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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

The Quick and Dirty Guide to Easy Book Reviews

by Chautona Havig · 4 Comments

We’ve all seen them.  Internet memes urging you to leave book reviews.

easy book reviews
(Note: links in this post may be affiliate links and as such, I may receive a small commission from them at no extra expense to you. Thank you!)

Memes say things like, “Feed an author. Leave a review” or “Help an author. Leave a review.”  The point is simple.  Authors need reviews.  There’s no getting around it.  Oh, and here’s one for you just because it felt weird to write about review memes without having one.  Peer pressure. It’s a killer.

reviews meme

But let’s face it.  Book reviews can be daunting, and not everyone wants to read a book with a notepad beside them jotting down ideas for a review.  You want to read the book, not do a book report.

So, that brings me to my first point.

What Reviews Are Not:

In our world where information bombards us at every turn, we forget that things like product and book reviews don’t have to be complicated.  So here you go.  What a book review is not!

  • It’s not a book report.  You don’t have to tell us everything that happened and all the symbolism involved.
  • Oh, and it’s not a “Pinterest Moment.”  You don’t have to make it pretty, you don’t have to make it sound intelligent or cute.
  • It’s not a place to post your opinions on the genre, the author’s other works (aside from quick mentions that you loved or hated and this is different), or even the publishing industry.
  • It’s not a complaint forum for delivery issues.  If the book came late, if the Kindle version didn’t download properly, if the packaging was all crumpled–whatever.  This doesn’t help a reader know what is inside those pages, and THAT is what a book review (or product review) is for.  You injure authors and manufacturers for lowering the star rating because of a glitch or a shipper issue that they cannot control.

So what ARE reviews?

  • A short-cut for those considering the book. They read the synopsis and aren’t sure. Maybe they’ve never heard of the author or the last book they read wasn’t up to snuff.  They want to see what others thought.
  • A peek at what is great about a book, and that says why you’d want to read it.
  • A peek at what wasn’t so great about a book, and that says why you might not!
  • In short, reviews are a few extra words to help someone decide if what’s between the covers is worth their time and money.

But they take so much time!!!

They don’t have to.  I promise.  I have four things you should put in a review.  Just four.  You don’t have to limit yourself like this, but if you want to leave reviews (and I want to hug you for wanting to), and find them daunting or you don’t have time, just throw these four things into a quick blurb on Amazon and/or Goodreads.

  1. What you loved: it could be a character, a setting, a funny line, how well it was edited, the time period, the cover, the last page when the horrible thing was FINALLY OVER.  Just pick one. Don’t try to do it all. You’ll want to sometimes, but unless you just LOVE to write reviews, don’t do it!  Keep it short and snappy.  “I loved the repartee between the ‘dragon’ and the prince.”  (Everard)
  2. What you hated: It could be the editing (but try not to pitch a fit if there are a dozen errors in a 50k word book.  99.9% accuracy gives that 50 errors!  12 isn’t optimal, but it’s not worth killing a star or three over).  Maybe you hated the way the main character whined and cried over everything (I felt that way about Elsie Dinsmore), or you hated that the bad guy was never all that bad (I felt that way in Daisies Are Forever). Maybe in a Christian Fiction book, you found smut or language.  Or, just maybe you just hated that it ended and you wanted more. (Like the emails I get about Past Forward and HearthLand).

But wait! That’s not all there is to easy book reviews!

3.  What made you laugh:  Something almost always does–even if it’s the ludicrousness of one tragedy after the next.  Go for it!  Put down the line that kept you chuckling every time you thought of it (like I do with Earlene Fowler’s, Fool’s Puzzle.  That opening scene cracks me up.  Warning: a couple of colorful words and mental images shown in the book.).  Tell us if the character did something you did once and how you cracked up.  Just a sentence.  Just one or a part of one.

4.  What made you cry:  Again, you can say you cried that it was over.  You can say you cried when you realized you’d only read three pages and you had 683 to go.  You can say you cried when you had to go to work, or you can say you cried when your favorite character died. Just no spoilers!  Don’t tell us the heroine dies at the end.  PLEASE  Say you cried at the end because it was sad, but don’t say why!  Don’t ruin it for the next reader.

That’s it.  That’s all you need to do!

Of course, if you want a fifth thing you can add:

5.  Warnings or caveats.  If you WANT to (and it’s not necessary) then you can add a, “Just a note, in the one bookstore, the guy there has a foul mouth for about 2 pages.  Might want to skip that part.”  (Like I would say about Aunt Dimity’s Death).

