Speculative Fiction Junkie

The speculative fiction review blogosphere has recently been abuzz with all sorts of questions that seem to be predicated on the assumption that blogging about books is an ultra serious business and that the role of bloggers is one of great importance. Typical examples of these include questions about whether bloggers ought to be paid for their work, whether standards should be set for what constitutes a review, who ought to, and who ought not to review, and the like. I'm relatively new to this community and so may have misjudged it, but if this is how serious and important we're supposed to feel, I don't think I'll fit in very well.

I started this blog because I love reading and I love talking about good books with other people. It's that simple. What I look for in a fellow book lover, is someone whose opinion about books I can come to trust over time. As such, what I want to know from other reviewers is what they liked and didn't like about a particular book and why. I want their subjective opinions because I want to get a feel for whether or not my tastes generally accord or don't accord with theirs. What I do NOT want is a monotonic dissertation that completely dissects a book. I have these objectives in mind when I write a review.

I'm not saying that there is anything objectively wrong with the I'm-a-critic-pass-me-a-scalpel approach to reviewing books, just that it appeals to me personally about as much as listening to an all day lecture on photosynthesis does.

It is for these reasons that I don't take blogging about books too seriously, any more seriously then I would if I were talking to a friend about the great book I just read. It is purely about a hobby I enjoy and sharing it with other people. So, if a consensus ever develops that a "review" must have certain components, that so-and-so isn't a "real" reviewer, that such-and-such is amateurish, that everyone's going to form a bloggers union, or whatever, you can count me out. I'm just here to have a good time :)