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Book Jacket: You Glow in the Dark

You Glow in the Dark

Somewhere Ray Bradbury is smiling. With this beautiful and brutal collection, translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews, Liliana Colanzi cements her well-deserved place in the world of dystopian ...

Beyond the Book

The Goiania Accident

In the title story of You Glow in the Dark, scrap metal scavengers uncover a strange glowing capsule in the ruins of an abandoned hospital. Dazzled by the beautiful blue particles that glow in the...

The world has become a frozen wasteland and sixteen-year-old Jeon Chobahm's only relief from the bitter cold comes in the form of her favorite reality show, Goh Around , which focuses on the daily life...

Fan Culture and Parasocial Relationships

For those living in the dystopian world of Soyoung Park's Snowglobe, the main source of entertainment is reality television shot within a climate-controlled dome. The lives of the actors on these ...

Let me confess that I don't watch a lot of spy movies or read spy novels because the plots are too much to keep up with. Please consider that information an extra endorsement for Ilium by Lea ...

Escape and Evasion Maps

In Lea Carpenter's Ilium, some of the spies have escape and evasion maps. Also known as escape maps or silk maps, these are scarves imprinted with maps that intelligence officers and soldiers have ...

Francesca Peacock's debut, Pure Wit , is a captivating and well-researched biography of a woman whose contributions to literary history have largely been ignored. Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of ...

Margaret Cavendish and Vitalist Materialism

In her biography of 17th-century author Margaret Cavendish, Pure Wit, Francesca Peacock shines light on often-overlooked aspects of Cavendish's life and work, including her contributions to ...

Hard by a Great Forest

When civil war breaks out in Georgia shortly after its secession from the Soviet Union in 1991, Saba, the protagonist and first-person narrator of Hard by a Great Forest , flees to the safety of London...

Civil War in the Republic of Georgia

In Leo Vardiashvili's Hard by a Great Forest, young Saba and his brother and father flee their home in Tbilisi, Georgia, when the city erupts in violence. "We heard gunfire by night and saw ...

The Atlas of Us

Despite her name, Atlas James feels like she lacks a road map for her future. In the months since her dad died from cancer, Atlas has entirely lost her way. She's been kicked out of high school and ...

Trail Names

In Kristin Dwyer's The Atlas of Us, Atlas and her friends are given trail names by their program director; these nicknames allow Atlas (trail name Maps) to create a new identity and forge a new ...

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Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray

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Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman

From the best-selling author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. comes a funny, eye-opening tale of work in contemporary America. Reviews

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Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati A feminist Greek retelling about the most notorious heroine of the ancient world and the events that forged her into a legendary queen.

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Here are the Books We Love: 380+ great 2023 reads recommended by NPR

Here are the Books We Love: 380+ great 2023 reads recommended by NPR

November 20, 2023 • Books We Love returns with 380+ new titles handpicked by NPR staff and trusted critics. Find 11 years of recommendations all in one place – that's more than 3,600 great reads.

11 books to look forward to in 2024

11 books to look forward to in 2024

December 30, 2023 • The first few months of the year are stacked with exciting and interesting reads. Get ready for big swings from old pros and exciting new debuts.

Big-box store workers find themselves shut out of the American Dream in 'Help Wanted'

Big-box store workers find themselves shut out of the American Dream in 'Help Wanted'

March 13, 2024 • Adelle Waldman's novel is a workplace ensemble set in a Costco-like store. But, because Help Wanted is a group portrait, it tends to visit, rather than settle in with, its working class characters.

In 'Unshrinking,' a writer discusses coming out as fat and pushing back against bias

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In 'unshrinking,' a writer discusses coming out as fat and pushing back against bias.

March 13, 2024 • Kate Manne tried to shrink her body for years before embracing her size as part of a "natural, normal human variation." She says the fight against fat phobia must start in the doctor's office.

Authors push back on the growing number of AI 'scam' books on Amazon

Amazon.com started requiring writers who want to sell books through its e-book program to tell the company in advance whether their work includes material generated by artificial intelligence. Matt Slocum/AP hide caption

Authors push back on the growing number of AI 'scam' books on Amazon

March 13, 2024 • Authors say that the proliferation of AI-generated books can lead customers into buying the wrong book on Amazon and that these books can harm authors' sales numbers and reputations.

Q&A: Yashica Dutt on her life as part of an oppressed caste in 'Coming Out As Dalit'

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Q&a: yashica dutt on her life as part of an oppressed caste in 'coming out as dalit'.

March 10, 2024 • When Dutt was a kid, her family pretended to be rich so no one would suspect their caste identity. In her memoir, she talks of her struggles — and her decision to publicly declare she is a Dalit.

The working class gets stubbed out in Russell Banks' posthumous 'American Spirits'

The working class gets stubbed out in Russell Banks' posthumous 'American Spirits'

March 10, 2024 • The late author often wrote about the loneliness and isolation of the working class. His new short story collection puts a sharper focus on the politics of small town life.

'The Extinction of Irena Rey' asks: Can anything be truly individual and independent?

Cover of The Extinction of Irena Rey Bloomsbury Publishing hide caption

'The Extinction of Irena Rey' asks: Can anything be truly individual and independent?

March 8, 2024 • Jennifer Croft's novel, centered on a group of translators working on a book, is surprising at every turn, moving from profound observations about nature, art, and communication — to surreal events.

Meet the woman who helped libraries across the U.S. 'surf the internet'

Jean Armour Polly was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame in 2019 for evangelizing computers in public libraries. Hawley Studio hide caption

Meet the woman who helped libraries across the U.S. 'surf the internet'

March 8, 2024 • Jean Armour Polly was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame in 2019 for evangelizing computers in public libraries, the precursor to the internet being offered as a core service in those spaces.

3 collections take the poetic measure of America in the aftermath of the pandemic

3 collections take the poetic measure of America in the aftermath of the pandemic

March 7, 2024 • New collections The Gone Thing, Silver and Modern Poetry offer, if not a solution to trying times in America, then a kind of truth-telling companion, a mirror with a real person on both sides of it.

Gabriel García Márquez's last novel is published against his wishes

Gabriel García Márquez greets journalists and neighbors on his birthday outside his house in Mexico City on March 6, 2014. Edgard Garrido/Reuters hide caption

Latin America

Gabriel garcía márquez's last novel is published against his wishes.

March 6, 2024 • Until August is the last novel of the Nobel Prize-winning author, a work he asked his sons to destroy. But, nearly 10 years after his death, they have decided to publish his final novel.

'Anita de Monte Laughs Last' is a complex dissection of art, gender and marriage

'Anita de Monte Laughs Last' is a complex dissection of art, gender and marriage

March 6, 2024 • Xochitl Gonzalez's novel looking at relationship power dynamics is a thought-provoking and brilliantly entertaining triumph that surpasses the promise of her popular debut Olga Dies Dreaming .

After years in conflict zones, a war reporter reckons with a deadly cancer diagnosis

Rod Nordland looks at the Istanbul old city from Galata Tower on Nov. 20, 2016. Nordland was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a terminal brain cancer, in 2019. Yasin Akgul/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Health Care

After years in conflict zones, a war reporter reckons with a deadly cancer diagnosis.

March 5, 2024 • Rod Nordland was diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most lethal form of brain cancer, in 2019. He writes about facing mortality from war and cancer in his new memoir, Waiting for the Monsoon.

