On Not Posting Here on "Just Fine" Books

I post here about a high proportion of the books I read, but definitely not all. In some cases a book is too “light” (e.g., the beachiest of “beach reads”), or just doesn’t seem to warrant a post. And in a few -- very few -- cases, I haven’t posted about a book because it was so good that I thought I couldn’t possibly do it justice! But most often the reason I don’t post is that the book is “just fine,” not great but not at all "bad" (in my opinion – of course many would disagree with some of my opinions.). If the book is good to excellent, or at least has notable or intriguing qualities, I do generally post about it, with pleasure. Occasionally, if the book is very bad or very disappointing, I write about it, because there is a disconnect between what I was expecting (based on reviews, or on my liking of earlier books by the author) and what the book was actually like (again, in my humble opinion). But those “just fine” books are the ones I fairly often don’t write about. Here is a list of some books I have very recently (within the past few weeks) read but have not posted about, for that reason. “Laura and Emma,” by Kate Greathead. “Conversations with Friends,” by Sally Rooney. “Normal People,” by Sally Rooney. (I know that these two novels by Rooney have received high praise, but I just didn’t like them very much.) “State of the Union: A Marriage in Ten Parts,” by Nick Hornby (mildly interesting). “Rules for Visiting,” by Jessica Francis Kane. (I thought I would love this novel about reconnecting with old friends, but it was too low-key for my taste, mildly depressing, and even a little dull.) “Trust Exercise,” by Susan Choi. (I have read a couple of Choi’s other novels, and always end up feeling slightly disappointed with them.) “Nobody’s Looking at You,” by Janet Malcolm. (I have been reading Malcolm’s work for many years, and like it very much, but I had already read some of the essays in The New Yorker and elsewhere, and the topics of others were not particularly interesting to me). “The Altruists,” by Andrew Ridker. (I read this novel less than a month ago and I have already completely forgotten what it was about, so that says something….) “The Other Americans,” by Laila Lalami.” (This novel admirably addresses important social topics, but I just didn’t get particularly caught up in it.) Again, I have to say that in many cases my feelings about these novels are very much a matter of individual taste, and I can easily imagine other readers might value and like them more than I did. I also have to say what I have occasionally said before on this blog and elsewhere: I sometimes feel that it is presumptuous of me to judge these perfectly fine novels when I couldn’t possibly have written them myself, not having the gift for fiction writing. But I remind myself that writers need readers, and that readers need to hear the views of other readers, either to help them decide what to read, or to compare notes when they have read the same books. Thus the necessity and usefulness of book reviews, criticism, literature classes, word of mouth, book clubs, and yes, book blogs!