Wednesday, May 30, 2012

LibraryThing and reviews of early release books

This year i joined LibraryThing which is a website where you can catalogue all your books, similar to Goodreads which you may have heard of. It is very addictive, adding all the books you have read and listing the ones you want to read. I find it great as it gives you book recomenndations based on what books you have already have, both through automated methods and by other members of the website.

What I also enjoy is how it has a service called "LibraryThing Early Reviewers" which provides free pre-release books to members willing to review them. Every month a list of books is released and you can request which books you would like to review. So far I have been selected to review 3 books, the reviews of which I have listed below. Unfortunately, living in Australia most books listed are only available for people in the US. You make think that most of the books are the type not likely to be very popular but this is not the case. In previous months the list has included "Bring up the Bodies" by Hilary Mantel - the sequel to Wolf Hall which won the Man Booker Prize a few years ago!

Below are the two books I have reviewed so far - just very brief reviews though

On the Edge by Gill Shutt
An interesting book, though I found it a bit disconcerting at times. I found myself seeing it as a reflection on human behaviour or the evolution of behaviour. The style is easy to read but I could not read it all in one sitting. 3 Stars


Hepen the Watcher by Linda Nagata
I found the book suprisingly enjoyable though it does contain some adult themes so not suitable for a younger readership. The female characters were strong and I could find myself relating to the problems they faced. Plot: fast paced and kept you interested. Writing style: easy to read. I will be on the look out for books by the same author. 4 Stars



* note in no way has this post been asked for or anything..i just really like using the website and I thought not as many people may have heard of it as opposed to Goodreads

No comments: