Tuesday 15 November 2011

Book Confession: Old verses New?

There is a question I’ve been pondering recently and I'm just torn, so I thought I would ask you lot for your opinion. What type of books do you prefer to read reviews for? The latest, sparkling releases or older, treasured books?
Old Capt Kirk vs New? When it comes to this old vs new I know who I'm rooting for! Com'on Chris!

I don’t tend to review a lot of latest releases here because I don’t get a lot of review copies – just a few from netgalley. Although to be fair I don’t request any arcs (I have enough purchased and won books on my TBR waiting to be read without adding to the pile!). There are a lot of authors on my must purchase list that I pre-order their books – Kelley Armstrong, Jim Butcher, Carrie Vaughn, Patricia Briggs, Karen Chance... but even if I get their latest releases as soon as possible, I don’t always start reading them straight away. Sometimes I purposely leave them so I can find time when I won’t be distracted or stressed with other things to read them. Other times books I’ve borrowed off people or which have been in my immediate reading pile for a month need to be read more. All these means I don’t review the latest releases  on launch day – or even the week after. But I love reading reviews of new releases on everyone else’s blog. I get excited and often find myself buying the book or adding it to my wishlist. Occasionally though a book has such excitement about it – it’s being reviewed on every book blog I come across and I get a little blasé about it. I stop reading the reviews . I get turned off slightly. I understand the reason for the big campaigns – to get word out and drive initial sales – and I do fall for a lot of books that way!
And what about old books? Not necessarily the classics, but those books that were released two or three years ago...I have a lot of them in my pile! I bought them when they first came out but haven’t got around to reading them yet. They’ve been sitting in my pile weeping quietly to themselves about not even being opened yet. But when I do open them I often find some gems that others may have forgotten about . Reviewing books that much older – does it drive sales as much? Unlikely.
And do we(readers) still get as excited by these slightly more mature books? Do you get as excited about a great review a couple of year old if it doesn’t have the big marketing campaign behind it and you don’t see it popping up every where? I have to confess I don’t. I mostly think ‘ hmm...interesting...I will look at it more detail...’ rather than ‘ohmygod-wow-I-must-get-that-straight-away’. Am I just a victim of good PR and marketing campaigns?
Not sure what point I’m trying to get too, but I love showing love for the older books here – some that haven’t been lucky enough to get the big marketing campaigns. I think if even one person thinks, ‘hmm...interesting...’ I’ve achieved something. J
So what do you prefer reading reviews? Older books or newly released?

9 comments:

  1. I guess I like to read a mixture of old and new book reviews.
    I like to read reviews of books that I have read and compare opinions and as I rarely read the new releases when they are released I'm ususally quite a way behind! I also like to read reviews of the books in my (big) to read pile, again a lot of these are older books. It's also interesting to read the reviews of the latest releases so I can see what books to look out for! So yes that long ramble = I like a mixture!

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  2. I often get bored when I see reviews for the same ol' book pop up on every other blog, so it's nice to see other aka older books from time to time. Personally I like to mix it up, new and old ones, though my "oldest" have never been more than maybe 12 months since publication.

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  3. Oh, great discussion post, Mel. I don't request a lot of ARCs either, and the few I do get have to wait in line behind all the book recommendation I've bought and my audio buys. Like Birgit up there, too many reviews of the same book is overkill.

    I love it when you show love for older books here. Give me Christopher Pike any day, it brings back great memories.

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  4. Well, I used to request ARCs now I don't unless it is a book I REALLY REALLY want to read. However, I love reviews of old books. That is how I found Outlander! I hadn't heard of it before (before doing the ol' book blog) and immediately was able to get it because it wasn't brand new. Plus, I knew there were the other books in the series for me to read immediately. I love that!! So, I think as long as it is available to buy then I also think the authors and publishers would like it reviewed at any time!

    Great post!

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  5. Publication date doesn't really bother me, I am as likely to review a new release as an older book but I read what appeals and what I have. I do regularly get books from NetGalley but only those I am actually interested in - not because everyone else has it. There are days in my RSS reader that the same book is being reviewed a dozen times or more and I may look at a few then skip the rest. I'm more likely to buy an older title that is cheaper than a new release anyway.

    Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out

    Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out

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  6. sometimes seeing too many reviews of the same new book can be off putting. I quite like coming across reviews for books a few months after they've been released, because then I remember them again!

    I like a mixture of both old and new books I guess :) Great discussion!

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  7. This is a great topic! I prefer to see a mix! I get bored of seeing the same books over and over site to site. Plus I tend to read very eclectically over genres and release dates so I like to see different things that I can add to my wishlist!!

    And I'm as likely to buy a new book as an old one...or borrow from the library...so...eh...who knows!

    ♥ Melissa @ Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf

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  8. I don't care either way. I like to read reviews on books that a lot of people haven't reviewed yet. I try to support other bloggers but it gets old reading reviews on the same books over and over.

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  9. I think everything is fine as long as it's what you like to read! Some search for new releases and some want blogs dealing with a lot of different genres and release dates. Personally, as long as the book sounds interesting, I'll be reading reviews for it! Probably even if it doesn't. Lol. I'm curious and I myself have quite a few older ones as well I'm still dying to try. Also, I agree with Alexis that it can become somewhat boring reading too many reviews of the same book, which it has a tendency of becoming when dealing with the new releases...

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