How does that look when you’re done?

I’m going to write a quick and dirty review for Ready or Not and show you just how easy it is. Are ya ready?

In Ready or Not, I loved seeing the family dynamic of all those kids and a gal who had no real experience with children, but boy did I hate that grandmother!  WHEW!  The children’s antics made me laugh until my sides hurt, and the wisdom shared with her from people who came along to help, you know like the church really should, made me cry for people who don’t have a helpful body of Christians in their lives.  Recommended.

See!  That’s it!  That’s all it needs.  So please, bless your favorite author today.  Write a quick review of the last book you read that you didn’t review.  Or buy his latest book and go read it and then review it!  Or both!  Oh, yeah.  Let’s go for broke and do both!  (at today’s prices, that’s just about how it works out, too.

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Comments

  1. Bette A. Stevens says

    July 7, 2016 at 5:56 pm

    Excellent post, Chatauna. Thanks!

    Reply
  2. Laura Hile says

    June 27, 2016 at 7:07 pm

    Bless you, Chautona, you are the best. Those hateful missing words, the kind of thing that spell check can’t find!

    “… but try not to pitch a fit if there are a dozen errors in a 50k word book. 99.9% accuracy gives that 50 errors!”

    I ran the numbers for my 130,000-word new release, only at 99.99% That gives me 13 errors. Ha! (I hate having even one.)

    I have another eagle-eye editing friend combing through to find the elusive “13.”

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      June 27, 2016 at 8:32 pm

      I agree. I hate even one. But I learned a bit of grace for publishers when I started seeing that even with 10 or more run throughs, eagle eyes, and spending a ton on editing, that sometimes it just happens. And not just in self-published. My prior issues were all with TRADITIONALLY published books. A big name author/publisher had 11 on 2 pages. TWO PAGEs. And only half of those were even remotely “up to preference.”

      Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 145: A Chat with Debut Women's Fiction Author, Sara Brunsvold
byChautona Havig

Debut Author, Sara Brunsvold, is bursting on the Christian Women’s fiction scene with an amazing book, The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip. With characters who have captivated my heart from page one (and enough quirkiness to keep my attention to the last), Sara Brunsvold is sure to become a favorite author, and this book is already on my top five of the year before it’s even released!

Note links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

This Novel Isn’t Even Available Yet, and It’s in My Top 5!

If you’d told me that I’d fall so in love with two chapters of a book that it would push that book into my top five of the year so far, well… I’d have laughed.

The joke’s on me because it happened with Sara Brunsvold’s The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip. This debut women’s fiction novel has a bit of a split-time element and is set in Kansas City. Trust me when I say that meeting Clara was one of the most fun introductions to a character I’ve ever had. I just love this woman, and I’m drumming my fingers to get to read more about her.  Not surprising considering it won the ACFW Genesis’s award a couple of years back. 😀

Sara says her passion is intergenerational stories, and you definitely get this with Aidyn and her “assignment,” Mrs. Kipp.  But you also get inter-cultural and ideological influences in this book as well.

And then there’s that next book she has coming out.  You know, the one about a gal cooking her way through her grandma’s German cookbook?  Yeah.  The one we have to wait until early 2024 for?  Yeah. That one.  Sigh.

When Sara told us about her favorite authors, a lot of things made sense.  Just sayin’. Find out which of Katherine Reay’s books are her favorites and how she fangirled over Reay’s response to an email (and why you should email your favorite author!).

The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip by Sara Brunsvold

Aidyn Kelley is talented, ambitious, and ready for a more serious assignment than the fluff pieces she’s been getting as a cub reporter for the Kansas City Star. In her eagerness, she pushes too hard, earning herself the menial task of writing an obituary for an unremarkable woman who’s just entered hospice care.

But there’s more to Clara Kip than meets the eye. The spirited septuagenarian may be dying, but she’s not quite ready to cash it in yet. Never one to shy away from an assignment herself, she can see that God brought the young reporter into her life for a reason. And if it’s a story Aidyn Kelley wants, that’s just what Mrs. Kip will give her–but she’s going to have to work for it.

Debut author Sara Brunsvold delights with this emotional multigenerational story that shows that the very best life is made up of thousands of little deaths to self. You’ll want to be just like Mrs. Kip when you grow up!

This book is 40% off with free shipping from Baker Book House. That’s less than the Kindle version if you like paper!

You can learn more about Sara at her WEBSITE (and sign up for that newsletter so you can get Mrs.Kip’s 8 Rules to Live By). Oh, and if she does those videos of her cooking through that book, you’ll want to know when/where to find them.

