AUTHORS REVIEWING BOOKS.

This week, I found myself with some brief time to kill before an unexpected but necessary dental appointment. Since there wasn't a great deal I could accomplish in the ten or fifteen minutes before I left the house for my dentist's office, I checked my e-mail, then engaged in some quick blog-hopping.

I confess I don't normally read a lot of blogs. I have enough trouble trying to find time to keep up with my own. Still, a couple of bits caught my eye, like this paragraph from Brenda Coulter's blog:

"Ever wonder why romance novelists rarely say anything negative about each others' books? It's no mystery. The world of published romance writers is a small one, and many of us have forged some strong friendships within it. Also, it's disloyal for an author to trash the books of someone who writes for the same publisher she does. But although nobody can spot the faults in a romance novel quicker than another romance novelist, the primary reason we don't publicly criticize each others' books is that we all know how hard everyone else is trying."

These are just some of the reasons authors often cite for not wanting to review other authors' books, which some in the romance genre feel we ought to be doing.

Frankly, I'm always a tad puzzled by the idea of authors reviewing other authors' books. I'm a writer, not a reviewer. So, to begin with, reviewing books is simply not my job.

Yes, like many writers, I could post my opinions about books I've read. But then again, I wonder, what would be the point?

Unless readers share comparable levels of reading and comprehension, likes and dislikes, etc., no two readers are ever going to have the same take on any one novel. It's all too common, in fact, for one reader to love a book, while another reader loathes it.

In the end, all reviews are subjective, a matter of personal preferences about books, and any reviews I might write would be no different. If someone I know loves or loathes a novel, that never has any bearing on my own opinion of it. I make my own judgments about whether I am or am not interested in reading a book and, whether, after choosing to read it, I did or didn't like it.

I think most other readers do the same. But perhaps I'm wrong, and they don't. What do you think? Are your book-buying habits swayed by the opinions of authors and/or reviewers? Do you think authors ought to review books, as well as write them?