Readers Writes - Mickey Reed aka 'I'm a Book Shark'

Mickey

I always think people who spend a lot of time reviewing books must quickly become discerning readers or drown in a sea of requests from authors desperately seeking reviews for their titles.  I'm therefore always interested in chatting to reviewers to learn about their reading likes and dislikes.  Today's interviewee is is reviewer Mickey Reed, whose blog is I'm a Book Shark and who kindly agreed to let me put her in the spotlight this week.

Firstly, I'd love to know a little bit about how or why you became a reviewer (and which came first, the reviews or the blog?)  How do your reading commitments fit in with your lifestyle?  

I have posted my reviews for books on Goodreads for as long as I’ve known about Goodreads. My husband asked why I wasn’t trying to get paid for writing reviews for a paper or something, and in Googling that I discovered book blogs.  I read whatever I want and post those reviews to the blog. Lately it’s been a blog for promoting other books as my reading time has decreased dramatically.

You must receive numerous requests for reviews - how do you choose which books/authors to take on?

I do get quite a few review requests, even though I’ve mentioned that I won’t really be able to take any on right now.  Quite honestly I don’t really read too many of the emails either. I don’t have much time to read, but I do skim all of the emails to see if anything catches my eye. And I do keep them all in case I want to go back and accept a request.

For me a 5* review means a book is literally 'unputdownable'.  How do you 'measure' a good book?  

A 5-star book keeps me guessing, makes me laugh/cry, sucks me in, and never lets me forget. It’s memorable and treasured. On my blog, books rarely get a 5-star review. I’m very picky, but when you earn it, I let the world know.

How do you feel if you really like or thoroughly dislike a book you've agreed to review?

I’m so happy when I’m pleasantly surprised by a book I’ve taken on to review. It’s happened a quite a few times. Then there have been those times when I just can’t get through a book. If I’ve agreed to review it but couldn’t stand it, I usually will still review it on Goodreads but not on my blog. Just my policy.

Do you receive feedback from writers or other readers on your reviews?

I get comments about my reviews, sure. But no one has ever told me to change my format or anything. I love having discussion, so if anyone ever has a question about my reviews I’d love to chat!

Do you know if your reviews influence the success (or otherwise) of a new title?

I’m not sure. I’ve had people buy books because of my reviews, and I’ve had people say they won’t pick up a title because of my reviews. But I don’t think my little blog will make or break a novel. :o)

Now some more general questions about reading   Did you have a favourite book or author as a child?

I would always go to the library and pick up Lurlene McDaniel’s books even though she made me cry every single time!

What is your happiest reading memory?

I wish I could truly remember reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time, but I do remember going back to it at different points in my life, rereading passages that made me giggle or get all sappy. 

What was the first book you remember reading independently and really enjoying?

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume. However, I recently went back to it and discovered that my tastes had dramatically changed. Haha.

How significant was reading to you as a child?

As a child, I enjoyed reading. I was good at it, so I kept on doing it. I was curious and loved to learn, so it helped me achieve many things.

How important is reading in your life now?

Now, reading is an adventure, an escape, and a journey. It opens me up to new worlds. Plus, I’d love to just be a fly on the wall somewhere, and it really allows me to be that for these characters.

Have you ever wished you could change places with any character from a story?

I don’t think I’ve truly wanted to change places with any character, but I’ve loved books so much that I’d wish to live in their world, be friends with the characters, and fit right in.

What are you currently reading and in what format (hardback, paperback, e-book)?

I’m actually listening to the audio book version of Moby-Dick for my English class.



Do you think the young of today read enough, and if not, how might you try to encourage them to read more?

I think some do, but many don’t. We live in a fast-paced, technologically advanced world. It’s easy to just watch the movie instead. I’d love for them to read more often, and perhaps if they discovered a world they could get lost in, they’d enjoy reading more too.


Do you prefer print or e-books?

Quite honestly I prefer print. I do read e-books, and I don’t mind reading them at all. But nothing beats the brand new book smell. Ahhh. :o)


Do you think e-books will ever totally replace print?