Kennedy Ryan's new novel, plus 4 other new romances by Black authors

Kennedy Ryan's new novel, plus 4 other new romances by Black authors

March 5, 2024 • Black romance authors have been some of the leading advocates for change in the books industry. This Could Be Us, the latest by bestselling author Kennedy Ryan, hits shelves today.

This oral history of the 'Village Voice' captures its creativity and rebelliousness

Founded in 1955, the Village Voice stopped publishing print editions in in 2017. Drew Angerer/Getty Images hide caption

This oral history of the 'Village Voice' captures its creativity and rebelliousness

March 4, 2024 • Tricia Romano's The Freaks Came Out To Write chronicles the passion and talent that made a great American newspaper — and the forces that killed it.

A man fights expectations in 'I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together'

A man fights expectations in 'I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together'

March 2, 2024 • Maurice Vellekoop's graphic memoir is an impressive book by an artist, a cartoonist, staking a claim — presenting a life lived willfully resisting other people's inconsistent, harmful attitudes.

In Georgia, a bill to cut all ties with the American Library Association is advancing

The American Library Association had its annual conference in Chicago last year. Several states have moved to disassociate with the ALA amid what some conservatives say has been politicization of the group. ALA officials deny having a political agenda. Claire Savage/AP hide caption

In Georgia, a bill to cut all ties with the American Library Association is advancing

March 1, 2024 • Several other states have made moves to disassociate from the nation's oldest library professional association. But Georgia's bill, the first of its kind in the nation, goes further than the others.

Sloane Crosley mourns her best friend in 'Grief Is for People'

Sloane Crosley mourns her best friend in 'Grief Is for People'

February 28, 2024 • Russell Perreault hired Crosley when she was 25 and the two became very close. He died by suicide in 2019. Her first full-length book of nonfiction is a noteworthy addition to the literature of grief.

This data scientist has a plan for how to feed the world sustainably

A farmer works at an avocado plantation at the Los Cerritos avocado group ranch in Ciudad Guzman, state of Jalisco, Mexico. Ulises Ruiz/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

This data scientist has a plan for how to feed the world sustainably

February 28, 2024 • According to the United Nations , about ten percent of the world is undernourished. It's a daunting statistic — unless your name is Hannah Ritchie. She's the data scientist behind the new book Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet . It's a seriously big thought experiment: How do we feed everyone on Earth sustainably? And because it's just as much an economically pressing question as it is a scientific one, Darian Woods of The Indicator from Planet Money joins us. With Hannah's help, Darian unpacks how to meet the needs of billions of people without destroying the planet.

Merriam-Webster says you can end a sentence with a preposition. The internet goes off

The idea that sentences can end with a preposition has become a point of contention in the replies to a tongue-in-cheek social media post from dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster. Brandon Bell/Getty Images hide caption

Merriam-Webster says you can end a sentence with a preposition. The internet goes off

February 27, 2024 • The dictionary publisher's guidance on the practice has people riled up. Grammarians say the made-up rule is one big waste of time. Not everyone is ready to let it go.

Tommy Orange's 'Wandering Stars' is a powerful follow up to 'There There'

Tommy Orange's 'Wandering Stars' is a powerful follow up to 'There There'

February 27, 2024 • An eloquent indictment of the effects of the massacre, dislocation and forced assimilation of Native Americans, it is also a heartfelt paean to the importance of family and of ancestors' stories.

When is forgetting normal — and when is it worrisome? A neuroscientist weighs in

Cognitive neuroscientist Charan Ranganath says the human brain isn't programmed to remember everything. Rather, it's designed to "carry what we need and to deploy it rapidly when we need it." Bulat Silvia/iStock / Getty Images Plus hide caption

When is forgetting normal — and when is it worrisome? A neuroscientist weighs in

February 26, 2024 • Charan Ranganath recently wrote an op-ed about President Biden's memory gaffes. He says forgetting is a normal part of aging. His new book is Why We Remember .

Dishy-yet-earnest, 'Cocktails' revisits the making of 'Virginia Woolf'

Dishy-yet-earnest, 'Cocktails' revisits the making of 'Virginia Woolf'

February 26, 2024 • Philip Gefter's Cocktails with George and Martha traces the evolution of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? — from Broadway sensation, to Oscar-winning film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

A gender-swapping photo app helped Lucy Sante come out as trans at age 67

Lucy Sante, shown here in January 2024, says, "I am lucky to have survived my own repression. I think a lot of people in my position have not." Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for The Guardian hide caption

A gender-swapping photo app helped Lucy Sante come out as trans at age 67

February 21, 2024 • In 2021, Sante, who was assigned male at birth, was playing around with a face-altering app and she had a breakthrough. Her new memoir is I Heard Her Call My Name.

Ten Honest Review Sites for New Authors

Books flood into review sites, and the sheer numbers overwhelm book review editors. They must make choices: the big New York publishers or the little guys?

typewriter

Publicists are Tweeting the editors and importuning them with e-mails. “Well, are you going to review my guy or gal or not?”

Probably not. There’s just not time. And the number of newspapers with book review sections keeps shrinking.

If this is publishing’s new reality, how are unknown authors supposed to get pithy, cover quotes? Hire a publicist? Sure, but not everyone can afford that.

If you want to throw a “Hail Mary,” you can join the National Book Critics Circle and gain access to the members of that organization. Alternately, you can monitor the group’s Twitter feed and collect Twitter addresses. Be forewarned, however.

Without a publicist, small presses, independent publishers, and self-published authors have very little chance of making it into the book review sections of national newspapers.

But, don’t give up yet. There are paid and unpaid review sites that will give you what you want–a “money quote.”

review sites for books

The Money Quote

Long before a book goes to press, the author or publisher needs to solicit reviews. Why? Because it’s good to have a “money quote.” That’s a single sentence you can put on the cover to promote it.

Here’s the money quote for my novel, Montpelier Tomorrow . “An affecting, deeply honest novel; at the same time, a lacerating indictment of our modern health care system.”– Kirkus Review

And, here’s a money quote for Bonds of Love & Blood . “MacDonald applies insight, power, and delicacy to create characters between whom the psychic space virtually sizzles.”– Foreword Reviews

You need quotes like these in your marketing campaign. That campaign can involve Tweets, blog tours, press releases, podcasts, and speaking engagements. But, all that effort begins with you deciding which review sites you’re going to target.

In this post I’m going to cover free review site and sites that charge money. Sometimes the same review organization will do both. ( Foreword Reviews, Kirkus Review , and Publishers Weekly/BookLife are examples of two-tiered review sites.)

The Skinny on Review Sites

I’ve seen disparaging comments on the web about sites that charge authors money in exchange for reviews. Honestly, it’s a very competitive world out there, and most sites that want you to pay for a review do not guarantee a positive outcome.

The reviewer can pan your book or give it a lukewarm endorsement. In that case (since you’ve forked over money), you can ask the site not to publish; but that’s the only break you’re going to get. Money doesn’t buy happiness, and it doesn’t buy a five-star review.

I’ve solicited both paid and unpaid reviews. Some of the paid reviews have been the best, not because I bought the reviewers’ good opinion, but because the readers took time to read thoroughly and respond in a “feelingful” way.

Apart from reviews, what authors want most is that vital connection with readers. Our chances improve if the review sites allow reviewers to self-select from among the many books available for review. One site, for instance, says they receive 1,000 books per month. There’s no way the editor who manages that rising tide can possibly know which readers who will be receptive. As I said, review sites are literally being inundated.

