Wednesday, December 2, 2009

The Challenge of Writing A Book Review

I use to think that writing a book review was easy. I thought that you wrote a summary about what the book was about and write if you liked it or not. However, when I started trying to get a job as a freelance writer with Suite101, I realized that there is a lot more involved. First, you can't use "I" or cliches. After applying for a job with them several times, I felt like my samples weren't good enough. I tried to write about books that carry substance.

I read 3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows by Ann Brashares back in the summer, and it took me three weeks to read it. It took me even longer to write a book review. I found the story to be sluggish and nothing really happened until chapter 13. The story is targeted towards a much younger crowd than the original Traveling Pants series. I found Lena, Carmen, Tibby, and Bridget alot more interesting. I think that it was hard for me to relate to the new girls because I am older and they are much younger. Maybe I should go back and reread The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and write about it here.

I finished November Blues because the story held my attention. November discovers that she is pregnant after her boyfriend Josh dies. She had to face the transition from childhood to motherhood within months. Josh's parents wanted to adopt the baby in exchange for financial security. The story was predictable in terms of what November's decission would be. Writing a review for this book wasn't as difficult but I probably gave too much of the story away.

No comments:

Post a Comment