Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Welcome back! Today we're talking about how we review books. Because I think we as a book community can do better!

Reviews should help people decide if they want to read a book. Does the book deliver on it's promise? What are the strengths and weaknesses? Unfortunately, there's a lot of inaccuracy with reviews these days, and plenty of gatekeeping.

So let's have a discussion about how we can make Book Reviews more accurate and helpful.

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00:00 The Problem with Book Reviews
01:55 1. Reviews are for Customers
02:57 2. Deliver on Promises?
05:12 3. Personal Preferences
06:44 4. Ego
07:47 5. Star Ratings
11:00 6. Did you GET the book?
12:44 7. Intended Audience
15:15 8. Good or Bad
16:35 9. All Positive / All Negative
17:21 10. Your Soul
18:33 11. Something to Offer
20:02 12. Focus on Characters, Plot, Worldbuilding
21:09 Let People Read What They Want
22:15 Discuss Further