The Honest BookTuber Tag

I wasn’t tagged by anyone (*sad trombone noise* lol), but I saw this on Evelyn Reads’ blog and couldn’t resist!

I’m not a booktuber (I have a face for radio and a voice for writing), but some of these prompts are pretty universal.

Have you ever lied about reading a book?

Nope. Well, I miiiiight have stretched the truth a little in college and bluffed through a couple essays (no thank you, Middlemarch—300 pages was enough hell), but if the professor had ever directly asked I wouldn’t have lied.

Have you ever avoided a book because of controversy around the content/author?

Yep. Mainly because much of it doesn’t interest me in the first place, but I’ll admit that a lot of the YA Book Twitter drama makes me disinclined to read a lot of the controversial stuff, mainly because they contain things I’m not really into reading. But I’ve stopped paying attention to a lot of it—although I do base my intent to read it upon other people’s reviews, since there are certain things I have no desire to read anymore. And there are books that I’ve read that I enjoyed, but will no longer read because I absolutely abhor the author’s policies/mindsets (Orson Scott Card, Larry Correia, Laurell K. Hamilton, etc.).

However (semi-professional plug), as a librarian this doesn’t mean that I let my personal preferences (damn this is hard—I’m a very opinionated person) bleed over into my recommendations or collection development policies, and I do disapprove of the act of censoring or banning books. Choosing not to buy and urging people away from a book is one thing—actively pushing to cancel a book’s publication or banning a book is another matter all together (bracing myself for the flack from this statement).

Have you ever been sent a book for free and not disclosed it?

I’ve only been sent a couple books for free! As a new book blogger (longtime Goodreads reviewer) on the tiny scale of blogging, I mostly get my ARCs from NetGalley and sometimes Edelweiss. I think I might not have disclosed free books in the beginning when I didn’t know any better, but now I’m absolutely religious about it. And where I get a book absolutely does not influence my rating or review (see: The Friend Zone).

Have you ever bought a book with no intention of reading it?

Yes and no? Generally speaking I only buy a book if 1) I can’t find it anywhere else or 2) I loved it and plan to read it in the future. So I have a lot of books on my shelves that I’ve read but haven’t actually read, if that makes sense. We move a lot, so more books=more weight=more complaints from my wife.

Have you ever gotten caught up in book blogger drama?

I’m a new bookblogger and am really out of all of the circles, so nope! I’ve also avoided any and all YA Book Twitter drama (although I used to circle at the edges for the latest blow ups). And hopefully I avoid any drama in the future, too!

Have you ever had a hate comment, and did you respond?

Not on this blog! But I have had several nasty comments on my Goodreads profile (not hate comments though).

A couple years ago, I received an ARC from an author I’d reviewed before (self-published at the time) and was friends with on Goodreads. It was the second book in a horror series and had a mind control trope that involved rape (that the mind-controlled character enjoyed but not really??).

When the main character was back to her normal self, she rationalized the rape as not-rape because at the time she enjoyed (????) it (!!!) and went back into the arms of her rapist (who was also kinda mind controlled/under an alter ego) and I was like What. Did. Ijustread?! Not only did the rationalization make me nauseous and uncomfortable, it triggered some, um, not so great memories (I am not a sexual assault survivor but I do have an ex who was…not so great).

Anywho, I received a really nasty comment from another reader who was basically like “wtf is wrong with you that wasn’t rape at all!” Me reading that comment:

Nearly a year later, the author sent me a Goodreads DM asking me to take my review down because she was getting the book republished by a small press and didn’t want my review to discourage anyone.

Authors, don’t do this. Don’t ask the reviewer to remove their review or contact them if you don’t like the review. It’s a huge no-no.

I did reply (politely), and I amended the post to read that it was of an earlier edition, but I did not remove the review. A small part of me wonders how many other people she asked (there weren’t many negative reviews of the book, and my review was pretty polite IMO), and how many people acquiesced because she has a large Goodreads presence. That book has a 4.46 rating on Goodreads.

But that’s it (well, aside from some commenters correcting me on the published version of American Royals—I had the ARC and the ARC had problems—but that’s whatever).

Have you ever made a post just because you knew it would get views?

Honestly I don’t even think I would know how! The posts that get views (aside from the Top 10 Tuesdays) are the ones that I didn’t think would get any.

If you could go back to the beginning of your blog, would you do anything different?

Maybe have a better aesthetic? And actually pay more attention to people who pinged my blog…because I had a couple of people give me shout outs early on (lol like five months ago) and I didn’t notice it because I didn’t know to look. So…better networking? Something I’m still working on.

Are there any blogs you wish you could be more like?

All of them! Especially people with gorgeous aesthetics. I feel like I’m bumbling along trying to figure mine out (I have so many things I want to be that I just can’t choose), and they’ve got it figured out.

What’s something you love about your blog?

The people who read it! I have a couple of dedicated likers and commenters, and I appreciate you all! I went into this blogging thing because I wanted to write more reviews on a medium outside of Goodreads, and I’m tickled that people are reading what I write. So thank you, readers. You rock!

Tags

Nana Spark

Acquadimore Books

Mel to the Any

Happy Reading!