I think they might, which would be incredibly sad. But the newspaper still exists, so there is hope!

Do you think books transfer to films well?  What is your favourite/worst book-to-film transfer?

It all depends, which is a lazy answer, but it’s how I feel. Some books do and some books don’t. My favorite book-to-movie versions are The Help, Shutter Island, True Grit, Shopgirl, The Princess Bride, Water for Elephants, Silver Linings Playbook, and Pride and Prejudice (almost any version). My least favorites are the Hannibal movies (I love them on their own, but not as book-to-movie versions), PS I Love You, Twilight, The Lucky One, and My Sister’s Keeper. I mostly like film versions when they are cast well and agree with the book.

Is there a book you know you'll never read or found impossible to finish?

I’ll probably never read the Fifty Shades of Grey series, but I never say never ;o) Books that are impossible to finish to me are the poorly edited ones.

Do you think there is anything new and exciting in modern fiction, or has it "all been said before"?

I think there can be new and exciting in modern fiction. We just need some writers with great imaginations. I’m sure they’re out there! We just need to discover them.

Thanks Mickey - that was every bit as interesting as I knew it would be.
Why not pop over to Mickey's blog to get to know her better?  Just click on the image below.

Reader Writes - All About Books From a Reader's POV

Being a former English teacher, of course I've always been interested in people's reading experiences.  Now that I'm a writer, I'm even more fascinated to hear what books and reading mean to people.  I therefore thought I'd run a series of posts inviting readers, rather than writers, to talk about their likes and dislikes and what they look for when reading purely for pleasure.

I'm delighted to introduce my first guest, Ruth Sherrington, who is a dear friend and former teaching colleague of mine and therefore also has a keen interest in reading and strong views on the subject.  So, over to Ruth for...

A Reader's Point of View

The Buttercup Fairy by Barbara Campbell

I have always been a keen reader, and in fact I remember the nursery school principal being rather displeased with my mother because I was already reading fluently by the time I went there which meant that I was way out of step with their teaching schedule!  I particularly remember a book I loved called ‘The Buttercup Fairy’ which was about a fat fairy (I was rather round when I was little), but when I got older I started to read historical novels by writers such as Henry Treece and Rosemary Sutcliff which I absolutely loved.  I used to disappear into books and just not emerge until I had got to the end.  I read all of the Tolkien ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy before I was twelve, and have continued to read just as much all my life.  I have some favourite authors now, who include Graham Greene, D H Lawrence, George Orwell, Evelyn Waugh and Anne Bronte, but as I teach about books for a living I read widely and have learnt to appreciate the craft of all kinds of writers from Jilly Cooper to Jane Austen.  I often read ‘chick-lit’ for relaxation and I think it serves a useful social purpose by providing a kind of harmless escapism – much better than most of the films released nowadays, which I find are not often directed towards women’s concerns and issues.

Colin Firth as Mr Darcy

Filmed versions of novels don’t usually appeal to me because I believe that the reader works with the author to create the characters in his/her own mind, but I did enjoy the Colin Firth ‘Pride and Prejudice’, and also the Keira Knightley version, rather against my better judgement! 

I do think that reading is a matter of personal choice and that forcing children to read is counter-productive but that all little children should be read to (and with) from babyhood onwards, as I truly believe that this is where literacy begins and that it should be a birthright for all children.  I may be wrong but I think the huge increase in diagnoses of dyslexia may be connected to the fact that children are not so often encouraged to love and listen to words on the page from an early age.

To me e-books don’t really have the magic of paper books but I still find my e-reader really useful for downloading books when I need to read at short notice, for example when I get into bed and have nothing to read before I sleep.  But then I am the kind of person who reads the back of cornflake packets rather than have nothing to read, so I am a bit of a hopeless case when books are not available. 

Will Self

Toni Morrison

I really enjoy finding out how modern writers are taking the novel forward and have particularly enjoyed reading the work of Will Self and Toni Morrison in recent years – in fact my ideal literary dinner party guests would definitely include those two writers, the lovely Lyn Sofras and all the others mentioned above plus about thirty others, so I think I had better book a room at the Dorchester to fit them all in!