How often does this happen to you?
You read a book. And it was fine. And you find you have pretty much nothing to say about it.
That’s me right now. I read a perfectly decent book this week. Nothing particularly irritated me. There were no nonsensical plot developments or characters acting — ummm — out of character.
But also. Nothing really jumped out at me. It held my attention, but never engaged my emotions. Something would happen, and I’d think, “Oh, I see why that happened.” I wasn’t bored… but I was never excited either.
So, yeah. It was fine.
When I love a book, I can (and do) go on and on about all the reasons why. I can pick apart all of the things that made the book special, find lots of quotes to highlight great writing, name the characters who were especially amazing or infuriating or puzzling or inspiring. Believe me, if a book is terrific, I will absolutely say so. Probably at length.
Likewise, if I really dislike a book, I’m not shy about saying so, and saying why. If anything, if all I have are negative comments, I’ll often decide not to write a review at all, since I find I’m a happier person in general when I try to stick to writing about books that make me happy. Unless I feel cheated or misled or manipulated, and then I’ll probably rant about it for a while.
But those middle of the road books? Hard.
I wish the author well, and I hope the book finds its audience. But I can’t say I thought it was amazing, and I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it. On the other hand, I’m sure there are people it’ll appeal to, and I wouldn’t say not to read it either.
It was fine. I read it, I wanted to see what happened, I stuck with it to the end, and it was fine.
What do you do with your “fine” books? Do you write about them anyway? Keep it short and simple? Or just ignore and move on?
Bookshelf Fantasies 
I try to write something, if only to remind myself what I thought of the book and that I did read it, but yeah it is a struggle sometimes. You don’t want to post a lot of filler, but you don’t really have a lot to say. I find this is a problem with books that I read right after finishing one I really loved. Somehow they just didn’t measure up, almost like a rebound book, and the review isn’t as fair as it could have been if it had not followed that great book.
Ha, I love the concept of a rebound book! I never thought of it that way, but it’s so true. So much of it comes down to timing for me — was I in the right mood when I read it? Would I have liked it better if I’d waited a few weeks? In the case of the book this week, I just really was drawing a blank. Besides recapping the plot, I wouldn’t have had much to say, and decided not to sweat it too much and force myself to come up with something. Sometimes, a book can be perfectly good, but just makes no impression on me. Sigh… on to better things, I hope!
I generally don’t post 1- or 2-star reviews, because like you say, I like to focus on the good books. Honestly, even most 3-star books I don’t write full reviews for… unless it was a review copy. Because those, I do want to spread the word and possibly get the book into hands of readers who’ll enjoy it more than I did. But it’s hard when you just can’t come up with much to say.
Right. Usually I can at least come up with something… but when it feels like I’m forcing myself, and all I can do is recap, maybe it’s better to just leave it unsaid. In this case, it was a review copy, so I do feel a bit bad about that — but perhaps no review is better than a half-hearted one. Maybe?
For my “okay” books, I might just shove them into a post of minireviews of other “okay” books. I definitely know the feeling of reading those “okay” books and just having nothing really to talk about in a review. 🙂
Good idea! I may end up doing a round-up of books that didn’t get their own reviews… or I might just let it go entirely. 🙂
I usually end up never writing reviews for “fine” books–not because I don’t intend to, but because I keep putting it off and putting it off because I have no idea what to say. Eventually, so much time has passed that I really have nothing to say because I can barely remember the plot! So I just move on to other things.
Ha! I’ve done that too… and I guess when I procrastinate that much about a particular book, it usually means that I’m not actually dying to say anything about it.
I try to write something, even if it’s just something short and simple, because as you say someone else might be interested in it.
Good point. I always feel so obligated to review the ARCs I get, but it’s really hard to find my motivation sometimes. Still, I do think you make a good point for writing a review anyway — even if it didn’t wow me, maybe someone else will love it?
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I agree with you wholeheartedly on this one, Lisa! I find find it to be much more difficult writing about middle-of-the-road books as opposed to books I either loved or hated. When I read, I want to feel SOMETHING, even if that something isn’t always the greatest feeling. I have to respect an author who can evoke that kind of passionate reaction out of me, even if I disliked their books. When it comes to books that are just “meh,” I’m usually at a loss of words and can’t really the desire to discuss it. I do try to review everything that I read whether it be good/okay/bad, but the okay books are always the toughest ones to talk about. I also tend to fall into a bookish rut after reading so many so-so books in a row.
I really do try to review everything as well, particularly when I’ve received a review copy of a book… but just every once in a while, I have absolutely no motivation, and that’s usually for the “fine” books. Sometimes I force myself to write a review anyway, but you can really tell by reading them (I think) that I just didn’t care very much.
I’ll try to dredge up something to say about it. But most of the time, I just have to move on.
I’m reading one of those right now…it’s an interesting story and I’m entertained, but I’m not overwhelmed with excitement about it or hating it either. It’s middle-of-the-road. It’s still a good book! I’m just not going bananas over it. I definitely will still review it, though. I review everything I read…just not necessarily on the blog. But since it’s an ARC, I will be posting it on the blog. I think that “it was fine” reviews can sometimes be helpful. A lot of times, if I’m looking at a book’s review on Goodreads, those 2-4 star reviews are the ones that I will click on more than the 1 stars or 5 stars. It usually gives me more of an overview and an honest look at both its good and bad parts.
I agree about 2- 4 star reviews on Goodreads — I do find those so helpful, particularly if I’m on the fence about whether to read a book. I like to get a sampling of the middle of the road reviews, which I think a more or less balance look at what I might experience. I tend to review almost everything on my blog — but everyone once in a while (like in this case), I just can’t think of a thing to say! 🙂
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