NextRead

Susan Hill’s blog :: THE HOLY SPIRIT BLOWEST WHERE IT LISTETH..
Be assured that no book mentioned and praised and recommended by me on this blog or elsewhere has ever been done so as a result of any form of bribe or ‘buzz.’

The internet is a wonderful thing full of wonderful people who love sharing stuff with other people with their only motivation to be part of the conversation. And that’s my hope for this blog - that it is a conversation with you dear reader.

There are some great conversationalists on the list of links on the right hand side of the screen, which I hope you’ll find time to check out. The strange thing is that not one of them encompasses all the books that I find interesting - which is great because by reading them I’m always finding more and more writers and books to check out  - but I do get the feeling that they are all genuine in their thoughts and opinions.

The nice thing about having this blog is that I get sent the occasional book that I might be interested in either one I’ve requested or one they think I might like. I must admit that it is very flattering to have books  arrive through the door from publishers not that I get that many but it’s still nice.

I have a small pile looking at me at the moment:

Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley
Sharp Teeth  by Toby Barlow
The Dreaming Void by Peter F. Hamilton

Winterbirth is fantasy début that is getting a lot of buzz (see Rising Stars).
Sharp Teeth is a novel-in-verse with decision clinching quote by Niall Griffiths and another debut.  They also both come under my mini focus of debut’s in this blog this year.
The Dreaming Void is by an author I’ve been meaning to read for ages.

Does this make me a proper reviewer? There is a great debate about the value of blog reviewers. I for one think that we all add to the conversation and we amateurs (as in we don’t get paid) can compliment and perhaps supplement (where they don’t cover our tastes) the professionals (as in they get paid for it).

I’ve have gone back to my previous reviews and added REVIEW COPY just so you know that’s what it is if it is one. The only difference it makes in practice is that I try to read them faster. They don’t get any other special treatment.

So to quote Susan Hill again: ‘Be assured that no book mentioned and praised and recommended by me on this blog or elsewhere has ever been done so as a result of any form of bribe or ‘buzz.”

And on that note back to the books.