Review Sites | Free or Cheap

The Midwest Book Review — This is a site that favors small presses. If the book has not yet been published, the author or publisher can pay a $50 “reader fee” (which is an administrative fee) and MBR will assign a reviewer. At that point the author or publisher will send the reviewer a pre-publication manuscript, galley, uncorrected proof, ARC, or pdf file . Turnaround isn’t instantaneous, so it’s important to allow enough time, especially if you want a money quote for your book cover.

If your book is too far along to qualify for a pre-publication review, you can still try to get one from MBR, one of the oldest and most respected review sites in the country. The editor, James Fox, asks that you send two copies of the book, a press release, and a physical address to which they can mail the review.

If the book isn’t picked up by one of their volunteer reviewers during the 12 to 14-week time window, you can submit a review from any other reviewer (with their permission), and they’ll run the review in their newsletter.

While you’re on their site make sure you take note of their info about Book Review Magazines Used by Librarians and Other Book Reviewers . The latter is a helpful list because it includes review sites for academic books.

Foreword Reviews is one of my favorite sites for small and independent presses and for indie authors .

“To be considered for a review in the pages of Foreword Reviews magazine, a review copy (printed or digital) of the title in question must be received in the Foreword offices at least two months prior to the book’s firm publication date. Once we have our hands on your book, our managing editor will carefully critique whether it meets our editorial standards. We receive hundreds of worthy titles every month. Due to space limitations, we’re only able to review 150 books per issue of the quarterly magazine. If your book did not make the cut, we also offer objective, 450-word reviews (including a star rating) by Clarion Reviews , Foreword ‘s fee-for-review service.”

These folks produce a beautiful magazine, and their reviewers are great. Unlike Kirkus Review (more on that in a minute) Foreword Reviews does not charge for its reviews. I’m very proud that my short story collection, BONDS OF LOVE & BLOOD , is a finalist for their IndieFab awards and that they featured the book in their January issue. The magazine spotlights many books published by university and small presses.

New Pages is a great site for small and independent presses, but not so great for self-published authors and presses that use a POD printer. New Pages doesn’t charge for their reviews, and they are also inundated with new books.

“If you want your book to be considered for a review, please send two copies. We need to keep one in the office to check against any review that might be submitted. Advanced Reading Copies are acceptable.”

Their address is New Pages, PO Box 1580, Bay City, MI 48706. If your book is self-published or published by a POD publisher (such as CreateSpace), they will not review your book , but they will list it on their “Books Received” page. If, in their initial screening, they think your book looks promising, they will offer it to their reviewers, but it is up to the reviewers to choose.

Even if you can’t get a review from these folks, the site is still worth visiting. Don’t overlook their  New Pages Guide to Review Sources .

BookLife is a new venture for Publishers Weekly , the big gorilla in the publishing zoo. (If your book’s publisher produces works by multiple authors, then the publisher must submit the book through the Publishers Weekly’s GalleyTracker portal.)

Prior to launching BookLife, an author could only get a book review on PW if the author’s publisher submitted the book and if PW accepted the book for review. With BookLife you’ll have a chance at getting your book reviewed, but only if the book meets their standards .

Amazingly, the review is free. You’ll also find that they’re offering a host of other services, including helpful info about ISBN numbers, social media, and publicity. That is undoubtedly where they intend to make money.

Kirkus Indie Reviews is one of the sites acquisition librarians consult, and Kirkus reviews carry weight with readers. Kirkus Indie needs a lot of lead time–7 to 9 weeks ($425) for a standard submission and 4 to 6 weeks ($575) for a rush job.

If you’re publishing with a small or independent press, and they did not submit your book prior to publication, you can still get it reviewed under Kirkus’s Indie program.

“In the interest of introducing consumers and industry influencers to self-published books they might otherwise never discover, Kirkus Indie does not put any restrictions on publication dates for submissions. You may order a review for a book that’s been on the market for 10 years or for a book that doesn’t even have a publication date yet.”

Kirkus Indie reviews are eligible for Kirkus stars.

I’ve had two books reviewed by Kirkus Reviews . Click the link at left, and see if you can tell the difference between the one I paid for and the one I didn’t. (Hint: The publisher of BONDS OF LOVE & BLOOD submitted an ARC to Kirkus prior to publication.)

Kirkus Review clearly states that they do not review POD (print-on-demand) books except in their Indie program, but both my books were produced using POD technology, and they reviewed them.

paying review sites

Review Sites That Want You To Show Them The Money

Some of my favorite reviews have come from review sites that require a modest payment. Often these sites employ volunteer reviewers, but sometimes, they pay their reviewers for taking the time to write a coherent review.

The US Review of Books is a site that has given both my books great reviews. They state that they “ do not sell editing or manuscript review services on the side . This practice creates a clear conflict of interest with the integrity of a fair and honest review.” ( Kirkus Review does sell editing services.) A basic review with US Review of Books costs $75, but if you’re close to your pub date, you can get an express review for $129. If you’re on Twitter and you include the hashtag #USReview in your Tweet, they will retweet to their list.

An added feature of the US Review of Books site is that it supports the Eric Hoffer Award . This is an award for new books, and it also honors books that have been around for awhile. I’m thrilled that the cover of BONDS OF LOVE & BLOOD is a finalist for the da Vinci Eye award.

The Readers’ Favorite Book Review and Award Contest is one of the review sites that every indie author needs to know about. I know there are a lot of sites out there that have a gajillion categories and steep entry fees. They bilk new authors with the promise of recognition. However, Readers’ Favorite Book Review is different. The people who run the site have high integrity.

The site will do one free review of your book, and the reviews are done by real readers. You can rank your reader, just as your reader ranks you. But, there’s more! For $129 you get three reviews, and for $199 you can order five. In addition to putting the reviews on their site, they will post the reviews to Goodreads and Barnes & Noble (but not to Amazon because Amazon doesn’t accept paid reviews. Oddly, Amazon doesn’t accept reviews from Midwest Book Review , even though that site has been around a long time and has a solid reputation for objectivity.)

If you enter the Readers’ Favorite Award Contest and are one of their finalists, you become eligible to join their Forum. Contest winners share strategies they’ve used to market their books, and I can’t think of another site that’s as genial and helpful as this one.

Gold Medal for Drama

Last year I won a Gold Medal for Drama for MONTPELIER TOMORROW , and I was invited to attend their award ceremony in Miami, held in conjunction with the Miami Book Fair. It was a first-class event. These folks truly are dedicated to indie authors, and the writers you meet, either in person or online, soon become your friends.

Pacific Book Review is a site that provides reviews and extra features, such as author interviews. The PBR Basic Review Package costs $300, and they post the review to Oasis (a library site), Barnes & Noble, Google Books, the Apple iStore, Authorsden.com, Bookblog.com, and Writers Digest Book Blog. They use professional reviewers who know how to think about–and write about–books.

If you’re in need of another review, they have a second review site called Hollywood Book Reviews . For another $200 you can order a professionally written review/press release and see it posted on all major sites.

Reader Views is another good site for indie authors, as well as small and university presses. Their basic package for one review costs $119, but they have a disclaimer saying that the cost isn’t actually paying for a review, merely for their processing. If you need reader reviews for Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Goodreads, on top of a book review, ask about their book giveaways . What’s good is that you get the reviewers’ email addresses so that you can send them a “thank you” note.

That’s a start! What sites have you found? I’d love to hear about your successes.