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Episode 145: A Chat with Debut Women's Fiction Author, Sara Brunsvold
Episode 145: A Chat with Debut Women's Fiction Author, Sara Brunsvold
May 20, 2022
Chautona Havig
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Episode 141: A Chat with Elizabeth Goddard about Critical Alliance
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April 29, 2022
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April 22, 2022
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Episode 136: A Chat with Middle-Grade Historical Author, Marie Sontag
April 15, 2022
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Reposted from @beckylewis345 Life can be hard. Ent Reposted from @beckylewis345 Life can be hard. Enter cozies like A Sprinkle in Time by Dana Mentink. Clean, with a sweet romance, whose amateur sleuth runs a delectable shake shop. A dog, a child, precocious twins who work for the shake shop, and lovable Papa Luis. Plus, of course, plenty of suspects. “Murder, mayhem, and milkshakes. Who’d a thunk it?”

Trinidad Jones becomes someone I truly care about in this book. I am amazed at how she and Gabe’s two other former wives forgive each other and actually become friends. Not just friends, but family, as thick as blood. Now there is a small cluster of characters to follow and enjoy in this town of Upper Sprocket. Fun!

I enjoy the inclusion of dogs, children, and special-needs people, and Dana Mentink brings them all to our Shimmy and Shake Shop story. Noodles is old, but what a loyal companion, and, wow, does he have an amazing ability or two! Little  Felice adds warmth and vulnerability to the tale. Doug, the special-needs brother of Trinity’s love interest, Quinn, adds reality and complexity to the novel. 

Mentink has a good sense of humor and I laughed out loud several times. Just what I want out of a cozy. Mystery, romance, great characters, laughter. A fun occupation that the sleuth actually works at. I am happy to report I made it through the book without indulging in ice cream! But, can you?

I am looking forward to more murder and mayhem in Upper Sprocket! Plus more Freakshakes! 

———————————————————————
I received a copy of the book from Celebrate Lit. (I also bought my own copy.) No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own.
———————————————————————
Notable Quotables:
“He was merely a friend the way a Ming vase was just an old pot.”

“There’s your plan and God’s plan, and your plan…” “Doesn’t count,”

“Maybe it’s one of those weird small-town happenings.” “A body in your trunk isn’t a happening, it’s a horror movie,”

“It wasn’t an easy thing to command the heart to feel what the brain ordered.”

“Rumors carry so much more weight than the truth, sometimes.”
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Reposted from @celebratelit Did you know that When Reposted from @celebratelit Did you know that When the Pilot Falls by April Hayman from the Ever After Mystery series is 25% off with the Celebrate Lit Summer Sale? 

More about the book: 
In 1923, there aren’t many pilots, but Willie Labeau didn’t let that stop… her.

A bear of a man, Hugh Taylor, needs a stunt plane pilot, and despite their rocky introduction, Willie sets off for golden California and a new life as his pilot. There’s just one little thing she has to do in addition to flying.

Leave his past alone. Period.

When the flame of her own curiosity becomes fanned by encouragement from Willie’s sister, the feisty pilot can’t help but do just a little investigating.

And Hugh vanishes.

Friends rally around her, and with all the information she can find in hand, Willie sets off to rescue Hugh and battle the evil family holding him hostage.

A fierce air race, a sincere act of humility—are they enough to free Hugh and give Willie a chance to be with him… forever?

Find out in this next book in the Ever After Mysteries, combining beloved fairy tales and mysteries. When the Pilot Falls offers a retelling of “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” that will keep you gripped to the edge of your seat as you watch hearts soar and daring dos.

Link in bio! 

#aprilhayman #whenthepilotfalls #everaftermysteries #celebratelit #christianfiction #historicalfiction #bookstagram #bookloversofinstagram #readersofinstagram
Dial W for Wrangler: Vi's just trying to sell used Dial W for Wrangler: Vi's just trying to sell used recliners and old, broken wagon wheels.  She can't help it if folks keep asking for help with their love lives... can she?
See the lengths Wade goes to in his quest to behave like a rational guy.
Releases Tuesday, May 24. Available on 
#Kindle
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How does this author celebrate a finished book? By How does this author celebrate a finished book? By reading someone else's finished book. 😀 
#amending
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"Murder, mayhem, and milkshakes. Who'd a thunk "Murder,  mayhem,  and milkshakes.  Who'd a thunk it?"
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Love it when publishers use plays on words. #amend Love it when publishers use plays on words.
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