What I’ve Learned from Writing Book Reviews

I’ve been writing book reviews for close to a year — this is what I’ve learnt so far.

So it’s now September and I find myself with a backlog of over 40 book reviews. And when I haven’t written these book reviews, I’ve always been thinking about books in some way, consciously or unconsciously reviewing them in my head.

Apart from simply loving writing them, I’ve realised I have learned a lot from them too. I’m no expert — quite the opposite. But this is what I have learned from the experience so far.

I Value Having a Record of Everything I’ve Read

This may sound like the obvious one — but hear me out.

When I was younger and I had all the time in the world to read, I would whizz through books at a speed so fast that if you asked me about the book the next day, I wouldn't be able to tell you a thing about it. In other words — I would forget everything I’d read.

Writing book reviews has forced me to consolidate my thoughts on a book and has left me a neat little trail of reviews across the internet — which will be lovely to look back on in years to come.

If I’m ever sat there thinking, “I wonder what I read when I was 22?” as long as the Internet is still alive, I’ll be able to know the answer.

If You Don’t Like the Book — Just Give Up

I used to be a firm believer that once you’ve started a book, you should never give up on it. Now that I (almost) read every book to write a review, there would be nothing worse than having to plough through a book I didn’t like and write a review about it after.

Life’s too short and there are so many books out there, ditch the ones you don’t like and then you can make more time for the ones you do.

And yes, it is okay to abandon the book at any time. Thirty pages from the end and you just can’t be bothered anymore? Then put it down and move onto the next.

It’s Rare to Find Someone Who Agrees With You 100%

For every book read, there’s a wealth of different opinions that come with it. Every book is going to be received and…