Marylee MacDonald

Marylee MacDonald is the author of MONTPELIER TOMORROW, BONDS OF LOVE & BLOOD, BODY LANGUAGE, and THE BIG BOOK OF SMALL PRESSES AND INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS. Her books and stories have won the Barry Hannah Prize, the Jeanne M. Leiby Memorial Chapbook Award, a Readers' Favorites Gold Medal for Drama, the American Literary Review Fiction Prize, a Wishing Shelf Book Award, and many others. She holds an M.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State, and when not reading or writing books, she loves to walk on the beach and explore National Parks.

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2 responses to “ten honest review sites for new authors”.

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I review for the following three virtual book tour companies: 1. Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours . Lori offers free review tours for cozy mysteries. She charges for other genres as a way to support the free cozies.

2. Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tours . They set up and run tours for authors of historical fiction. They have done and do scores of tours. I do not know their pricing structure.

3. TLC Book Tours . Again, scads of tours under their belts and in the pipeline (I have some reviews scheduled out through August.) I do not know their pricing structure here, either.

There are a few other sites for which I review, but they are smaller and/or I haven’t worked with them as much.

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Thanks so much for these great links. I knew about TLC, but not the other two.

All Content © 2024 Marylee MacDonald

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The 13 Best Book Review Sites and Book Rating Sites

Knowing where to buy books can be challenging. So, here are the best book review sites to help you avoid buying books that you'll regret reading.

Nobody likes to spend money on a new book only to face that overwhelming feeling of disappointment when it doesn't live up to your expectations. The solution is to check out a few book review sites before you hit the shops. The greater the diversity of opinions you can gather, the more confidence you can have that you'll enjoy the title.

Which book review and book rating sites are worth considering? Here are the best ones.

1. Goodreads

Goodreads is arguably the leading online community for book lovers. If you want some inspiration for which novel or biography to read next, this is the book review site to visit.

There's an endless number of user-generated reading lists to explore, and Goodreads itself publishes dozens of "best of" lists across a number of categories. You can do a book search by plot or subject , or join book discussions and reading groups with thousands of members.

You can participate in the community by adding your own rankings to books you've read and leaving reviews for other people to check out. Occasionally, there are even bonus events like question and answer sessions with authors.

2. LibraryThing

LibraryThing is the self-proclaimed largest book club in the world. It has more than 2.3 million members and is one of the best social networking platforms for book lovers .

With a free account, you can add up to 200 books to your library and share them with other users. But it's in the other areas where LibraryThing can claim to be one of the best book review sites.

Naturally, there are ratings, user reviews, and tags. But be sure to click on the Zeitgeist tab at the top of the page. It contains masses of information, including the top books by rating, by the number of reviews, by authors, and loads more.

3. Book Riot

Book Riot is a blog. It publishes listicles on dozens of different topics, many of which review the best books in a certain genre. To give you an idea, some recent articles include Keeping Hoping Alive: 11 Thrilling YA Survival Stories and The Best Historical Fiction Books You’ve Never Heard Of .

Of course, there's also plenty of non-reading list content. If you have a general affinity for literature, Book Riot is definitely worth adding to the list of websites you browse every day.

Bookish is a site that all members of book clubs should know about. It helps you prep for your next meeting with discussion guides, book quizzes, and book games. There are even food and drink suggestions, as well as playlist recommendations.

But the site is more than just book club meetings. It also offers lots of editorial content. That comes in the form of author interviews, opinion essays, book reviews and recommendations, reading challenges, and giveaways.

Be sure to look at the Must-Reads section of the site regularly to get the latest book reviews. Also, it goes without saying that the people behind Bookish are book lovers, too. To get a glimpse of what they’re reading, check out their Staff Reads articles.

5. Booklist

Booklist is a print magazine that also offers an online portal. Trusted experts from the American Library Association write all the book reviews.

You can see snippets of reviews for different books. However, to read them in full, you will need to subscribe. An annual plan for this book review site costs $184.95 per year.

6. Fantasy Book Review

Fantasy Book Review should be high on the list for anyone who is a fan of fantasy works. The book review site publishes reviews for both children's books and adults' books.

It has a section on the top fantasy books of all time and a continually updated list of must-read books for each year. You can also search through the recommended books by sub-genres such as Sword and Sorcery, Parallel Worlds, and Epic Fantasy.

7. LoveReading

LoveReading is one of the most popular book review sites in the UK, but American audiences will find it to be equally useful.

The site is divided into fiction and non-fiction works. In each area, it publishes weekly staff picks, books of the month, debuts of the month, ebooks of the month, audiobooks of the month, and the nationwide bestsellers. Each book on every list has a full review that you can read for free.

Make sure you also check out their Highlights tab to get book reviews for selected titles of the month. In Collections , you'll also find themed reading lists such as World War One Literature and Green Reads .

Kirkus has been involved in producing book reviews since the 1930s. This book review site looks at the week's bestselling books, and provides lengthy critiques for each one.

As you'd expect, you'll also find dozens of "best of" lists and individual book reviews across many categories and genres.

And while you're on the site, make sure you click on the Kirkus Prize section. You can look at all the past winners and finalists, complete with the accompanying reviews of their books.

Although Reddit is a social media site, you can use it to get book reviews of famous books, or almost any other book for that matter! Reddit has a Subreddit, r/books, that is dedicated to book reviews and reading lists.

The subreddit has weekly scheduled threads about a particular topic or genre. Anyone can then chip in with their opinions about which books are recommendable. Several new threads are published every day, with people discussing their latest discovery with an accompanying book rating or review.

You'll also discover a weekly recommendation thread. Recent threads have included subjects such as Favorite Books About Climate Science , Literature of Indigenous Peoples , and Books Set in the Desert . There’s also a weekly What are you Reading? discussion and frequent AMAs.

For more social media-like platforms, check out these must-have apps for book lovers .

10. YouTube

YouTube is not the type of place that immediately springs to mind when you think of the best book review sites online.

Nonetheless, there are several engaging YouTube channels that frequently offer opinions on books they've read. You’ll easily find book reviews of famous books here.

Some of the most notable book review YouTube channels include Better Than Food: Book Reviews , Little Book Owl , PolandBananasBooks , and Rincey Reads .

Amazon is probably one of your go-to site when you want to buy something. If you don’t mind used copies, it’s also one of the best websites to buy second-hand books .

Now, to get book reviews, just search and click on a title, then scroll down to see the ratings and what others who have bought the book are saying. It’s a quick way to have an overview of the book’s rating. If you spot the words Look Inside above the book cover, it means you get to preview the first few pages of the book, too!

Regardless of the praises or criticisms you have heard from other book review sites, reading a sample is the most direct way to help you gauge the content’s potential and see whether the author’s writing style suits your tastes.

12. StoryGraph

StoryGraph is another good book review site that's worth checking out. The book rating is determined by the site's large community of readers. Key in the title of a book you're interested in and click on it in StoryGraph's search results to have an overall view of its rating.

Each book review provides information on the moods and pacing of the story. It also indicates whether the tale is plot or character-driven, what readers feel about the extent of character development, how lovable the characters generally are, and the diversity of the cast.

13. London Review of Books

The London Review of Books is a magazine that covers a range of subjects such as culture, literature, and philosophy. Part of its content includes amazingly detailed book reviews. If you feel that most modern book reviews are too brief for your liking, the London Review of Books should suit you best.

You'll gain insight into the flow and themes of the story, as well as a more thorough picture of the events taking place in the book.

