About j’adore

Welcome to Books, j’adore!

I publish reviews every other Thursday on an eclectic selection of books for audiences of all ages. This is not a venue for negative (or even particularly objective) reviews; although every book published may not be written, plotted, or peopled well, I believe strongly in the following ideas about reading:

Plenty of sites offer objective reviews, and even more offer harsh critiques that would crush the spirit of the most resilient, experienced author. My perspective is that if you are brave enough to put your work out there, you deserve at least a modicum of respect; if you’re also talented and/or have worked hard enough to convince somebody to pay to publish that work, I should be smart enough to find some part of it worth discussing in a constructive way.

Life is short – if I hate a book so much in the first fifty pages that I believe I won’t have anything positive or interesting to say about it, I put it down and choose something else to read. Why should I subject myself to four hundred pages of torture when I have a list the length of my arm of fantastic suggestions from friends and commenters? Honestly though, it’s rare for me to come across such a book, mostly because I do read from a carefully chosen selection.

Even the worst books are enjoyed by someone – that person may be the author’s husband or best friend or mother – but who am I to rob either the author or a reader of joyful reading experience? No book appeals to every reader, but few things frustrate me more than this: people telling me they won’t give a book a chance or people deciding that because they don’t like a book, nobody would, or should.

I’m an independent reviewer and receive no compensation from authors for featuring their work on the site. I will also always disclose any personal or financial association I might have with a writer I review.

The simplest ways to receive my posts are to follow me through WordPress (an email will be sent whenever I update) or to add me to your RSS feed. Please note that all work on this site is copyrighted and cannot be reprinted without my express consent. I’m happy to give it, but do ask first.