3 Top Reasons to Write a Book Review

!: 3 Top Reasons to Write a Book Review

Introduction

My name is Patricia Altner and I am a freelance writer, bibliographer, and researcher. I am also a book reviewer and would like to introduce you to the pleasures and rewards of this pastime. What give me the credentials to offer this report on book reviewing? Try this experiment. Google my name. Go ahead. Search Patricia Altner. You will see that most entries are either linked to my book, Vampire Readings, or to reviews I have posted online.

My Background

As a reference librarian my greatest joy was finding information for people, and when working in a public library it was always great fun to advise customers on books they might like to read. This allowed me to guiltlessly indulge my love for reading since without reading a variety of novel, biographies, popular history, and on and on, I would not be able to do my job.

Usually when recommending books it entailed giving a brief verbal review although since I was making a recommendation these reviews were usually of the positive variety.

From time to time I found it necessary to steer a reader away from a particular book because there might be something offense for that particular person like graphic sex and/or violence. Not everyone has the same taste, as I quickly found out. I enjoyed the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris, but an elderly friend thought they were too violent. To each his own.

Reason #1 Name Recognition

Do you yearn to see your name in print?

Or would you like to see it more often?

Write for name recognition!

I have always loved to read, but the idea of putting my thoughts about a book on paper never occurred to me until I came across a professional journal that sought reviewers for historical fiction. There was no compensation except for a brief byline and, depending upon the generosity of the publisher, a copy of the book. I began doing this several years ago when uncorrected proofs consisted of loose, legal size pages. This left huge margin for notes, but the sheets were a bit unwieldy. The point is my name appeared regularly in print, something I loved to see. It was a fun and easy way to let others know my opinion besides the ego trip.

I found that after publishing many reviews, it actually led to other writing assignments - and not just reviewing. Some of articles paid real money. Don't get me wrong book reviewing will not make you rich, still it may generate some income. What it will definitely do is get your name into the public sphere which, besides bringing self-satisfaction, it can bring you to the attention of those who would be interested in your expertise

Reason #2 Knowledge

Increase your knowledge and those of others

If you are an eclectic reader who enjoys reading a variety of material then you are the perfect person to work in the reader's advisory role which is really a good definition of a book reviewer.

Should you ever need the excuse to read a nonfiction book that is way out of your knowledge base - for me it might be A History of Time by Stephen Hawking - but you wonder, "Should I take time out of my very busy schedule for this?" The answer is, of course! You are a reviewer. You will be putting whatever knowledge you have gained to use by imparting it to others. You will recommend this book, or not, based on how well the author imparted the information, and you will make sure that you have an understanding of the subject in order to intelligently explain it to your audience.

If you regularly review for a publication an editor will often assign a book to you. It has been in this way that I have been exposed to authors I might never have known about. Years ago I became aware of P. N Elrod's Vampire Files series and have been a fan ever since. More recently I was assigned Dead Until Dawn by Charlaine Harris and have not missed one book of her entertaining Southern Vampire Mysteries. (It's obvious in which genre I prefer to read!)

Reason # 3 Improve Writing

Improve Your Writing Skills

In order to be a good writer you have to read, so why not jot down your thoughts about that most recent book you have finished. Then do your editing and polishing. Make it ready for publication. Then publish or not. It's completely up to you. if you decide these jottings are for your eyes only your time has not been wasted. Every writer's advice article or book tells budding authors to write every day and at every chance. And what happens when your mind is as blank as a new document form? Get beyond that horrid writer's block and spell out in vivid detail why you loved every word of Ann Lamott or despised the syrupy sweetness of Barbara Cartland. It's cathartic and you filled up a lot of white space with something meaningful.

Much of the time you read what you are passionate about. So for me that means sitting down next to my ever growing pile of vampire fiction and vampire lore, and spending an enjoyable few hours with the undead. OK. It's not for everyone. Go with whatever subject sparks your enthusiasm.

An added bonus for all of us who are compelled to write something about our reading material is that it creates a personal reader's journal. Too often have had a vague memory of something I've read and am driven crazy until I remember the title. Now that I keep my own private reading journal I'm able to keep my sanity. Also from time to time I like to peruse the entries and savor the memory of an enjoyable book.

3 Top Reasons to Write a Book Review

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Sookie disposes of Talbot

!: Sookie disposes of Talbot

I DO NOT own this, it belongs to HBO.

Sookie disposes of Talbot

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Eric & Sookie Basement Scene

!: Eric & Sookie Basement Scene

This special footage takes us to a scene that seems to take place only minutes after the fateful dinner in which Bill is kidnapped. Sookie marches over to Fangtasia where a shirtless Eric is apparently in the middle of doing what he does best: having sex! Patience is impossible! June needs to come here FAST! =)

Eric & Sookie Basement Scene

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That Boy Is A Monster: Eric Northman/Sookie Stackhouse Music Video

!: That Boy Is A Monster: Eric Northman/Sookie Stackhouse Music Video

Another Eric/Sookie fanvid to add to the growing collection on youtube! DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the material used in this video, other than the way it is edited. 'Monster' belongs to Lady Gaga, and 'Trueblood' and the Southern Vampire Mysteries belongs to HBO and Charlaine Harris respectively. This is for entertainment purposes only. This is my first TrueBlood Music Video edit, I hope you enjoy it! This was a bit of fun, I loved the song, and Eric, so i thought; 'Why not combine them?' The Southern Vampire Mysteries books are great, as is the TV show, and Lady Gaga, so here's a bit of a combined tribute to them all. :D