Read Book Reviews Before You Buy

The book review sites we've discussed will appeal to different types of readers. Some people will be more comfortable with the easy-to-interpret book rating systems; others will prefer extensive reviews written by experienced professionals.

Although it’s easy to be tempted by a gorgeous book cover, it’s always best to have a quick look at the book reviews before actually buying a copy. This way, you can save your money and spend it on the books that you’ll be proud to display on your shelves for a long time. And check out recommendations, as well, to help you find what's worth reading.

Get Paid to Read: 18 Legitimate Sites That Pay Reviewers

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Get paid to read: 18 legitimate sites that pay reviewers.

Get Paid to Read: 18 Legitimate Sites That Pay Reviewers

Serious question: do you want to get paid to read? You might laugh it off at first, thinking that that sounds too good to be true, but it’s not. You can get paid for spending time on what you love: reading books. 

Of course, the key to this #hack is book reviewing, where you offer your personal opinion of a book after you’re done with it. (If you’d like to learn more, check out this post to discover how to write a book review .) Because books are constantly being published, book reviewers are generally always in demand. 

So whether you’re a voracious reader of nonfiction, genre fiction, classics, or indie books, there’s probably an outlet that’s willing to compensate you if you read (review) for them! Without further ado, here’s a definitive list of the 17 sites that will help you get paid to read. If you want to cut to the chase and find out which of them is the right fit for you, we recommend first taking this quick quiz:

Which review community should you join?

Find out which review community is best for your style. Takes 30 seconds!

Then read on for the full list of all of the ways to get paid while reading!

 1. Kirkus Media

💸 Pay: Freelance basis

👀 More information: Check here

If you’ve ever lingered on a book’s Amazon page before, you’ll have heard of Kirkus Reviews. It’s one of the most respected sources of book reviews out there, publishing many of the blurbs that you’ll see on Amazon, or on the cover of your favorite titles.

You have to wonder: where do all of these reviews come from? That’s where you come into the picture. Kirkus Media lists an open application for book reviewers. As of right now, they’re specifically searching for people who will review English and Spanish-language indie titles. Some of the qualities that they want in reviewers include: experience, a keen eye, and an ability to write about a 350-word review in two weeks’ time.

To apply, simply send your resume and writing samples! You can find out more about this opportunity here .

2. Reedsy Discovery

💸 Pay: Tip basis

A powerhouse in the world of indie books, Reedsy Discovery gives book reviewers the chance to read the latest self-published books before anyone else. You can browse through hundreds of new stories before picking one that piques your interest. And if you’ve built up a brand as a book reviewer on Reedsy Discovery, you can liaise with authors who contact you directly for a review.

Its application process is pretty simple: just complete this form to be selected as a book reviewer. Once you’re accepted, you can start looking through the shelves and reading immediately. One more thing: book reviewers can get tips for their book reviews. Readers can send $1, $3, or $5 as a token of appreciation (which, let’s be honest, all book reviewers deserve more of).

If this system intrigues you, you can “discover” more about how it works on this page .

3. Any Subject Books

Any Subject Books is a full-suite self-publishing service. More importantly for you, it hires book reviewers on a book-by-book basis to help them review new books.

They’re big on in-depth, honest, and objective reviews. No fluff here! They’re also happy to give you books in your preferred genres, so if you’re a voracious reader of war fiction, you won’t typically be asked to read the latest paranormal romance hit (or vice versa).

Sadly, Any Subject Books is not currently open to book reviewer applications, but check back again — this could change at any time.

4. BookBrowse

BookBrowse reviews both adult fiction and nonfiction, and some books for young adults. The site focuses on books that are not only enjoyable to read, with great characters and storylines, but that also leave the reader knowing something about the world they did not before. Reviewers also write a "beyond the book" article for each book they review.

5. Online Book Club

💸 Pay: $5 to $60

Online Book Club’s FAQ begins with a warning for all aspiring book reviewers: “First of all, this is not some crazy online get-rich-quick scheme. You won't get rich and you won't be able to leave your day job.”

That daunting reminder aside, Online Book Club’s setup is pretty reasonable, not to mention straightforward. You’ll get a free copy of the book and you’ll get paid for your review of that book. Moreover, it’s one of the few sites that’s transparent about their payment rates (anywhere between $5 to $60). To begin the sign-up process, simply submit your email here .

6. U.S. Review of Books

U.S. Review of Books is a nation-wide organization that reviews books of all kinds and publishes those reviews in a popular monthly newsletter. The way that it works for a book reviewer is simple: when a book title is posted, reviewers can request to read it and get assigned.

A typical review for U.S. Review of Books is anywhere between 250 and 300 words. They are looking particularly for informed opinions and professionalism in reviews, along with succinctness. To apply, submit a resume, sample work, and two professional references via email. But we’d recommend that you check out some previous examples of their book reviews here to first get a better sense of what they’re looking for.

7. Women’s Review of Books

💸 Pay: $100 per review

Women’s Review of Books is a long-running, highly-respected print publication that’s a part of Wellesley Centers for Women. This feminist magazine has been published for 36 years and is looking for more book reviewers to join their force.

If you plan on writing reviews for Women’s Review of Books , you should be aware that its reviews are published “in the service of action and consciousness.” Most of its writers are also academics, journalists, or book reviewers with some years of experience behind them. If you meet these qualifications and are accepted, you’ll be compensated $100 per review.

To pitch then a review, send them an email with a quick proposal. For more details, click here .

8. eBookFairs

eBookFairs primarily helps authors grow their author platforms, but it also has a Paid Book Reader program where readers can earn money by, you guessed it, reviewing the books listed on their site.

Note that they do have clear instructions on what qualifies as a review, so do read their guidelines carefully before applying to make sure you can meet them. For instance, the review must be at least 250 words, you must allow at least 3 days between reviews submitted, and it must provide helpful feedback for the author. There are also a limited number of paid reader positions available.

💸 Pay: Variable

If you’re a freelancer, you’re probably already familiar with Upwork! One of the biggest marketplaces for freelancers, Upwork has fingers in every industry’s pie. So it won’t be a surprise to learn that people who are looking for freelance book reviewers regularly post listings on its marketplace.

Because each job caters to an individual client, the requirements and qualifications will differ. It might be a one-time project, or the gig might turn into a long-running collaboration with the client. Generally, the listing will specify the book’s genre, so you’ll know what you’re getting before you agree to collaborate with the client on the other end.

To begin, you’ll need to sign up as a freelancer on Upwork. Find out more information on Upwork’s FAQ page!

10. Moody Press

💸 Pay: Free ARCs

Moody Press is a nonprofit publishing house of Christian titles and Bible study resources. If this is your niche, you’ll definitely be interested in Moody Press’ Blogger Review Program! As part of the program, you’ll get free copies of book published by Moody Press.

Like some of the other programs on this list, you won’t get paid for your review, but you will get a free book. Moody Press also asks you to write your honest review within 60 days of reading it. To get a feel for it, try joining the MP Newsroom Bloggers Facebook group , where you can directly interact with existing members of the program.

11. New Pages

💸 Pay: Variable 

Not interested in writing anything longer than 300 words? Are quick flash book reviews more your pace? If so, becoming a NewPages reviewer might be just your speed. NewPages.com is an Internet portal to small presses, independent publishers and bookstores, and literary magazines. More importantly, they’re looking for short book reviews (generally between 100 and 200 words) on any recent literary magazine or book that you’ve read.

