"Regrets, I've had a few..."

🎶 "Regrets, I've had a few..." 🎶  

I've done myself a disservice lately on the blog by only focusing on reviewing books and not writing about things that I am interested in that is book related and otherwise. Things that you might also enjoy reading.

 🎶"Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew. When I bit off more than I could chew..." 🎶

One of the things that I did a disservice to is writing like someone else that I admired who also reviews books. I thought that if I formatted my book reviews like this other Book Reviewer it might make my reviews more interesting. Nope. It's not me. I'm not that kind of reviewer. It wasn't snazzy enough for me.

The other thing I did was create a formulated review. 

I thought to do a review this way it would make it easier for me to just fill my thoughts in faster. That my friends is not even close to what is happening. I am not enjoying writing my reviews, I am struggling with the format, and I am pretty sure that shows through on the page itself. Does it?

You might ask me, "Sandi, why would you want to do what someone else is doing?" My honest response is, I was trying to grow, to expand my reading, to expand my writing skills. To lay it out in a review for you that you might like better.

🎶 "For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught. To say the things he truly feels;"🎶

However, how can I truly say the things I feel without holding true to My writing, to My words, My judgment on what you might want to know about a book?

There are certain general guidelines suggested to reviewers when reviewing a book, one of them is not to give a rating like a movie gets: PG, PG-13, M, R, X, NR, and also to not totally bash on an author's writing. The latter guideline I agree on. It's easy to review a book negatively without bashing on the writer personally. Can I say the writing style is juvenile? Sure. 

Will I pointedly call out someone's name and say they are juvenile writers? Heck no! Not in a review. Now, between you and me if we were close friends, in private? Maybe. I mean, there are books, that were written for adults then the majority of their audience ended up being Tweens because the writing wasn't great. I might happen to give you those author's names. But, not online, and not in writing. It's just not kosher.

The first guideline I would like to abolish. I don't believe in banning books because someone doesn't like the style of writing or the content is not to your values or morals. I don't read that way. I am an equal book opportunity reader, except for Harlequin Romance types of books and X- rated books. Those are not in my wheelhouse and never will be... they just don't interest me in the slightest. So, maybe I'm not a complete "equal book opportunity" reader... you get what I am saying though, right?

I do believe, nevertheless, that certain reviewers have particular readers. Readers who want to know if something is smutty, something is full of swear words those readers who look at covers to decide what to read and don't read the blurb, those who wouldn't want to even open the book if let's say, the book is full of the F-word. Some readers want to know if there are relationships that they might not agree with and definitely don't want to read about in a book. 

Again, my personal feeling is that I despise banning or labeling books, however, I also know my friends and readers and what they are looking for in the books they read. So, in the future, I will be giving a general heads up if a book is of

a graphic nature, only because it might be a book you want to read with your kids. 

As I have said numerous times, I am an openminded reader, you might not be and so in the vein of non-discriminating, any one book by a "no don't read if you are not into blah, blah, blah..." comment if the book is of a certain genre I will be listing it: Non-Fiction, Fiction, LGBTQ, Romance, Western, what have you. I think this is fair, in as much as, I get these books from the publishers, they have the genre in categories for the reviewers. 

 🎶through it all, when there was doubt, I ate it up and spit it out. I faced it all and I stood tall; And did it my way." 🎶

In the future, my way of eating "it up and spit[ing] it out" might change the way I do things again. You never know. I am that type of person.

I hope that you will enjoy what I have coming down the pipeline. I know that it will be more personable and definitely will be an honest review and/or post. 

So here's to writing, as Mr. Frank Sinatra sings so passionately, "my way".