That Boy Is A Monster: Eric Northman/Sookie Stackhouse Music Video

Line Trimmers Best Quality

In My Dark Dream by JF Freedman

!: In My Dark Dream by JF Freedman

I had read JF Freedman before and remembered I had really loved his style. Fallen Idols was an especially good mystery and tautly put together. Another I really enjoyed was 2001's Above The Law, a legal thriller and sequel to 1999's, The Disappearance featuring contrary former D.A. Luke Garrison. Garrison lives in the woods, kind of hiding out from a past failure in a previous life where he sent men to the gas chamber on a regular basis. He rides a Harley, wears an ear ring and has obviously left the button down,rising star of the D.A.s office persona behind. With Freedman's gripping prose style and Garrison an engaging and fun hero, I was looking forward to many stories in a new series. But, his next book, 2002's Bird Eye View was a stand alone. It was very good and a little more light-hearted than the two Luke Garrison novels but then I heard nothing from Freedman for two years until Fallen idols. I think that's why I lost track of him, he seems to go two years and more between novels.

But, I was very glad I remembered him enough to pick up In My Dark Dreams. From the opening chapter he grabs you and sets such a dark, eerie mood that you are already guessing, examining and analyzing the psyche of the characters to guess who done it, and you don't even know what's been done yet. What's almost as impressive is the novel is written in the first person and that person is a female. Not many male authors can pull off the female voice for an entire novel convincingly.But J.F. Freedman does.

Public Defender Jessica Thompson is a lady with a past, but not the usual past. Jessica is the daughter of an alcoholic mother who accidentally shoots her when she is like 14 or 15 and is sneaking back into the house one night. Jessica never goes home after recovering, finishing high school-at a different school-and living with an old friend of her mothers. She never sees her mother again, and though she is very young, she doesn't really form a bond with her surrogate mother. On graduation, she moves out, gets a little flop house apartment with a string of hippy type nihilistic kids and works odd jobs. Waitressing, cashier, and finally nude model for an art class. hey, the money is great and it IS art. This goes on until one day on her twentieth birthday, she drops into Santa Monica City College on a whim. Eight years later, after drifting into it, she graduates law school and goes to work for the L.A. Public Defender. It's now six years later, and Jessica is dating a classical musician and contemplating marriage and children and training to run her first marathon. She is out for a training run, around midnight, in the Brentwood area of L.A. when almost surreally she meets Lt. Luis Cordova who is on a stake out. There is a serial killer on the lose and he takes his victims during the full moon. He takes his third victim that night.

Jessica, being a rather junior member of the Public Defenders office picks up a client on what looks like an open and shut case and a pretty minor crime compared to serial killers and murder trials. Roberto Salazar. One night Roberto is helping a friend with a delivery of T.V.'s when the friends truck breaks down. Roberto meets the friend and transfers the load to his truck and goes to deliver them while the friend waits for a tow truck. Along the way Roberto pulls in to a mini mart to use the restroom and gets pulled over by a cop, probably because he is Chicano, no matter the accusation of a rolling stop and a flickering tail light. Any excuse will do when it is a Chicano in west L.A. at three a.m.. It turns out that the T.V.'s have been stolen from a warehouse in Long Beach and Roberto lands in jail. But Roberto is no gang banger vato. He is a pillar of hard, honest work in his poor side of town and well thought of by everyone. Never been arrested, He is happily married with children. He is a lay minister in a store front church and a devoted youth counselor. He also owns a gardening/land scape business servicing the rich in west L.A. and he also owns an old box truck that he uses to make extra money as a mover or delivery man from time to time. But, he was caught with a load of stolen goods, and he is a minority in Los Angles.

One of Roberto's customers is the very wealthy, Amada Burgess, Los Angles royalty. Amada comes forward, and uncharacteristically vouches for Roberto's good name and with that confidence, Jessica wins an acquittal at trial. Mean while, The Full Moon killers is still out there, even though he missed a month along the way.

A few months go by when when early one morning Roberto is sitting in his truck, waiting to start work at 7 a.m sharp. He is reading the paper and drinking some McDonalds coffee when he is approached by Lt. Cordova. Roberto, now leery of any contact with the police, figures he is being harassed but lets the police search his truck. They find nothing because Roberto of course has done nothing, but just as they are about to let him go on his way, Cordova finds incriminating evidence under the floor mat of Roberto's truck. the Full Moon Killer has taken another female vitim and it is only a couple of blocks from where Roberto was sitting in his truck. He is booked as The Full Moon Killer and the evidence is mighty powerful.

Can Jessica have been wrong? Could Amanda's faith have been misplaced. You'll find out when you are seduced by this mystery/legal thriller with twists and turns to satisfy the most jaded reader.

Freedman's prose are tighter than a good alibi, and engrossing as you could want. The characters are well written and he seems to have the ability to get inside of the head of not only Layers and cops, women and Chicanos, but the wealthy with secrets of their own. He paints this tale on a back-drop of the prejudice that covers L.A. like the smog it's famous for and the detail in the court room is not only realistic but well researched. I can only hope he starts turning out more than one book every two or three years, and I wouldn't mind seeing Jessica again, or even Luke Garrison and his Harley.

In My Dark Dream by JF Freedman

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