If you’re already a fan of books from small presses or unknown magazines, even better: that’s exactly the kind of reviewer NewPages wants to work with. If you’d like to look through some of their past book reviews to see if your style matches, check out their book review archive here .

12. Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly is an online magazine focused on international book publishing and all that that entails. More pertinently, it regularly reviews both traditionally published and self-published books, which means that it does occasionally have a call for book reviewers. As of right now, it’s closed to applications — but if you check its Jobs page every once in a while, you might see an opening again.

13. Tyndale Blog Network

Tyndale Blog Network runs a program called My Reader Rewards Club, which is based on an innovative rewards system. If you join as a member, you can earn points for certain actions that you take on the site (for instance, inviting a friend to the program and sharing a direct link to MyReaderRewardsClub.com on Facebook each fetches you 10 points).

Writing a review for a Tyndale or NavPress book on Amazon or Barnes & Noble gets you 10 points, with a maximum limit of 50 points in 30 days. In turn, you can use your accumulated points to receive more books off of Tyndale’s shelves. If this sounds like something that may be up your alley, check out their FAQ here.

14. Booklist Publications

💸 Pay: $12.50 to $15 per review

Booklist is the American Library Association’s highly respected review journal for librarians. Luckily for freelance writers, Booklist assigns freelance book reviews that vary from blog posts for The Booklist Reader to published book review in Booklist magazine.

As the site itself suggests, it’s important that you’re familiar with Booklist Publication’s outlets (which include Booklist magazine, the quarterly Book Links , and The Booklist Reader blog) and its writing style. Reviews are generally very short (no longer than 175 words) and professionally written. You can discover more of its guidelines here — and an archive of previous Booklist reviews here .

To apply, contact a relevant Booklist editor and be prepared to submit a few of your past writing samples.

15. Instaread

💸 Pay: $100 per summary

Not interested in writing critical takes on the books that you read? Then Instaread might be for you. Instaread has an open call for book summaries, which recap “the key insights of new and classic nonfiction.”

Each summary should be around 1000 to 1500 words, which makes it a fair bit lengthier than your average flash book review. However, Instaread will compensate you heartily for it: as of 2019, Instaread pays $100 for each summary that you write. You can peruse Instaread’s recommended Style Guide on this page , or download Instaread from your App Store to get a better feel for the app.

16. NetGalley

If you’ve dreamt about becoming an influencer in the book reviewing community, you may want to give NetGalley a look. Put simply, NetGalley is a service that connects book reviewers to publishers and authors. Librarians, bloggers, booksellers, media professionals, and educators can all sign up to NetGalley to read books before they’re published.

How it works is pretty simple. Publishers put digital review copies out on NetGalley for perusal, where NetGalley’s members can request to read, review, and recommend them. It’s a win-win for both publisher and reviewer: the publisher is able to find enthusiastic readers to provide an honest review for their books, and the reviewer gets access to a vast catalog of books.

The cherry on top is that NetGalley membership is 100% free! Simply use this form to sign up. And if you’d like more information, you can dip into their FAQ here .

17. getAbstract

Are you an avid reader of nonfiction books? getAbstract is a site that summarizes 18,000+ nonfiction books into 10-minute bites. Their Career Opportunities page often includes listings for writers. At the time of this post’s writing, getAbstract is looking for science and technology writers who can sum up the latest magazine articles and books. They pay on a freelance basis, so apply through their website to get further details.

18. Writerful Books

💸 Pay: $10 to $50

Writerful Books is an author services company that provides everything from beta reading to (you guessed it) book reviewing. As such, they’re always on the lookout for book reviewers with fresh and compelling voices.  

One of the benefits of this gig is that you can review any book that you want for them (although they prefer contemporary award-winning American, Australian, British, Canadian, Irish, and New Zealand authors). Getting a regularly paid gig with Writerful Books isn’t a guarantee, but if you regularly publish quality reviews for them, they may contact you. 

To apply, you’ll have to be able to provide previous book review samples. Here’s the job listing if you’re curious to learn more about this role.

If you're an avid reader,  sign up to Reedsy Discovery  for access to the freshest new reads — or  apply as a reviewer  to give us  your  hot takes!

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Burning books in the Opernplatz, Berlin, in May 1933.

The Pages by Hugo Hamilton review – if a book could talk

The narrator of this ingenious fable about Germany, nationalism and the tides of history is a century-old Joseph Roth novel

T he Austrian writer Joseph Roth , best remembered for his masterpiece Radetzky March , anticipates several of its themes in his third novel, Rebellion , first published in 1924. It tells the story of Andreas Pum, a survivor of the first world war who has “lost a leg and been given a medal”. The book is at once grainily realistic and a kind of parable, and shows how an initially accepting spirit is turned towards fury by disappointment. Pum clings to life only “in order to rebel: against the world, against authorities, against the government, against God”.

For his 10th novel, Hugo Hamilton, the son of a German mother and an Irish father, has seized on Rebellion as a way of developing Roth’s preoccupations with the heartlessness of state politics while deepening his own commitment to writing about nationalism and identity. He uses the adventurous device of employing a copy of the first edition as his narrator. “I came to life,” it tells the reader, “between the wars ... Between what was first thought to be the fields of honour and later became the fields of shame.” The Pages is a peculiar sort of audio book, ingeniously sympathetic to its inspiration.

At the heart of things is a pretty straightforward mystery yarn: Lena Knacht, an artist who lives in Manhattan with her husband Mike, is the daughter of an Irish mother and a German father, from whom she has inherited the copy of Rebellion . At the back of the book is a hand-drawn diagram: is it the vital clue in some kind of treasure hunt? There’s only one way to find out – by going to the location herself. Handily, she has an exhibition opening soon in Germany.

Even more handily, this remarkable book can provide at least some of the backstory to the diagram it contains. We learn that it originally belonged to David Gluckstein, a Jewish professor of German literature in Berlin; he gave it to Lena’s grandfather, one of his students, for safekeeping during the first episode of Nazi book burning in May 1933. The book is thus a witness to history, as well as a representative of it – a role that expands when it is stolen from Lena on arrival in Berlin, then recovered by Armin, an architectural researcher who earns his living “measuring empty spaces” to see if new housing can be built.

Armin and his sister Madina are originally from Chechnya, and were wounded in the war of the mid-90s – Madina, who lost a leg, now plays accordion in a band. The accordion playing and the mutilation both remind us of Pum, and in a more oblique yet brutal way so does the fact that she’s being stalked by an obsessive fan, Bogdanov. In case we don’t already know how this echoes or parallels Rebellion , Hamilton punctuates the novel with plot reminders, as well as descriptions of Roth’s real-life marriage to Frieda, who had a slow mental breakdown, and was eventually murdered by the Nazis.

This multiplicity of narratives has a congestive effect on the pages of The Pages , but the fable-like style means that we generally accept the somewhat flattened nature of his characters. Hamilton’s principal interest here is the interconnectedness of time, rather than the details of individual personalities, and he animates this by stoking our curiosity about the diagram in Lena’s loquacious copy of Rebellion . Will it reveal something of material value? Or will it teach a lesson about the relationship between past and present?

Lena leaves Berlin to quiz her uncle Henning in Magdeburg, and he gives her a lot of family and book background. By this time, she’s begun an affair with Armin, despite the fact that her husband Mike keeps badgering her with news from home. Specifically, with news about his mother’s troubles with her neighbours. Clearly these local difficulties align with larger questions the book raises about territorial disagreement and displacement, but even with the conventions of fable, it feels excessive to have so many plot lines converging on the same point.

