Wanting

[ladysprite]

I have realized that I want something that does not, as far as I know, exist.

I want, at least right now, a web page like Television Without Pity or Rotten Tomatoes, but for books. So that when I find a new author while I'm browsing randomly at Barnes & Noble, and I'm debating whether or not I want to pay hardcover prices for an unknown writer, or whether it's worth my time to try reading what looks like another mediocre Mary Sue urban fantasy about a tattooed vampire sorceress were-puma investigative reporter and her hot demon boyfriend but just *might* be actually witter than the rest, I can look at what other genre junkies have to say.

Or so that I can have a place to go and share my incoherent handwaving glee over the potential awesome that is the movie of 'The Time Traveler's Wife,' or debate the relative accuracy of the depiction of postapocalyptic reconstruction in 'World War Z' versus 'Dies the Fire.' I know I can do this with my friends, but somehow I always wind up finding the books that no one else I know has read - and I know that Amazon has reviews, but most of the ones I've seen have been more or less useless.

So. Literature Without Pity. Who's going to make it for me?

(Incidentally, it probably says more about me than I want to admit that my three favorite novels of all time are 'The Time Traveler's Wife,' 'World War Z,' and 'Gone With the Wind.' Not sure exactly what it says, but it's clearly something, because that's a hell of an absurd grouping when you take them together....)

Comments

[denimskater.livejournal.com]

Goodreads.com isn't good enough? I'm trying to figure out what it lacks that you want to do. :-)

[z-gryphon.livejournal.com]

With long, involved topics like, "Nevil Shute's On the Beach: Bad book, or the worst book? Discuss."

[denimskater.livejournal.com]

I find it hard to believe it could compete with Eragon. I only handle that one with gloves in dim lighting (to avoid the small but nonzero chance I might be exposed to more of it), and I won't let it touch my other books.

Realizing I didn't have to finish reading it caused a physical feeling of relief, much as lancing an abscess does.

[solipsistnation.livejournal.com]

Perhaps you could introduce it to my friend "The Number of the Beast" by a certain Mr. Heinlein, one of the few books I have, once started, not finished reading, and the only book I have thrown across the room in disgust.

I agree with that feeling of relief. It was enough to get me past the guilt at not having finished it (in case, you know, it had managed to get good somehow between chapter 3 and the end. There were a lot of pages-- it was not unthinkable. It was, however, unlikely.)

[ianargent.livejournal.com]

Late Heinlein is an acquired taste, to be sure. I would advise staying away from 'To Sail Beyond The Sunset', then.

[denimskater.livejournal.com]

Other than thinking it was one of his more formulaic books, I had no trouble with that one.... certainly nothing of the same order as Eragon. To date, I have only voluntarily stopped reading three books (four if you count one that I will eventually read but that someone with knowledge suggested would be a bad idea given what I'd just been through.) ... and I read several books a week, typically.

Eragon is beyond awful.

[kitsunesan.livejournal.com]

I've almost finished World War Z. I can't even explain how I've been reacting to it so far, because in some ways it's so difficult to read (emotionally difficult, like that chapter about the Russian soldier whose unit was forced to decimate each other), but at the same time it's so fucking good I can't put it down. XD I read through most of it on a camping trip and have since gotten sidetracked, but I should finish it soon.

[thebeardedone.livejournal.com]

I had not heard of 'Dies the Fire', but since you compare it favorably to 'World War Z' which I liked quite a bit, I'll seek it out. Thanks.

[divalion.livejournal.com]

You should make it. =) Then you can be internet famous!

[blackflame2180.livejournal.com]

There are two ways to get what you're looking for, which actually speak to the fact that such reviews are more commercially viable than movie or television reviews:

For the Top Ten style feature of Rotten Tomatoes, there's the New York Times Bestseller's list. Time's Best Seller list will give you a top 20 of fiction, non-fiction, etc. If you're looking for more than that, Amazon will give you similar lists /narrowed down to your category selections/, which for Amazon can get pretty specific.

For reviews, 'if you like X try Z' references, etc., Amazon. Amazon's system keeps it's reviews fairly topical, and it's not the #1 bookseller for no reason.

If you're an Amazon protester in light of trying to keep the physical book store alive, you can just skip down to Ye Olde Booke-Shoppe and buy the book you're looking for, or ask them to order it for you if it's not in stock. At this point, though, all of the local book stores I cared about have either caved or gotten their business models to work-- and the latter are selling used books through Amazon, so I don't feel guilty about buying books there anymore. Barnes and Noble and the other chain stores seem to be doing ok, so *shrug*

And Amazon is pretty great. Esp. because I can typically find the books I'm looking for for cheap used; there's even typically a discount off of new hardcover books too, so you might even get that new shiny book you've been waiting for for cheaper (and a day or two earlier than if you wait for the official release date, if you preorder). There is still the wait time to be considered; Amazon will never replace the instant gratification of the physical book store.

For what you're asking for, though, Amazon is pretty much it.

[droewyn.livejournal.com]

The problem with best seller lists is that they are no guarantee of quality. Twilight sells a heck of a lot of copies, after all.

[blackflame2180.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't really enjoy most of the movies that make Rotten Tomatos top 5 list all that much either, or like the popular shows on Television Without Pity. The functionality is still the same.

Like RT and TWP, Amazon does put together all the official reviews, though, and offer up a fair amount of user reviews and commentary.

In other words, Amazon has all the functionality that RT and TWP have with their respective media formats. All three effectively act as a place where multiple reviews and user comments are conglomerated and the most popular of the format are listed.

Heck, Amazon even categorizes better; neither RT or TWP really categorizes by genre all that well.

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

And this morning on another friend's blog I came across this link (http://efictionbookclub.wordpress.com/) which, while it may not answer all of your needs, might answer some of them.

[curmudgn]

LibraryThing can also be helpful at times with informed peasant opinion--although it doesn't always help with the off-the-wall stuph (a lack which I, in my small way, tried to help with a review of Sam Pepys's Diary).