For a reader, the book cover and the back page is enough to judge a book.
But for a book reviewer, it is not just their opinion of the book but the true
essence of its content that has to shine through. A book reviewer has to have
certain skills and knowledge of the literary world in order to be a fair
critic.
Varsha Naik from Anjuna has had a long
love affair with books. Currently working as a freelance book reviewer for The
Free Press Journal newspaper, she has reviewed books like ‘Eve Out of Her
Ruins’ by Ananda Devi, ‘Lone Fox Dancing’ by Ruskin Bond, ‘Poskem’ by Wendell
Rodricks, ‘The A to Z of Everything’ by Debbie Johnson and ‘The Golden Legend’
by Nadeem Aslam, to name a few. Besides reviewing for the weekly column, Varsha
also reads and recommends manuscripts for publishing houses. “I get 3-4 days to
read the book and I first write my review by hand on a small notebook that I
always have with me. I type out the review in about 600 words and the next day,
I go back to the story in case I want to edit it, depending on the time I have
to send the review across,” explains Varsha.
A fan of Ruskin Bond books, she was
thrilled to read his new book, ‘Lone Fox Dancing’. “I usually take a few days
to read a book, but it took me two weeks to read and write a review about this
one. I have been a fan of his works and there is so much that has already been
written about Ruskin Bond. I asked the editors if I could write a review as a
fan and the feeling I got to read his book,” says Varsha, who usually sees the
positivity in the books but also remarks about what the book is lacking in her
reviews.
“One book that I really enjoyed reading
and which was on my wish list was ‘The Golden Legend’ by Nadeem Aslam. I asked
the editor whether I could review the book for the page. The book deals with
religious intolerance and the relationship between Muslims and Christians.
Sometimes, while reading a book, you come across really interesting lines and
this book had nearly a dozen of these lines, which stirred it to my core. The
book was phenomenal,” says Varsha, who always writes down sentences that she
would like to mention in her review.
When she learns about a book that interests her, she recommends
the book to the editor. Most of the time, they correspond by sending her cover
photos of the books and then couriering the books to Goa if she wants to review
them. “I check the book cover and the back page of the book to see if the book
is something I would like to read and review. I also read about the book online
and do a bit of research. I don’t like to read politics and science fiction but
I love thrillers, romance and fiction,” she adds.
Leonard
Fernandes of CinnamonTeal, the first self publishing organisation in India,
publishes on an average of 60-80 books in a year. They cater to nearly 80 per
cent Indians and 20 per cent foreigners. “For book reviewing, the publisher has
to approach the newspapers and give the books to the reviewer. However, every
book that is given is not reviewed and published. There is hardly any space for
book reviews and where one can publish them. Social media is very instrumental
in these times, as writers and publishers put up posts about their books on
social media and that attracts many readers. It doesn’t matter whether a book
is reviewed but if it is reviewed, it can affect book sales in either a good or
bad way,” says Leonard.
