What purpose do book reviews serve?

This is another post I’m writing in response to a prompt for the NY Times, in this case asking about the purpose of cultural criticism. I’m focusing on the purpose of book reviews. Once again, I think this is a case where the answer for bloggers and professional reviewers may differ. My initial thought for both was that they’re supposed to help readers find good books and avoid ones they won’t like. However, I have such a long to-read list already, this certainly isn’t the most important role reviews play for me.

The main thing I get out of reading reviews from other bloggers is the joy of chatting with other readers. Even if I don’t leave a comment, I always appreciate a blogger I’m familiar with telling me about their reaction to a new book. It feels as though blogging has let me dramatically increased the amount of time I spend talking about books with friends!

There’s a lot of crossover in what I get out of reviews from bloggers and professionals too. I find all of these reviews enjoyable to read. They help me better identify and articulate why I like or dislike books. For example, I often find that Rennie at What’s Nonfiction expresses how I felt about a book more clearly than I managed to! I’m trying to write better reviews myself, so I learn a lot by reading reviews from others.

There are also a few things that only the best of reviews do. These qualities can be found in reviews from bloggers or professionals. One of my favorite things is a review that makes me re-think a book I’ve already read. I specifically remember having this experience a few times when reading reviews from Henry at Unsolicited Feedback. I think this is partly because those reviews included another feature I really enjoy, which is some engagement with the content of the books being reviewed. Last but not least, I also appreciate a review that puts a book in context for me. This can be done by comparing to the author’s other books; discussing other books on the same topic; or connecting the book to current events (Beck at Bookish Beck is a real expert at giving this kind of context).

Writing about the value a review has for me made me realize that I think the main role of a cultural critic is to help people think more deeply about the work they’re critiquing. I want a review to make me think differently about the book or about the world.

What do you see as the primary purpose of book reviews?

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