Book Reviews Quotes

“For a while, Criticism travels side by side with the Work, then Criticism vanishes and it's the Readers who keep pace. The journey may be long or short. Then the Readers die one by one and the Work continues on alone, although a new Criticism and new Readers gradually fall into step with it along its path. Then Criticism dies again and the Readers die again and the Work passes over a trail of bones on its journey toward solitude. To come near the work, to sail in her wake, is a sign of certain death, but new Criticism and new Readers approach her tirelessly and relentlessly and are devoured by time and speed. Finally the Work journeys irremediably alone in the Great Vastness. And one day the Work dies, as all things must die and come to an end: the Sun and the Earth and the Solar System and the Galaxy and the farthest reaches of man's memory. Everything that begins as comedy ends in tragedy.”
― Roberto Bolaño, The Savage Detectives

“At the evident risk of seeming ridiculous, I want to begin by saying that I have tried for much of my life to write as if I was composing my sentences to be read posthumously. I hope this isn't too melodramatic or self-centred a way of saying that I attempt to write as if I did not care what reviewers said, what peers thought, or what prevailing opinions may be.”
― Christopher Hitchens, A Long Short War: The Postponed Liberation of Iraq

“Every article and review and book that I have ever published has constituted an appeal to the person or persons to whom I should have talked before I dared to write it. I never launch any little essay without the hope—and the fear, because the encounter may also be embarrassing—that I shall draw a letter that begins, 'Dear Mr. Hitchens, it seems that you are unaware that…' It is in this sense that authorship is collaborative with 'the reader.' And there's no help for it: you only find out what you ought to have known by pretending to know at least some of it already.

It doesn't matter how obscure or arcane or esoteric your place of publication may be: some sweet law ensures that the person who should be scrutinizing your work eventually does do so.”
― Christopher Hitchens, Hitch 22: A Memoir

“You can kill a book quicker by your silence than by a bad review.”
― E.A. Bucchianeri

“His deep voice drifted to her through the crowd of women. “…my lady when she returns. Och, there ye are, Blossom,” Faolán grinned, standing up and taking her hand so she could ease back into the restaurant booth. “These lasses were just asking if I was a stripper. I told them I doona think so,” he said, his face clouded with uncertainty. “I’m not, am I?”
The inquisitive lasses in question flushed scarlet and scattered to the four corners of the room at the murderous look on Colleen’s face. “No, you’re not, but I guess I can see how they’d think that,” she muttered darkly. “What you are is a freaking estrogen magnet.”
― Shannon MacLeod, Rogue on the Rollaway

“We sometimes reveal how ignorant or bored we were when we read a book by giving it 5-stars.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“It's the Yelp effect. Every halfwit who eats food suddenly thinks he's a food critic. And don't get me started on people “reviewing” books they didn't even read. Who needs information, when you can have an uninformed opinion?”
― Oliver Markus Malloy, Why Creeps Don't Know They're Creeps - What Game of Thrones can teach us about relationships and Hollywood scandals

“If a book isn’t at least somewhat polarizing, it didn’t say anything of value.

[Blog entry - November 1, 2014]”
― Ilona Andrews

“Recommending a book to someone is the second best thing to buying it for them, which is the second best thing to reading it for them.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“You turn the lights on and off here and if you can’t sleep and want something to read there are books in the living room…” her voice broke off. “Wait. Can you read?”
His chin took a slight tilt upward. “Aye,” Faolán replied, his voice cool, “in English, Gaelic, Latin, or French. My Welsh is a bit rusty, and I doona remember any of the Greek I was taught except for words not fit for a lady’s ears. I can also count all the way up to…” He looked down and wiggled his large bare toes, “…twenty.”
– Faolán MacIntyre”
― Shannon MacLeod, Rogue on the Rollaway

“Och, lass. Yer going to have to not do that.” Faolán exhaled. “Creeping up on a man is a dangerous thing, and I confess I’m jumpier than most. Yer feet are soft as a cat’s.”
“I wasn’t creeping anywhere, I was going to make coffee and this is my house, I’ll creep anywhere I like,” Colleen muttered with a petulant scowl. “But I wasn’t creeping.”
― Shannon MacLeod, Rogue on the Rollaway

“Refusing to lean back against him, Colleen sat ramrod straight until they reached the road. “I guess I should say thank you for saving my life,” she muttered then turned and slapped Faolán hard across the face. “And that’s for you having to save it in the first place. And I’m not your woman, you big, arrogant, lying, betraying…faery loving…” She searched for the perfect insult and couldn’t find one, “…Scot.” She gave a very unladylike snort. “Happy now? That fiery enough for you?”
― Shannon MacLeod, Rogue on the Rollaway

“A writer hopes never to offend, but if he must, pray let him offend the gods before the reviewers.”
― Chila Woychik, On Being a Rat and Other Observations

“? Reviews are for readers AND authors. It’s a good way of learning from what people think about the work. Being it good or bad. A book might as well be hurt by a bad, poorly written review. That’s such a pity. Some people don’t know how to express themselves, and maybe that’s why they are just readers and not writers, others read a book like chewing a cupcake. That’s too bad. If that was not your cup of tea, leave it there, untouched. Don’t go bash the author for that. But if you really hate the book, why bother telling others. It’s your problem after all. You can give constructive opinions but don’t blame the author for your different tastes and views. Also authors shouldn’t comment on reviews, it sounds unprofessional, even silly. Some busy writers don’t even have time to read what other people say about their work. If someone enjoyed your book, or not, that is irrelevant. If you will continue or not to write something else it doesn´t add to the plate.. Besides, why bother commenting on a review, just read it and shut up. Being it good or bad. So my opinions about authors commenting on reviews is just my opinions after all!”
― Ana Claudia Antunes

“I hardly give 5 stars to a book in my review. I do not want the authors to reach a saturation point, where they think they have done their best; they can always go beyond what they have achieved so far - should always go beyond - Keep growing.”
― Arti Honrao

“If I measure my success around some else’s, I pretty much am denying my existence.”
― Shamikia Gottlieb, Run Uninterrupted

“When a reviewer describes a book as 'sincere,' one knows immediately that it is a) insincere (insincerely insincere) and b) badly written.”
― W.H. Auden, The Dyer's Hand and Other Essays

“Without ever meaning to, my father taught me at a very early age to give up on the idea of approval. I wish I could bottle that freedom now and give it to every young writer I meet, with an extra bottle for the women.”
― Ann Patchett, These Precious Days: Essays

“Seeking book reviews from friends and family is like walking your cat on a leash – theoretically possible, but count on sharp claws and a lot of hissing!”
― Caroline Hurry

“Hester Lipp had written Where the Sidewalk Starts, an inexplicably acclaimed book of memoir, recounting — in severe language and strange, striking imagery — Lipp's childhood and adolescence on a leafy suburban street in Burlington. Her house was large and well-kept, her schooling uneventful, her family — the members of which she described in scrupulous detail — uniformly decent and supportive. Sidewalk was blurbed as a devastatingly honest account of what it meant to grow up middle class in America. Amy, who forced herself to read the whole thing, thought the book devastatingly unnecessary. The New York Times had assigned it to her for a review, and she stomped on it with both feet. Amy's review of Sidewalk was the only mean-spirited review she ever wrote.

She had allowed herself to do this, not because she was tired of memoirs, baffled by their popularity, resentful that somehow, in the past twenty years, fiction had taken a backseat to them, so that in order to sell clever, thoroughly imagined novels, writers had been browbeaten by their agents into marketing them as fact. All this annoyed her, but then Amy was annoyed by just about everything. She beat up on Hester Lipp because the woman could write up a storm and yet squandered her powers on the minutiae of a beige conflict-free life. In her review, Amy had begun by praising what there was to praise about Hester's sharp sentences and word-painting talents and then slipped, in three paragraphs, into a full-scale rant about the tyranny of fact and the great advantages, to both writer and reader, of making things up. She ended by saying that reading Where the Sidewalk Starts was like "being frog-marched through your own backyard.”
― Jincy Willett, Amy Falls Down

“I was given a copy of this book by Author S.K. Ballinger. It did have some edits that needs to be fixed, but the story line was so intriguing that I could not put it down. The characters were brought to life very well & it made it easy to get to know each of them. The details were so on target that it was like watching a movie in my head. For those of you that haven't read this book, it's a different approach for werewolves. I don't want to give anything away, but Stan & Kain are some awesome characters that I believe everyone should get to know. When reading a book that was put together this well that you can't put it down, it makes me wonder why I haven't heard of this author before & why it's not on film for everyone's viewing pleasure. It's not very often that I find a book like this that I really care about pushing it out there, so those of you that know me will know it must be good.
S.K. Ballinger is a great man & a family man. I've never met him in person, but he's definitely got enough heart for everyone to push him to the top. So I urge everyone to spread this name around & most definitely this book, because I'm sure we haven't heard the last out of him. I would hope to see a lot more coming in the near future.
Even with the edits, I give this book 5 stars!
Check it out on amazon”
― discovered pages

“If he were killing a mouse he would know how to make it seem like a dragon”
― George Orwell

“Paints a vivid picture of Jesus’ groundbreaking lessons . . . An impressively concise portrayal of Jesus as a moral philosopher [and] social reformer, just as one might study the teachings of the Buddha or the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. . . . Thorough and erudite . . . written in an almost conversationally informal style.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Thoughtful and well researched, Nordstrom’s book is a welcome perspective on Jesus. [Fountain of Change] documents Jesus’s progressive stances on politics, theology, and women’s rights [and] impart a great deal of practical wisdom allowing for [the] intrinsic meaning to be gleaned by any reader. . . . Nordstrom has a knack for language. Well-crafted, alluring prose . . . Short, concise chapters keep the text clipping along nicely.” —Foreword Reviews

“An extraordinary read from cover to cover and very highly recommended . . . Informed and informative, thoughtful and thought-provoking, inspired and inspiring . . . Will prove to be of immense interest for non-Christian readers . . . An enduringly popular addition to church, seminary, community, and academic library Christian History collections.” —Midwest Book Review
“Well-written, enjoyable, and informative . . . like a conversation with an intelligent friend . . . Here, we see Jesus not as a god, but as a man who preached love and acceptance. . . . Easy to understand exegesis, commentary, and reflections on Jesus’ public ministry.” —BlueInk”
― Oscar R. Nordstrom

“It’s frustrating having these narrative expectations. All our lives we want answers—when will this happen, what is that, who are they, do you smell something burning, you name it. And everyone avoids the questions! Never do we actually get the response we’re hoping for. The answers in our head are far superior to whatever they, to whatever I, could come up with. So they leave it to you to figure out. ‘And where’s the fun in that?’ you say. And someone else replies, ‘You tell me.”
― Bryant A. Loney, Sea Breeze Academy

“Overall, Douglas' story is an inspiring one, and readers will find it remarkable how he continually was able to persevere in the face of daunting challenges.”
― Kirkus Book Review

“The life led by the author speaks of a man who lived through some truly historic moments.”
― Hollywood Book Reviews

“Unfortunately, missing the author’s point, or not understanding the book, is not enough to prevent one from reviewing and/or rating it.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“Book reviews by those who do it for a pledge or financial benefits fail to qualify authenticity or reliability, as a comparison with one who refers and mentions your writings and thoughts in its writings and status neutrally, and fairly, even voluntarily.”
― Ehsan Sehgal

“Most editors run poems and poetry reviews the way a prosperous Montana rancher might keep a few buffalo around—not to eat the endangered creatures but to display them for tradition's sake.”
― Dana Gioia, Poetry as Enchantment

“Professional courtesy has no place in literary journalism.”
― Dana Gioia, Can Poetry Matter?: Essays on Poetry and American Culture