Still, the climax of the novel’s adventure story comes as a surprise, and all the more so when it transpires that several characters have followed Lena and Armin to the remote farmhouse indicated by the diagram. Melodrama notwithstanding, this denouement plays into the novel’s main central concern: the recapitulations of history, and the resemblances between one bad nationalistic time and another. But entangled with this theme is another preoccupation. Armin’s job as a surveyor of empty spaces; his sister’s missing leg; the political suppressions that shaped Roth’s existence; the isolation of his real-life spouse; the lacunae in history and the gaps in human understanding of history: all these things mean that The Pages – a novel that risks cluttering itself with too many presences – is primarily interested in relaying the griefs of absence.

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This book about Trump voters goes for the jugular

In ‘white rural rage,’ tom schaller and paul waldman examine why so many remain loyal to a party that does little to help them.

new pages book reviews

Patient efforts to “understand” Donald Trump’s voters and their grievances have occupied frequent-flying journalists for almost a decade. The rules of those reporting trips, rarely violated, stipulate that the frayed vinyl booths in a thousand heartland diners in a thousand small towns are judgment-free zones.

Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman are here with a corrective. These voters, Schaller and Waldman write in “ White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy ,” are complicit, and the authors are in no mood to condescend to them. Someone write a new elegy for the bilious hillbilly, because these authors went for his jugular.

It’s not that the authors discredit legitimate grievances. They dutifully document how the country — the modern world — has abandoned rural America. People who live there are demonstrably worse off than their urban and suburban cousins. Good health care, good jobs, good schools and even good WiFi are scarce; drug addiction, gun suicide and crime are plentiful (yes, Oklahoma does have a higher rate of violent crime than New York or California). But what Schaller and Waldman also document, scrupulously, is how much outsize power rural White voters have but squander on “culture war trinkets.” Wyoming has two senators for not quite 600,000 people; California’s two serve around 39 million. With the way our democracy is set up — not just its lopsided Senate but also its thumb-on-the-scale electoral college — rural Americans could be its biggest beneficiaries, if not its drivers. They are not. They are not even its biggest fans, in Schaller and Waldman’s telling.

Instead, by key measures, the authors write, rural White voters pose a quadruple threat to democracy: They are more likely than average Americans, or even average White Americans, to have racist and xenophobic tendencies, to accept violence in pursuit of their beliefs, to believe conspiracy theories, and to nurture antidemocratic ideas.

Not all rural White Americans hold these attitudes, Schaller and Waldman concede. But they “are overrepresented across all four of these threats,” and that’s what animates their status as what the authors call the “essential minority.”

Also, they vote Republican. This confounds the authors, because “there is no demographic group in America as loyal to one political party as rural Whites are to the GOP that gets less out of the deal.” By less, they mean policy prescriptions — stuff that might better their lives. What these voters do get from Republicans, the authors argue, is someone to stoke their rage — to fuel its flame from a bottomless stack of cultural kindling. Republicans long ago figured out that it is really the blue yonder that makes rural White voters see red. Exacerbate the villainy in that city-country divide, and you have yourself some dependable voters.

Enter the Pied Piper of dark traits, “a walking repudiation of every value rural Americans claim to hold.” He’s a truth-challenged billionaire from Queens, true, but he’s got no truck with “ shithole ” countries, Mexican judges, traitorous generals, Soros-backed “animals” and radical-left thugs who live like vermin . What’s not to like? Or better yet, this being a Christian nation, worship?

“Never before in American politics has a single syllable carried so much symbolic weight,” the authors write in a chapter they title “The Unlikely King of Rural America.” “‘TRUMP’ is thrust at liberals, chanted at high school games when the opposing team contains a lot of non-White kids, shouted in the air, and scrawled on the sidewalk, carrying boundless aggression in its percussive simplicity. It says I’m mad and We’re winning and Screw you all at the same time.”

How did it come to this?

Maybe it starts with the preferred status rural residents have long enjoyed as the country’s “real” Americans. It’s not coastal elites who think they are better than everyone else, but heartlanders. And the funny thing is that coastal elites have always tended to agree with them. The authors quote Thomas Jefferson, who wrote that “cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independant, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bands.”

There aren’t a lot of cultivators left in rural America, though. In Jefferson’s time, most Americans were farmers. By 2019, the authors write, only 7 percent of rural Americans were. Rural identity now is diffuse and hard to pin down. The book has some weird digressions on this front. It devotes almost a whole chapter to the mythic qualities of the pickup truck in the rural imagination. You need an eight-foot bed to haul full sheets of plywood, but standard pickups now have 6.5-foot beds. You can project rural toughness even if you aren’t building a barn.

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As for the “lasting bands” that tie these citizens to their country, Schaller and Waldman argue that rural Whites are “conditional patriots” and “their throaty, unmitigated defense of Donald Trump’s repeated assaults on American democracy” are the greatest proof of that.

The authors don’t ask skeptics to take their word for it; the book is “not intended to be mere polemic,” they say, so they stuff the chapters with empirical data, citing dozens of polls and studies.

But they don’t use a lot of lipstick, either. Next to their characterizations, “basket of deplorables” sounds almost quaint, and many readers may find guilty satisfaction in that.

White Rural Rage

The Threat to American Democracy

By Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman

Random House. 299 pp. $32

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Late Night with the Devil

Late Night with the Devil (2023)

A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation's living rooms. A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation's living rooms. A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation's living rooms.

  • Cameron Cairnes
  • Colin Cairnes
  • David Dastmalchian
  • Laura Gordon
  • 3 User reviews
  • 32 Critic reviews
  • 71 Metascore
  • 1 win & 1 nomination

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Laura Gordon

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Ian Bliss

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Fayssal Bazzi

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Rhys Auteri

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Josh Quong Tart

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Steve Mouzakis

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Christopher Kirby

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Michael Ironside

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  • Trivia The movie's tonight show was inspired by The Don Lane Show (1975) . The Australian newspaper 'The Sydney Morning Herald' reported on 2nd June 2023 that the picture ''...takes its inspiration from the American-born Don Lane and his eponymous late-night Australian talk show [ The Don Lane Show (1975) ]''.
  • Connections Featured in Amanda the Jedi Show: 'BOTTOMS' is WILD | Kicked out of The Evil Dead Rise Premiere SXSW (2023)

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  • ‘Arthur The King’ Review: Mark Wahlberg And A Scrappy New Dog Star Make This Remarkable True Story Come To Cinematic Life

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'Arthur the King' review

Let me state right out that I am a sucker for dog movies. I still can’t get over My Dog Skip. I learned valuable lifelong lessons from Old Yeller. I consider Lassie a personal friend. I took selfies at the Oscar nominees luncheon with Messi, the French border collie I was pushing for Best Supporting Actor from Anatomy of a Fall . So yes, I am probably the right audience for the latest in the genre, Arthur the King , and its title star.

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In addition to Michael, we learn the backstories of the crew he is with, including former archnemesis Leo ( Simu Liu ), whom he is forced to bring on board due to his social media skills and at the demand of sponsor Broadrail, which is footing the bill; Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel), who is determined to carry on her champion father’s legacy in the sport; and Chik (Ali Suliman), who has won seven times but is considered done due to an injury. The adventure racers must endure backbreaking running, climbing, trekking, mountain biking, kayaking and more over the course of 10 days and 435 miles in challenging conditions, weather and otherwise. It is grueling, to say the least.

