Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Reviews and criteria

So I just stood in front of my bookshelf (which is HUGE and overflowing and was made by my dad as a grad present) with a notebook and pen and wrote down every book I'd like to do a review of. Oh yes, this is going to be one of those reviewing blogs!

The list is long. Most of them I've already read, but many will require re-reads and a few I haven't read yet. So it'll take me a while to do all the ones I want to! But without a doubt shiny new books will prance before me and I'll be unable to resist whipping off a quick review and bumping some other title from the list. It happens.

I'll most be reviewing YA, but I read a lot of adult books as well, so a couple will sneak in. The books I review will not just be my favourites. I'm going to review everything from my top-shelf favourites to my scourge-of-the-earth under-the-bed books. And it's going to be so fun!

I also spent a few minutes deciding on the criteria by which I'll review. I really like Jordyn from Ten Cent Notes' review rubric, so I kind of adapted it based on what I look for in a good book.

Hook: This is the premise, the reason I was intrigued by the book. The schtick.
Characters: Y'know, the reason we read the books. The people we get to know over the course of a few hundred pages.
Originality: What sets the book apart from the others.
Obsessability: Whether or not this book has me hooked like crack.
Romance/character spark: If the book has a romantic angle, this is whether or not the romance is the all-consuming stuff of fantasy or falling flat. If there's not romance, it's character relationships.
Setting: Where and when the book takes place, and how awesome it is.
Plot: How good the plot is. Duh.
Relatability: Whether or not I, or the average reader, could relate to the characters.
X-Factor: Basically, whether or not the book would make a kick-ass movie. Whether or not it jumps off the page and into the imagination.
Ending: Whether or not it had a satisfactory ending that tied things up all nicely.

Each item will be marked out of ten, for a total of 100. Wooo! So expect the first one tomorrow, or tonight, even. But since probably no one is reading this, whatever. Haha.

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