iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Replies

Alex Pendragon @alexp336.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

Really interesting piece on reviews/criticism, definitely worth a read. What stuck out to me was the idea of knowing we want MORE, yet lacking the time/energy to consume what there is of it out there (never mind making MORE ourselves). Maybe listicles work because they demand less effort to consume?

Screenshot with text reading: "Every take I ever see about book reviews agrees that the true solution is MORE. More reviewer spaces, more types of reviews, more cheerleading, more flaw-finding, more long-form analysis that doesn’t worry about spoilers, more spoiler-free overviews that help you decide whether to pick up that book or not. Yet the problem with asking for MORE is that the things we want already exist; we’re just not spending time on them. It’s all well and good to say that we want in-depth criticism, but the cold fact is that listicles are getting all the engagement and all the pick-up, and it’s exhausting to pour hard work into a piece of writing and then feeling like you’ve cast that hard work into a void."

Jenny with a Green Ribbon Around Her Neck@readingtheend.bsky.social

I wrote a little bit about reviewer spaces, book criticism, and the inestimable value of thinking together. (obviously, as soon as I posted this, I thought of like fifteen more things I wanted to say)

readingtheend.com

The Value of Criticism Is Thinking Together - Reading the End

I’ve been thinking lately about the role of book reviews and book reviewers, and happily for me, some smart people have been saying smart things on this topic. Charlie Jane Anders wrote a blog post en...

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Will Forrest, the writer @willthewriter.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

My big issue with book reviews rn is the way too many authors think that reviewers are their unpaid interns who have to do what they're told. Reviewers are not a promo team, they are by law meant to be impartial. The ARC & Street/Promo Team should not overlap. Let reviewers be honest!

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Alex Pendragon @alexp336.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

I have so many tabs open, of longform articles I want to read but never have time/energy to look at. I feel guilty for not reading them! But then I also have to do the day job, and find time to write, and eat, and workout, and, and, and...

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