People still belong to book clubs. Dare one fantasize about a book club app, a Books With Friends, that would automate and standardize the book club experience, with templates for quickly summarizing what people like and dislike?
Dare one fantasize about a better version of Goodreads that isn't just an opportunity for people to trash authors they haven't read because they don't like what they've heard about the author's politics or lifestyle?
Should every book order spawn "tell us about your experience" emails like you get every time you go to the hospital or buy a pack of gum?
Or is all this stuff already happening and I'm out of the loop?
Agree wholeheartedly with the idea of not bunching reviews just around pub date. One of the newsletters I love is CrimeReads, which daily features 5-8 short essays about books/films. Yes, some are "new thrillers publishing this week" but often they are more along the lines of "Six Novels that Feature Unreliable Narrators" or "9 Films Where the Journalist Saves the Day" and often feature works released years back. It's where I discovered (and bought) Blake Crouch's "Pines" (2012) and got introduced to early firms by Bong Joon Ho
An excellent article, thank you. You captured exactly why I am now writing book reviews specifically for Substack and including both new releases and older books.
As I unwillingly admit to ageing, I reckon there may be a demographic echo: I still read reviews, in vestigial online (e.g Sydney Review of Books) & print literary journals, that explore themes or issues or genre bending, and so I am introduced to books I'd otherwise never encounter. And then use "New Oz Crime Thriller"-style lists, and publisher enewsletters to filter & focus what to buy.
Oof, that is so depressing. I've never used Goodreads, but my wife used to love it, key words being "used to." The enshittification of the internet marches on.
People still belong to book clubs. Dare one fantasize about a book club app, a Books With Friends, that would automate and standardize the book club experience, with templates for quickly summarizing what people like and dislike?
Dare one fantasize about a better version of Goodreads that isn't just an opportunity for people to trash authors they haven't read because they don't like what they've heard about the author's politics or lifestyle?
Should every book order spawn "tell us about your experience" emails like you get every time you go to the hospital or buy a pack of gum?
Or is all this stuff already happening and I'm out of the loop?
Agree wholeheartedly with the idea of not bunching reviews just around pub date. One of the newsletters I love is CrimeReads, which daily features 5-8 short essays about books/films. Yes, some are "new thrillers publishing this week" but often they are more along the lines of "Six Novels that Feature Unreliable Narrators" or "9 Films Where the Journalist Saves the Day" and often feature works released years back. It's where I discovered (and bought) Blake Crouch's "Pines" (2012) and got introduced to early firms by Bong Joon Ho
An excellent article, thank you. You captured exactly why I am now writing book reviews specifically for Substack and including both new releases and older books.
As I unwillingly admit to ageing, I reckon there may be a demographic echo: I still read reviews, in vestigial online (e.g Sydney Review of Books) & print literary journals, that explore themes or issues or genre bending, and so I am introduced to books I'd otherwise never encounter. And then use "New Oz Crime Thriller"-style lists, and publisher enewsletters to filter & focus what to buy.
Goodreads is the whole game for fiction. Amassing "want to read" numbers and pre-sale reviews drives everything.
Oof, that is so depressing. I've never used Goodreads, but my wife used to love it, key words being "used to." The enshittification of the internet marches on.