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Is Goodreads Worth It for Writers? Not for This One at Least

December 13, 2021

Literature

book, Goodreads, literature, marketing, social media

Goodreads has been around for quite some time, and a lot, a lot of writers and readers are there. It feels like it would be a great platform for a writer to promote their books, receive feedback and reviews, and all that. And yet, my experience has been such that I’ll have to say, no, I don’t think Goodreads is worth my time.

Don’t get me wrong, I can’t say I haven’t benefitted from it. I’ve made some good friends and I’ve read some great books thanks to Goodreads. But the overall time I’ve had to invest, plus the way certain things function make me think that Goodreads is worth less than the overall effort and time you put in it.

This is tricky to quantify and explain, which makes the whole process rather insidious. To put it this way, it did take me some time to realize it. It’s also the reason why I bother talking about it; in an effort to help others.

So, let’s take a deeper look at all this. I’ll talk about my experiences with the platform, and why I think Goodreads isn’t worth my time. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Come to think of it, your mileage will very likely vary. But the reasons are still important.

Goodreads worth
Judging the Goodreads worth factor involves understanding how much you’ve got to dig through dirt to find traces of gold.
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Review of The Memory Police, by Yōko Ogawa

September 13, 2021

Book Review, Criticism

book, fiction, Japan, literature, review

The Memory Police, by Yōko Ogawa, is basically a dystopian novel about a Japanese island where things “disappear” on an apparently random basis, and people must forget about them. If they can’t, no problem; Memory Police to the rescue. They make sure people forget the things that “disappeared” by forcing them to destroy these things.

All that sounds very dystopian, and it certainly is. There’s an undeniable aura of 1984 floating in Ogawa’s novel, but it’s much more subtle than that. That is good news, of course, but at times it also becomes problematic, for reasons that are both interesting and educational.

In other words, if you’re interested in dystopian narratives, you should pay close attention. Ogawa’s novel is an excellent example of how genre crossover can be problematic.

memory police
Secrecy, irrationality, submission. These and other elements of dystopian fiction are present in The Memory Police
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Review of Invisible Cities, by Italo Calvino

May 31, 2021

Book Review, Criticism

absurd, book, fiction, imagination, literature, review

So, what should a review of Invisible Cities, by Italo Calvino be like? One thing’s for certain: It can’t be like any other review, because the novel (if one may still call it that) is like no other, either.

If that way of describing it sounds familiar, you’ve likely read my review of Confessions of a Mask, by Yukio Mishima. In that review, too, I had real trouble placing the work in a certain framework. Invisible Cities defies characterization. It’s what art should really be like: Focusing on affect, foregoing plot.

With these in mind, it will likely be no surprise to hear that I loved Calvino’s book. But reviews aren’t about what we like, but about why we like them. And so, in this review of Invisible Cities my goal – as with everything else I review – is ultimately to show you what the book feels like, rather than what it is.

review of invisible cities
Invisible Cities is a book that defies categorization
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