Editorial by: Mark Palm One of the questions I have been asked about the Bookend Family is about bad reviews; specifically, why aren’t there more of them? There are two very specific reasons for that. First, I will tell you a story. A few years back, after reviewing a non-fiction book I looked at my Goodreads review and read a few of the comments. The one that intrigued me the most said that they liked my review but felt that I inserted myself too much into the review and that I was too personal in my opinions and not objective enough, which is certainly a valid point. If I was a reporter, I would probably agree. Then again one of my journalistic heroes is Hunter S. Thompson. And not for his Gonzo antics, but because that he realized, that for him, objectivity was impossible. He believed that his participation in covering a story made it impossible to be objective, so he chose not only to write about whatever story he was covering but to write about him covering the story. By doing so, he created a new form of journalism. Now it would be the height of hubris to compare myself to Hunter, even for someone as vain as I can be, so I will not go there. I will, however, reveal the first reason why there are so few negative reviews on this site: I am not a professional reviewer. If an editor assigned me books to review, and I was being paid to do so, I would write a lot of bad reviews. There a ton of bad books out there, and a lot of them are on best-seller lists. If I had to plow through Danielle Steele and Bill O’Reilly you can bet that I would be spewing venom like a pissed-off rattler. And I would certainly be less happy that I am now, working in my own little niche.
Which brings me to the second reason why there are so few bad reviews on this site. The Bookend Family is a labor of love. We are doing this because we love books, and we love to read. I want people to share my love of reading, and of good books. So when I come across a book that I do not like, I just put it aside and reach for the next one. And I keep reaching until I find a book that I like. Then I read it, and I share it with you.
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FOllow US:Archives
June 2019
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