Why Book Reviews Matter

I like to get confessions out of the way first, so here goes: I loved book reports when I was in school. When I found out people got paid to review books, I was all over that. I could read, and write book reviews, all day!

I could also read book reviews all day. 

Do they matter? Oh, please. I've had shouting matches with people who say reading is a waste of time; we're not going to start that about reviews, are we? Ask Amazon, Goodreads, The NYT, Christian Science Monitor, your local paper, or check out the crowd at almost any library.

Obviously, book reviews matter a great deal to authors and publishers. So why do book reviews matter to the rest of us? Because we all need to feed our brains, and books do that. And just like food preferences and allergies vary from person to person, our tastes in reading material run the gamut, too.

(As I'm writing this, Duck Commander Family and Proof of Heaven are both on The New York Times non-fiction bestsellers list.)

Online book reviews are like a buffet - you can go grab a sample of anything. It's a great way to find out if you'd like more of a particular author's cooking. On the other end of the spectrum, discerning book review editors are like master chefs who study the freshest ingredients, take note of new tools, skillful preparation, unusual  treatments, and offer up only the most delicious, tantalizing combinations of all of those.

Book reviews matter because that classic t-shirt was right: So many books, so little time. The most avid reader will never, ever, ever be able to read all that he or she wants to. Book reviews help us discover books we "must" read that we might have missed, and they help us whittle down our (embarrassingly long) to-read lists.

They also provide countless conversation starters. You don't even have to read the book to use them, just the review! Try these, for example:

Have you read the new book on Scientology?
What do you think about that female author who rewrote one of Hemingway's books?
Forget The Good Wife;  have you heard about The Good Nurse?! 

Toss one of those out at your next cocktail party or agonizingly long elevator ride, and let me know what happens.