I’ve kind of been in a review slump lately. I’ve been more into the reading than into the reviewing…which some people might think is normal for me when you consider the amount of books I read as opposed to the amount of books I review but there it is. But the desire to write reviews has been escaping me lately and I’ve just not been too into it – I’m not sure why and I’m trying not to analyze it too much because knowing myself as I do it could change at any moment. But this start me thinking about how people go about reviewing.

I just finished a book that I need to review and I feel like I need to ruminate on it for a few days before I sit down to write it. Not that it was a deep meaningful read but sometimes I need to let things sink in a bit before I go for the gusto. There are reviews that I write for another blog that I know I have to write, but the ones I do for my blog are usually the books that I have a strong opinion about one direction or the other. There are times when I feel that I have to think for a while on book before I write the review and when thought of for a while I decide not to write it…does this happen to anyone else? Then at other times I finish a book and sit down right away and pound that puppy out. It’s that feeling that I’ll lose all my good thoughts if I don’t do it right now.

This got me to thinking about how others write their reviews. Do they write them right away? Do they have to think on them for a few days? And if they do wait does their opinion change the longer they think? (This has happened to me a time or two – both in the positive and the negative.) Or do they sit down and write a little of the review at a time?

The other thing I was thinking on when I was wondering how others go about writing their reviews was the technique reviewers use for remembering everything. I tend to sit down to write and my thoughts and feelings come tumbling out…and then if I remember a part that I want to highlight I have to flip back through the book and find it. A lot of the time I end up reading huge parts of the book over again (especially if I liked the book) while finding that one part. (I have to admit I’m very organized at home and at work but when it comes to my reviewing, not so much.) But I’ve received copies of books from friends that they have read that have little post it notes marking spots that they want to quote or highlight and it made me wonder.

This is definitely a fly by the seat of my pants, off the top of my head kind of post but I am very interested in how you all go about writing your reviews.