I wasn’t going to do this week’s geek, mostly because I don’t think I have a format, but then I saw Suey’s post (yeah, she references me, but that’s not why I’m doing this…), and I thought, hey, maybe I could explain a bit about what goes into what I write (some days, anyway). I’m going to shamelessly copy the way Suey did it, too. 🙂

1. Explain your review format – if you have one. Or maybe your rating system?
I’ve modified it over the years, so this is what I do currently. My reviews have always been my initial reaction to the book, what I thought about it and why. Currently, I always put the title in the post heading, then the author, what age range I think it’s appropriate for (or what the publishers think, if I really don’t have an opinion; I do have to admit, though, that sometimes I age the YA low because I’ve let M read it…). This year I’ve started putting the first sentence, too, and I’ve found I actually like doing that.

As for the rest, well, it depends on my mood and my creativity level. I’ve done lists, conversations, rants… I generally try to put some of the plot summary there, and most definitely what I think of it. If I’m inspired, and on the ball, I’ll add some quotes.

I would like to take the high road and say I don’t do stars or grades or ratings systems because I think they’re subjective and not at all reflective of what I write, but the reason is much more selfish: I’ve found that when I come across ratings systems in my reading, I just glance at the rating and if it’s not a 4+ or an A, I don’t even bother reading the review. And I want you to read — or at least skim — my writing. 🙂 So I don’t do the whole rating thing. See? Selfish.

2. Highlight another book-blogger’s review format by linking to a favorite example – don’t forget to tell us why they are a fave!
Most of the bloggers I read do the standard “here’s the plot and here’s what I think about it” format whenever they review. That’s not to say that it’s bad; the reviews are often interesting and insightful. However, it makes it hard to answer a question like this. Going through my feed, three stood out: Leila at bookshelves of doom stands out for her humor and her asterisk asides (I know others do them, but she was the first one I came across); Julie at Best Books has the best one line reviews (she rarely writes more than one line, too). And I adore Emily’s haikus at emilyreads.

3. Do a review in another book-blogger’s format of your latest read.
I just finished The Amaranth Enchantment, by Julie Berry (beautiful cover, no?). I always liked the reviews Dewey did where we’d ask her questions about the book and she’d answer them. So, if you’d like to leave me a question about the book in the comments, I’ll put up a post answering them sometime later this week.

4. Highlight a past review that you are particularly proud of and why the format or structure may have had something to do with it.
The most recent one that I’m particularly proud of (generally, so you know, I like my negative reviews better than my positive ones: they’re so much easier and fun to write) is the one I did of The Darcys and The Bingleys for Estella’s Revenge. While I was reading the book, I kept going back and forth between my enjoyment of it, and the fact that it was absolutely nothing like Pride and Prejudice, which mildly irritated me. So, I decided that the best way to express this was as a conversation between my intellectual and emotional (rational and irrational? scholarly and fluffy?) sides of my brain. I think it turned out well. At the very least, it was fun writing it!

Don’t forget to leave a question about The Amaranth Enchantment: what do you want to know about the book?