It Came Today!

About a week ago I joined Book Sneeze and requested a copy of Wild at Heart by John Eldredge. While the book is written for men, in Eldredge's words to give them "permission" (to me men) I thought that it would be an interesting read, since I've always been fascinated by how men see themselves as part of YHWH's overall plan. This is a subject that really gets me excited, and I'm really looking forward to plunging into this book.

I joined Book Sneeze so that I would be able to request books, which would be sent to me free of charge in exchange for a review on this site and on other sites that I frequent (such as Shelfari and Goodreads). I am, as the title of this blog might suggest, a serious lover of books, and I tend to read anything I can get my hands on (including cereal boxes and the like). This is a very exciting opportunity because it puts a large number of books at my disposal -- for free!

I cracked Wild at Heart open today. I'd already read the introduction in PDF format, and that had me anxious to read the rest of it. Now, having read half of the first chapter, I must say that Eldredge is an incredible writer, and I am not only interested in reading the rest of Wild at Heart but am very eager to get into Captivating which I got my hands on today (and will also be reviewing at some point in the future).

I hope that I will have my review up within the next several days. Very eager to see how this book turns out!

Thanks Book Sneeze!

Two Books Coming my Way!

I am very excited: I have requested two books for review which should be coming my way within the next few days (or as much as a week, given where they are shipping from). This is the first time that I've done this, giving myself the opportunity to review brand new books or recently revised books. I am really looking forward to reading both of these books, but I wanted to give an advance explanation of one of them, since I will have a limited number of words in which to review the book.

I requested Wild at Heart from booksneeze.com. The book is written by John Eldridge, who I already respect a great deal and who's mailings I receive both in e-mail and in the post. The book is written for men. Since I am a woman, I thought that I might owe some of my readers some explanation.

The first point I would like to make is that there are as of right now no reviews of this book, presumably because most of the book bloggers on the Internet are female, but it does give me the sense that this book ought to be reviewed, if for no other reason than it is available for review. I also want to do what I can to help John and Stasi, since I appreciate their ministry so very much.

The other reason that I want to read and review this book is because of the fact that God's plan for men fascinates me. I am a Christian woman, and I mostly understand His design for my life. But for the past two years I have struggled to understand what is the "real" role of a man?

I've spent most of my life being taught that Christian men are humble and quiet of spirit. That they are meek and sensitive. For this very reason I've had difficulty in connecting with my Savior Himself because I could only see him from this perspective.

I am hoping not only to be able to read Wild at Heart to learn more about the way that God designed men, but also to learn more about Him generally. I'm the type of believer who drinks it all in, and greedily, too. I am hoping to be able to get a copy of  Captivating when I am done with Wild at Heart but if not I will surely buy it and review it!

Integrity in Book Reviewing

I have been thinking a lot lately about the integrity of book reviewers. I spend entirely too much time exploring book reviews on sites such as Shelfari, Goodreads and Amazon. I enjoy reading reviews because they can often help me to decide whether or not I want to spend my money on a book that has been recommended to me or which I've had my eye on for a while. I've learned a lot of lessons about impulse buys lately!

The problem is that I often go to the reviews when I'm finished with a book, too, just so that I can see what other readers are saying. This is especially true when I find that I've just finished reading (or had to put down) a book that I really did not enjoy. Those very rare-for-me 1 and 2 star books give me pause for thought, especially considering that I try to find something good about everything that I read, and prefer to give a 3 or 4 star review (5 stars are only for the very best of books, the ones that go onto my "favorites" shelf. I am a harsh critic, but I do my best to explain why I liked or didn't like a book.

And even when I'm thinking it, I never imply that "if you're intelligent, you will like this book" or "smart people won't have anything to do with this one!" because I know that taste in books differs from one person to another. What one person can tolerate and stomach I may find repulsive, and what I find excellent may not appeal to another person.

Recently I picked up a book that I simply couldn't finish. It was a book that I felt was a mixture of poor writing and disgusting plot lines. I didn't care at all for the characters, but I can handle that: The lack of plot made me feel anxious and uncomfortable: even distrustful of the author. I had to put this book down.

A young Shelfari user reviewed this book, writing that "experienced readers" (what is that, anyway?) would enjoy this book and that inexperienced readers most likely would not. The implication here is that if you don't enjoy the book, you are an "inexperienced reader."

Now I'm not entirely sure what an "experienced reader" (or an "inexperienced reader" for that matter) is, but the feeling that I get from this review and similar reviews is that if you don't enjoy the book, you are of sub-standard intelligence.

Now please allow me to stress that this reviewer was very young (too young, in my opinion, to read the book in question) and probably a bit less experienced in writing honest reviews than someone who has been reading for 25 or more years. At the same time I felt a strange sense of hurt loss when I read the review, thinking to myself "If I don't like this, does that mean I'm of below-average intelligence?" 

I've run into this on several occasions, not just on Shelfari but also on sites such as Amazon, where reviews are also allowed. Written on the Body is a wildly popular book (though I will never quite understand its popularity!) and in some cases negative reviews have comments where the comment authors have name-called and questioned the intelligence of people who didn't enjoy the book.

I can tell you point blank that my reasons for not enjoying Written on the Body were entirely political and religious, just as the reason that many people enjoy it are probably political and either religious or entirely secular, depending on the viewpoint. I am a straight, conservative, Christian. Gay, liberal, non-Christian/Muslim/Jewish folks will probably love the book. It is just far too feminist for my taste, and I am not that kind of woman.

In short, my opinions have nothing to do with intelligence, or who is right and who is wrong: my opinions are based almost entirely on my personal set of values and on my personality. I am not any better than people who love this book any more than I am better than the people who hate either of my two favorite books (What's Eating Gilbert Grape, by Peter Hedges, and The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield). 

We're allowed to have different viewpoints on books: I wish sincerely that people would use their heads when posting reviews: they don't do their favorite authors any favors by insulting the folks who didn't like the book. This only serves to start flame wars!

So let's be honest, shall we? Let's remember that our own reviews are as subjective as the reviews written by the folks of a differing opinion, and write our reviews as being subjective. It does nobody any good to insult one another.