Book Girls Don’t Cry is a feature where we will discuss/vent/advise on a bookish topic. This feature is hosted by myself along with these pretty ladies:
What does the guinea pig say?
As a blogger, we’re the ones who often get first look at books. We read and read and say yay or nay so that future readers can make pretty good guesses on which book will be worth their time and hard earn pennies. But… is it becoming rarer to say yay? Are we guinea pigs?
I won’t lie and say ARCs are not fun to have. It’s definitely a pretty cool privilege of being a book blogger, especially when an ARC is one you have been pining for and are pretty sure it will rock your socks off. Problem is, how many crappy books must we read for every great one we come across? Is it just me or has book quality been kinda meh lately? Since Twilight, since The Hunger Games, since Harry Potter; it’s like everyone is out to get the next “big” novel released as fast as possible. As a reader, what that gives us is hundreds of the same-old same-old; mediocre, copycats of the originals that made us fans of their genres in the first place. For instance, lately I feel like dystopians are nothing but disappointment after disappointment. For every one dystopian that is genuinely good, I’ve read 10 that were quite the opposite. Every genre is becoming so oversaturated that finding a 5 star read is almost like finding a needle in a haystack. Is it just me? Am I just picky? Maybe reading 175 books a year compared to my pre-blogger average of 60 have made my standards sky-rocket?
Does it annoy you, at least a little, that as bloggers we may have hundreds of ARCs on our shelves but we’re ultimately those who have to sift through all this bad? I wish reviewing ARCs didn’t mean steering others away from all the bad, but rather “pointing out the winner among winners”. Hopelessly dreaming? Do you envy the “others” who are forewarned – and thus get to read better books? Before I was a blogger (or when I pick a me-book now) I would read review after review which basically guaranteed a 4-5 star read every single time. Even though I love blogging and I couldn’t even see myself not being a blogger, some days I do miss a time where what I picked to read wasn’t a random ARC chosen by nothing more than a 2 paragraph blurb, a nice cover, and maybe a few reviews. Oh, book blogger problems!
Seriously, though, when it comes to books, it’s kinda become quantity over quality, no? Is it because it takes more books to make a living off of being a writer? Is it because more people do it for a living rather than because they love to write? Is it maybe – just maybe – a little bit of cow milking from the million dollar releases (ie Twilight) and such? Personally, as a reader, I’d prefer having only 2 releases a month instead of 200 to choose from if it meant 2 amazingly worthwhile novels.
What are your thoughts on book quality as of late?
Do you feel like finding a great book is becoming harder and harder?
You know you love me!
XOXO, Book Girl
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