There have been a lot of blog posts recently about the importance of book reviews for authors. And they are – for improvement, for sales, for so many reasons. But they are also good for readers, which is what I’ll be blogging about today.

I love books – I love reading them, and I love the smell of paperbacks, the feel of my kindle and the weight of a hardback (so long as I’m not commuting with it!). But there are so many wonderful books about that, without reviews, I wouldn’t know where to start.

Which is why I don’t subscribe to the ‘positive reviews only’ school (although I do only post reviews of books I’ve enjoyed on the blog – more on that later). I want to know if a book hasn’t lived up to the hype, or if the author is flagging, or if the book is poorly edited, because there are so many relatively unknown books, debuts, or perfectly edited brilliant books getting an undeserved bad rap because they are self- or indy- published and some people still think that that equates to being rubbish.

Reviews should always be constructive (because, if nothing else, this is someone’s baby you’re talking/blogging/writing about), but that doesn’t mean they should all be glowing. Because, when you do get your teeth into that wonderful book, the one that you’ll forgo food, drink and outside life for, you need to be able to shout about it above the din. And people need to be able to hear it (which is why I only share the reviews of books I’ve thoroughly enjoyed on this blog).

So, if you don’t already, do take 5 minutes when you finish your current read and let the author know (through Goodreads or Amazon etc) what you thought about the plot, the characters, the writing, the pace, the style, or the feelings it evokes in you. Because it’s not just the author you’re benefiting, but other readers too. Readers just like you.