Best of 2008? Or Not?
Amazon.com recently released their lists of the Best Books of 2008. When I looked at the Editors' List and the Customers' List, I found a few interesting tidbits:
On the Editors' List:
* Some books have no reviews. Of those, a couple have not been released. Some are just books that don't really appeal to the general masses, such as the PHAIDON ATLAS OF 21ST CENTURY WORLD ARCHITECTURE. And for the ones with reviews, there are quite a few with an average customer review of four stars or under.
* There is a lot more nonfiction on this list than you might find on other compilations that compare fiction and nonfiction. This, too, is more indicative of a different group of people than the average consumer.
On the Customers' List:
* Again, some books have no reviews. I realize there is such a thing as advanced reader copies and the like, but really, how can a book make a Best of 2008 Customer list when the average customer has not even read the book? Some of those are pre-orders, which makes me think this is slightly more based on orders than true preferences.
* One of the books that has not even been released actually appears on the list twice - THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD by J.K. Rowling. I can't begin to understand the justification in including this book once (it has not been released and is famous for being read by very few people before publication), let alone twice.
* The nonfiction books on the list are to be expected, if annual bestsellers anyway. WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING, SOUTH BEACH DIET, YOU: THE OWNER'S MANUAL all make appearances. But then there are complete surprises, such as a how-to on digital photography.
I don't know for sure how these list are compiled, if they are objectively based or include more subjective criteria, but I do know that I don't completely trust them. As many readers of RT would agree, Sherrilyn Kenyon's ACHERON should not be 99 on a list of 100. My recommendation when reading these lists is to enjoy seeing books that might be outside your usual choices, but don't trust the actual ranking to be the end all be all.
Nicole
On the Editors' List:
* Some books have no reviews. Of those, a couple have not been released. Some are just books that don't really appeal to the general masses, such as the PHAIDON ATLAS OF 21ST CENTURY WORLD ARCHITECTURE. And for the ones with reviews, there are quite a few with an average customer review of four stars or under.
* There is a lot more nonfiction on this list than you might find on other compilations that compare fiction and nonfiction. This, too, is more indicative of a different group of people than the average consumer.
On the Customers' List:
* Again, some books have no reviews. I realize there is such a thing as advanced reader copies and the like, but really, how can a book make a Best of 2008 Customer list when the average customer has not even read the book? Some of those are pre-orders, which makes me think this is slightly more based on orders than true preferences.
* One of the books that has not even been released actually appears on the list twice - THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD by J.K. Rowling. I can't begin to understand the justification in including this book once (it has not been released and is famous for being read by very few people before publication), let alone twice.
* The nonfiction books on the list are to be expected, if annual bestsellers anyway. WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING, SOUTH BEACH DIET, YOU: THE OWNER'S MANUAL all make appearances. But then there are complete surprises, such as a how-to on digital photography.
I don't know for sure how these list are compiled, if they are objectively based or include more subjective criteria, but I do know that I don't completely trust them. As many readers of RT would agree, Sherrilyn Kenyon's ACHERON should not be 99 on a list of 100. My recommendation when reading these lists is to enjoy seeing books that might be outside your usual choices, but don't trust the actual ranking to be the end all be all.
Nicole
posted at 10:29 AM
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