Freebie Item!

I got an e-mail the other day that had a pretty provocative subject line: THE BEST FIRST CHAPTER YOU'LL EVER READ. Now, normally, such hyperbole would make me hit the trash button pretty quickly, but as I needed to kill a minute, I opened it up.

Inside was an invitation to read the first chapter of Across the Universe by Beth Revis (Penguin - Razonbill, due out 1/11/2011). To my great pleasure, this was a link to a PDF rather than a Flash site (thank you, thank you, thank you--I know it means people can keep it, but it's more manageable to access)--and to my great pleasure, the first chapter of this book was--though certainly not the best first chapter I'll ever read or have ever read--an intense and harrowing one. It's YA, so if you're a YA reader, give it a look!

Oops: I forgot the link the first time around. Read the chapter here.

Also:

If you're visiting here from the Book Blogger Hop, please say hi, and leave me a link to your blog! I tend to do mass follows about once a month, and giveaways once or twice a month.  This is my first hop, so I'm looking forward to touring the participants! If you're visiting as usual, click the image to see the participants and their blogs.

The question of the week is: Do you use a rating system for your reviews and if so, what is it and why?

I don't, at present, have a rating system, and I probably won't. This is for a couple of reasons. First of all, I enjoy reading and reviewing books, even if I'm not, as I like to say, "book friends" with particular books. I like to match people with good reads! Second, I often like books, even love books, for personal reasons, and I'd have a hard time giving consistent ratings. Third, I tend to skip reviewing books unless I think they have enough value for me or for others to recommend them; it's pretty rare for me to spend time reviewing a book I really didn't like, unless I am curious why others might like the book, and then I'll review and solicit feedback. I have other reasons, too, related to occasional conflicts of interest. 

Instead of a rating system, I'd prefer to give a quick overview and my thoughts, and hope that I can do that in a way that's interesting. I do appreciate it when others have a rating system, though, because it means I am able to get their take on a book and keep it in mind as I read their review.