Good question(s) this week:
How much do reviews (good and bad) affect your choice of reading? If you see a bad review of a book you wanted to read, do you still read it? If you see a good review of a book you’re sure you won’t like, do you change your mind and give the book a try?
I was going to say that reviews don't really affect me, but that's not strictly true. Reviews in my daily newspaper don't affect me at all. I rarely read them. And while I read through the reviews of books in People magazine or in my other beloved women's mags, I still never rush out and read a book because of them.
That said, though, articles in Touchstone, First Things and the late Crisis have led me to finding authors like John Hassler and to reanimating my desire to read Flannery O'Connor and Walker Percy.
I will say that a bad review has never kept me from reading a book that I wanted to read.
