To Review, Or Not to Review

For those of you who know me well, you know I'm a reader. You know that I always carry a book with me where ever I go, because I never know when I'm going to get some down time. Some of you have even seen my collection of books, and even bought me a Kindle AND a Nook, because having 5 bookshelves with over 700 books (and growing) was becoming a hazard in case of an earthquake or other natural disaster.

So I've been trying to be good, and I was browsing online for a new read yesterday.

When I look for a book, especially if it's from an author I'm not familiar with, I check out the reviews on the book. The cool thing about Amazon.com and B&N.com is that they let their customers mark the book with 1 to 5 stars and write a review for the book, on the book's page. What I like even more is that you can download a chapter or a part of the book for free to see if it's something you really want to spend your hard earned money on. Yay for free previews!

As I was browsing, I came across a book that seemed pretty interesting to me. It has gotten some good reviews, and I was even able to get a sample of the book to read before I purchased. It certainly had the right price, $.99. (I know, it's a buck. But remember all my 700 books on my shelves? If each if those cost a dollar, that's $700 right there! The dollars add up!) So I did my research, and read the reviews.

In reading the reviews, I was shocked and disgusted to find nasty reviews (especially in how they were written,) from people who didn't like the book. There was one reviewer that I felt was completely out of line and vicious with his/her words. What really made me angry was the fact that the reviewer clearly didn't take the time to read the other reviews or download the free sample. He/She even complained that they "wasted ninety nine cents," on the book. (Um, hey. DUMBASS. Next time, download the sample for FREE to see if you like it. That way, you don't waste a whole dollar and you don't waste your time reading a book you didn't like.)

I know, we all have freedom of speech and that person had a right to say whatever they wanted to in the review. But my question is, why be so mean about it? I see he/she didn't like it, they gave it two stars. (After reading the review, I was curious to know why they didn't give the book one star. Were they trying to be nice?) Why be so intentionally mean to the author? I've come across books that I don't like and I've given them 1 or 2 stars, but I don't write a review because I don't want to put the author down. I feel my low rating of the book was enough.

I don't know, maybe I'm just naive and too much of softie (yes, I can be soft and cuddly at times,) to believe that there are people out there who are really that heartless and mean on a daily basis. Especially to people they've never met. Each author that writes a book and puts it out there for you to read is like putting a part of them out there for you to look at. At least, that's how I see it.

So webbers, what do you do if you come across a book you do or don't like? Do you leave good or bad feedback? And if you leave bad feedback, how much of an asshole unpleasant person are you?


Song currently playing on my iPod - "F**kin' Perfect" by P!nk, Greatest Hits...So Far