Welcome to the Australasian Christian Writers Tuesday Book Chat, where we encourage book lovers to answer our bookish question of the week.
Today’s question is:
Do you like it when a reviewer includes quotes from the book in their review?
We look forward to hearing your thoughts. Please join in the conversation in a comment on this post or in a comment on the blog post shared in our Australasian Christian Writers Facebook Group.
Let’s chat!
When I first read this question, I thought hmm… it depends. As a reader, I like books that have a cool first line that hooks me into the story. The opening line of Pride and Prejudice – the fiction book I studied for my final year English exam last century – is still imprinted in my mind.
If the book contains quotes that tap into the essence of the story without giving away spoilers, I can be tempted to take a closer look at the book. From an author perspective, I can see the value in writing succinct sentences that make it easy for reviewers to promote the book via quotes.
What do you think? Do you like it when a reviewer includes quotes from the book in their review?
And don’t forget: if you’d like to participate in our weekly Book Chat by posting the question and your answer on your blog, drop us an email via our Contact page and we’ll send you the list of questions for 2019.
It depends entirely on the book and the quotes. I always find it instructive to see what readers have decided to highlight in my own novels because those sentences must have meant something special to the reader for them to be highlighted. I can see where a person might use a favorite highlight in a review they post, but I think that’s more common in reviews by ARC readers who review lots of books than in the spontaneous outpourings of someone who bought the book and liked it enough to take the time to post a review. I normally wouldn’t use a quote when writing a review myself.
Hi Carol, Yes, I agree that book quote memes are more commonly created by ARC reviewers & street teams who are using social media to share their reviews. I’ve started using quotes in book recommendations if I find a sentence that speaks to me about the story. 🙂
To be honest I rarely read reviews so can’t really answer this question. I guess I have seen them but not really taken notice of them.
I know I don’t normally put quotes in reviews partly cos unless its really stands out I would forget the quote.
Hi Jenny, Instagram is where I see most of the book quote memes (and also First Line Friday posts). 🙂
oh I have instagram on my phone but don’t know how to use it properly so don’t really see much there at all.
Yes I do, it does’t bother me one bit. 🙂
Hi Alicia, yes, the book quote memes the reviewers put together are fun. 🙂
I review quite a few books and I like to quote special excerpts. Some authors just have so many good sections in their books that are quotable.
Some first lines are very memorable. Two that I remember are A Tale of Two Cities and Rebecca.
I know both of those as well 🙂 (Although I have to admit I’ve never read A Tale of Two Cities, and I’m not a fan of Rebecca. It was my grandmother’s favourite novel).