Here’s a new thing. I was recently contacted by Ben Fox at Shepherd.com and invited to write a set of 5 short book reviews on a theme of my choosing. In exchange, the site would feature one of my books.
I hadn’t heard of this site – it’s relatively new – but the name says it all. The idea is to guide readers to books and authors they may well enjoy, and to do it not by star ratings and the bludgeoning numbers game you get on Goodreads, but by discursive comment. Um, actual writing. Authors writing about authors. The plus is that the reviewer’s tastes and writing style are both on display, so as well as allowing you enthuse about books you love, and bring readers to them, it allows readers who would otherwise never have come to your work to sample the way your mind works and, maybe, look further.
Well, either you like enthusing about other people’s books, or you don’t. I relished the whole challenge: picking a theme that would complement one of my own preoccupations as a writer; whittling down that list of five – which for me meant striking a balance between different approaches; forcing myself to articulate exactly why I loved them; then writing a personal and concise review that would bring out the star features, the particularity, of each pick. I love a language puzzle, and that’s what it was, in a way. Writing with discipline (passion loves a corset).
So, with Joe Faber and the Optimists at the back of my mind, and drawing on the thought that the bottom has fallen out of my own world several times, I went for the five best books for when life heads downhill. You can investigate them here.
But you will find all sorts of other intriguing lists and it’s a fun site to visit. It is, as their home page proclaims, like wandering the aisles of your favourite bookstore.