Dear Book Collectors, Obviously, Guilds try to have books available for borrowing, and having as many as possible to choose from is very important to some members. Especially to authors and to scholars. It is of importance to know about obvious errors. I write just for Arachne and for The New England Lace Group. Guilds usually print less, because of the space limits of newsletters or bulletins published quarterly. Here is where something is being missed in this "book review" conversation: Books go on to be listed in Bibliographies of newer books. Some of us may want to read earlier books, regardless of positive or negative feedback. How do I, a sometimes reviewer for Arachne, manage from this point-of-view? If a book merits my donated time as a reviewer (they take quite a while to read and write about), you will see it on Arachne, it is saved in our archive, and a copy of my review is printed and put in my copy of the book. If a book is technical beyond my expertise, I leave it to others to review, make a copy of what they have to say, and put that in the book. If a book has obvious errors, and it is by a member of Arachne, I do not review it. I take out my orange editing pen and go to work with doing a private editing for future owners of my book. I am opposed to defacing books, but in the case of lace it is very possible that the number of people who will be knowledgeable about it 100 years from now will diminish. I choose to be of help to them, just as we all wish we had the benefit of lace knowledge from 100 years ago. Each book in my library is part of something much larger - a fabulous resource for future lace and embroidery researchers. I have begun the huge task of finding a permanent home for this library. Preferably, a institute of higher learning or museum library. I am not financially wealthy, but wealthy in knowledge that needs safe-keeping. There is a book budget. But, sometimes I skip grocery shopping and meals so that a book may be purchased! Most books reviewed for you are purchased at retail prices. If a book is sent to me for an Arachne review, I do send the review to the author before you see it. That is a precaution to be sure I did not misunderstand something. One advantage of Arachne reviews is that they can be more than a paragraph or two in length (the norm in Guild bulletins). If something wonderful is not to be missed, or the book is exceptionally unique, I may choose to quote -- as an enticement to purchase. The book reviewed 2 years ago "In Fine Style - The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion" remains at the top of a pedestal of most beautiful and informative books! That is where "books related-to-lace" come into the picture, and why Arachne members received a review of it, some bought it, some made arrangements to see the exhibition in London. I knew it was not meant to be a national secret, and I was disappointed not to have learned about it from anyone in the UK prior to my purchasing it and writing 2 reviews - one for the book; one for the exhibition - so that double the usual information could be sent to you. Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center -------------------------------------------------------- In a message dated 1/12/2015 2:47:06 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
In answer, I don't see why an honest opinion can't be written on behalf of the author. Review copies aren't 'free' - they are given to groups in return for a positive review. If a book is so poor that it merits a negative review, then the copy should be returned to the author, not kept in the group's library. Never in all the many years that I've written reviews on lace books have I had to do this. On Mon, Jan 12, 2015 at 10:45 AM, Mousie <[email protected]> wrote: > I think I would slightly disagree with Bev on this point. Following the > guidelines we are given, the reviews I've written for Lace have always been > based on my honest opinion of the book, and not written "on behalf of the > author" which would, I feel, be biased. - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
