Speaking Volumes

I love the ability to leave comments about books I’ve read on our library catalog. I then copy these and post them to my Goodreads account. Both sites allow ratings of 1 to 5 stars and a place to comment about what you thought about the book or other media. Looking over those I’ve chatted about, I see most books I’ve read have received a 4 or 5 star review from me. I think the lowest star rating I ever gave a book is a 3. I frequently see 1 or 2 star reviews from other people. I started to wonder why I’m not more critical of what I read.

The main reason I could come up with is that I choose my books very carefully as I have limited time to read. The books that make it to the top of my list are books I truly want to read. I may be in the mood for different things at different times, but the book of choice definitely has some appeal factor when it gets on my list.
 
Though I read lots of reviews, follow many blogs, and pay attention to the best seller lists, nothing works as well for me as a personal recommendation by a friend or one of our patrons. When someone hands me a book and says, “Oh, you’ve got to read this one”, this extra endorsement might push the book to the top of the pile for me.

How about you? How do you choose what you’re going to read next? Do you have a system or is it willy nilly? I’m also curious as to where you find the books you put on your own list? Do you read reviews? Use social networking sites like facebook or Good Reads? Depend on a friend for recommendations?
 
However you pick, consider leaving a reader review on our catalog. I’ll post any left there to our blog, Saxton Reads & Reviews. Who knows? the next book I read may just be one you’ve recommended!