So my current NetGalley reading queue consists of over 40 novels, not counting individual books I've received over email all for review purposes. To be fair, I warn the individual authors that my reading queue is long and I may not be able to read their book in time for their strategic timing but I do promise to read all of them one day and review them. And I understand how independent authors live and die based on the limited press they can get and the Amazon and Goodreads reviews they're able to secure for their creative works.
But just reading review books won't make me happy. A tricky review book can really slow down my reading pace and I end up with the same book in hand for months while I distract myself with lighter comic book reading. It's a tricky burden.
So now I've worked out a sort of deal with myself where I alternate review books with either books I enjoy reading like the works of Neil Gaiman, Haruki Murakami, and Jim Butcher or lighter reading like the classic Battletech novels or Doctor Who books. It does mean that it's about 2-3 books before I read another book for review, but I am still working on them.
In the end I'm not paid to do anything of this apart from the value of the advanced reading copy (ARC) that I've given as part of this arrangement. I'm fairly certain that the authors understand that this isn't something that can be rushed as I have real life obligations that demand my attention as well. If I could be a professional reader, I totally would but that has yet to reach a level of paying the bills.
In the meantime, I'm riding the high of finishing another Dresden book and am now slugging through an older Battletech novel before I go back to the review queue.
Comments
Post a Comment