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Note: This account is no longer active.
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About hist
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Member:
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David Roy
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Epinions.com ID:
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hist
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Location:
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Vancouver, BC
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Member Since:
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Feb 21, 2002
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Favorite Websites:
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This is True - see below
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Thinking of taking Greyhound? Be careful:
more
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Activity Summary
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Reviews Written: 748
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Member Visits: 47,079
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Total Visits: 119,666
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About hist
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What do I review?
I review everything I read, unless I don't finish it. I've only reviewed one book that I haven't finished, and there is a reason for that, which I explain in the review. Click here if you're interested in seeing why.
Otherwise, the sky's the limit. I have a few favourite series, of course, so a lot of my reviews are from those. These are Doctor Who (a great British science-fiction TV series that has become a series of books), Terry Pratchett's Discworld (lots of fun with some commentary on society to boot!), and the Miles Vorkosigan series (a science fiction series about the trials and tribulations of Miles Vorkosigan). You can see those individual reviews by searching through the appropriate pull-down menu. My other books are in their own menu.
I also write a little, and have posted two short stories. Please check them out. They're listed below.
Thanks for reading!
My book rating system:
I generally only rate book reviews unless you’re on my notify list. If you’re on my notify list, then most likely you’re already writing numerous “very helpful” reviews and you don’t need my ratings explained. You’re just that good!
I guess I should explain my rating system. I can be a tough rater at times. Often, I’m the only person to rate lower than everybody else (except maybe Quasar
). I have a number of things that I look for in a book review in order to give a “very helpful” rating. Of course, I do reserve the right to change this slightly if a review strikes me in a particular way.
Very Helpful
To get a “very helpful” rating from me, you have to tell me a lot about the book. I need at least a brief plot description so I know whether or not I would even like the book. If I don’t like a type of book, then even a 5-star review won’t make me want to read it. You don’t have to give the whole thing away (in fact, please don’t!), but I need something. If it’s a non-fiction book, then tell me what it contains (and even better, you don’t have to worry about spoilers!). What is the book about and what is the author trying to do?
I also need some description of why you liked or didn’t like the book. Support your opinion! If you don’t, then why should I take your advice? Give me some detail from the book when you do this. Don’t just say that “the characters are well-written.” Why? What was it about the writing of these characters that impressed you? It can be as simple as “I liked the way the author had Camille handle the situation when her Mom died. It was very true to life.”
A combination of these things is required for me to give you a “very helpful” rating. I don’t care how you do it. On my reviews, I give a plot description and then delve into the details of the book. But if you want to combine the two and comment on the book as you give your plot description, that’s fine too. Some people can do this in a very brief review. Others need a lot more words. Shortness doesn’t mean you won’t get a “very helpful” rating, but you’d better be able to pack a lot into that short review.
Helpful
If I give this rating, I think you wrote a good review but I think it’s missing a little something. Maybe you do what I said above but you don’t do much of it. Maybe your plot description is one sentence but you give a good account of why you liked/didn’t like the book. Or perhaps the reverse. You give a good description and you give one or two things you liked but otherwise your reasoning is largely superficial. This review generally just needs one or two things to bring it up to “very helpful”
Somewhat Helpful
To get a “somewhat helpful” rating, you did one of the above or the other, but you completely left out the other one. You gave some plot description but your analysis amounted to “I really enjoyed this and you will too.” Or you analyze the book without giving me any story to base it on. When you start talking about Camille and how she handles the death of her mother, but I don’t know why this is important because I don’t know the story, then it isn’t very helpful. This can be alleviated a little bit if your critique of the book is very good. I just gave a “helpful” rating to somebody who didn’t mention the plot but her analysis of the book was so good that I couldn’t just give her a “somewhat helpful.” See my reserved right above. *smile*
Not Helpful
To get a “not helpful” rating, you have to give me a review that doesn’t tell me anything about the book. If your review is so generic that it could apply to thousands of books, then you get a “not helpful.” If you don’t give any details either about the story or your thoughts, you might get a “not helpful” as well. A “not helpful” rating means that I know nothing more about the book after reading your review then I did before I read it.
Off Topic
Self-explanatory for the most part. If you write a political diatribe rather than a book review, you’ll probably get this. Unless it’s a diatribe inspired by the book, in which case you may get a “not helpful.” Otherwise, this one should be obvious.
Comments
While I do try to leave comments for lower ratings, there are many reasons why I might not (though if you're a new member, I'm much more likely to do so). If I don't leave a comment and you want to ask about a rating, feel free to fire me an email. I'm happy to answer any questions that come my way.
Also, if I leave you a low rating and you update your review, email me. I’d be happy to come back and re-rate. If I leave a comment, I put your review on “comment alert” and will generally check back to see if anybody responded. However, I don’t always get the chance, and if I didn’t leave a comment then I obviously won’t see that you updated. So email me and let me know that you’ve changed your review from way too simple to a masterpiece.
I hope this explains things.
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