Daniel
The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, by Christopher Moore
Beautiful Maria of My Soul, by Oscar Hijuelos


Upcoming reviews (January/February)
The Lotus Eaters, by Tatiana Soli (TLC Book Tour, January 12)

The Indie Lit Awards short list, Non-Fiction –
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Let’s Take the Long Way Home by Gail Caldwell
Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
At Home by Bill Bryson
Certain Women, by Madeleine L’Engle (Faith ‘n’ Fiction Roundtable selection, February 2011 – re-read)


Happy New Year, and happy reading in 2011!

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