The first half of the film is really witnessing their efforts in all this, so much that it almost begins to feel like an ESPN documentary. Occasionally, director Simon Cellan Jones sets his cameras on a stray mixed-breed mutt wandering the streets of Santo Domingo alone in search of scraps, clearly without an owner and visibly mistreated from wherever he has emerged.

Sound far-fetched, a Hollywood story? Not quite. It is all true, with some facts and names changed for this Americanized version of a tale that already has been the subject of two ESPN short documentaries, as well Arthur: The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home, one of two books on the canine written by Swedish adventure racer Mikael Lindnord, the real-life person Wahlberg essentially is playing. The actual world championship has been changed from 2014 in Ecuador and a Swedish team led by Lindnord to 2018 and the American team in the Dominican Republic, an even more imposing and dangerous place. Whatever the details, the rest is true and truly stunning to think this dog traveled 435 miles — and believe me, there won’t be a dry eye in the house as they approach the finish line.

TV commercials, aware that audiences might be worried about the dog’s fate, tell us, “We know what you may be thinking” but assure us not to worry. Still — and this is no spoiler alert — there are touchy life-and-death moments for the title star, so beware. Nevertheless it is a triumphant, moving and inspiring family film of the highest order, especially for dog lovers and Wahlberg lovers, the latter in his zone here in a physically taxing role but one where character takes center stage. This movie and story are a natural for the star, and the supporting cast also is up to the task, even though they eventually are working opposite a talented scene-stealer whose real name is Ukai, doing what I understand is 90% of his own stunts.

Shout-out to Jacques Jouffret’s fine cinematography and the dog training by Mathilde de Cagny.

They say grown actors should never work with kids or animals if you want to be noticed. In the case of Arthur the King, it is all a valiant team effort for humans and dog — and it pays off for families looking for a good time at the movies.

Producers are Tucker Tooley, Mark Canton, Courtney Solomon, Tessa Tooley, Stephen Levinson and Wahlberg. Dorothy Canton is among the Executive Producers.

Title: Arthur the King Distributor: Lionsgate Release date: March 15, 2024 Director: Simon Cellan Jones Screenwriter: Michael Brandt Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Simu Liu, Nathalie Emmanuel, Ali Suliman, Juliet Rylance, Paul Guilfoyle, Bear Grylls, Ukai Rating: PG-13 Running time: 1 hr 47 min

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Trump campaign insider recounts failed hunt for 2020 fraud in new book

The cover of "Disproven," a new book by Ken Block.

The December 2020 claim of voter fraud was explosive, if true: More than 700,000 people had voted twice in Wisconsin, the tip alleged.

But when a highly paid expert for Donald Trump’s campaign began to study the claim at the behest of a Trump lawyer, he quickly realized that not only was it false, it had also traveled a surprisingly twisted path before landing in his inbox.

The expert, Ken Block, learned it had first appeared in a post on a website called TheDonald.win, where it was spotted by the owner of an IT company, who brought it to the attention of the general manager of Trump’s golf course in the Bronx.

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The golf executive forwarded the tip to the president’s son, Eric, who passed it along to the lawyer. At last, the lawyer, Alex Cannon, directed the wild Wisconsin claim to Block, a software engineer and former elected official from Rhode Island who was hired by the campaign shortly after the 2020 election.

“I think there is a fundamental flaw with the analysis,” Block told Cannon a few hours later, in a Dec. 4, 2020, email reviewed by The Washington Post. The hundreds of thousands of supposedly double-counted votes were “nothing of the sort.”

“They have incomplete data, did not recognize that, and inferred that the only logical explanation is fraud rather than incomplete data,” he wrote in the email.

Block describes the moment in a new book, "Disproven," which will be released Tuesday. In the book, Block reveals how, again and again in the months after the November 2020 election, he was tasked by Trump's campaign with batting down implausible and inaccurate allegations that Joe Biden had won the election through fraud.

Block’s book provides an insider’s account of the desperate measures Trump’s campaign took to pursue allegations of voter fraud and of how quickly the campaign concluded internally that each one was invalid, even as the president continued to rile up his supporters by claiming the election was stolen.

Cannon declined to comment. A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

In the book, Block describes how the number of claims sent his way “snowballed” in the weeks after the election, allegations he was often asked to verify or disprove in a day or less.

“At first, the requests were worded ‘Please try to verify this claim,’” he writes. “By the end, the requests were phrased ‘Tell me why this claim is wrong.’”

In a recent interview, Block said he studied more than a dozen complaints from the Trump campaign - and none of them was substantiated. Some could be dismissed within minutes, while others took considerable research, he said. Ultimately, he was paid about $800,000 for his work, which was not made public at the time because it did not help Trump, he said.

An invoice reviewed by The Post showed his work was extensive. It included analyzing more than 21 million voter records, reviewing voter data from five swing states, examining voting patterns at Pennsylvania nursing homes, and comparing voter registrations to the Social Security death index, looking for possible instances of votes cast in the name of dead people.

Yet more work was conducted by another expert firm that was paid more than $1 million. When its work also did not prove fraud, it also was not made public, The Post reported.

In the book, Block describes how he was contacted by Cannon days after the 2020 election based on his ownership of a company called Simpatico Software Systems and his previous work exploring voting issues, including on a Trump White House commission set up in 2017 to examine potential fraud in federal elections.

Block recounts that he demanded to be paid upfront for his work because Trump famously did not pay contractors. The campaign agreed, he writes. Block said he never spoke directly to Trump about his work, though he was told campaign officials briefed Trump on some of his findings.

Block’s book explains how he found himself in the center of repeated and furtive efforts to overturn the election, a haphazard effort that often enlisted seemingly random people to find fraud before Biden took office.

At one point, emails show, the Trump team sent Block a list of people who had died in Pennsylvania that was drafted by a funeral home owner, who said he “compiled this list from online obituaries from the local funeral homes.” But Block writes that when he examined the data, he did not find evidence of fraud.

Another time, Block writes, he was given a sworn affidavit from a mathematics professor at Williams College in Massachusetts that allegedly demonstrated fraud, but on examining the claims, he found them faulty. Again, he informed the campaign.

Emails reviewed by The Post show he was given 11 pages of a report compiled by aides working for the Trump campaign called the “Voter Integrity Project,” once again designed to show fraud. All of it was underwhelming or misleading, he said.

“If the question is: is this stuff a game changer,” he wrote in an email at the time to Cannon, “it is not.”

At another point, Block writes, he was given information about votes cast in the name of dead people in Nevada just before Trump’s lawyers included the data in a motion filed in court. Proper vetting had not been done on the claims, he writes.

“My communication back to the campaign with my findings was: ‘DO NOT ALLOW THIS [analysis] TO GO OUT,’” he writes. The lawsuit was not filed, he writes.

Despite his efforts to push back on dubious claims, Block said, he would often see other allegations pop up in lawsuits, television interviews or news conferences by Trump that he had not checked and believed could be easily disproved.

“There was one memorable meeting where I proved wrong one of the claims attached to the Pennsylvania lawsuits. There were 30 people on a conference call who had a vested interest in seeing this go ahead,” he said. “They just ended the call.”

Block said he was surprised by how many campaign staffers were also skeptical of Trump's claims, including the lawyer Cannon, who appeared to be under "a tremendous amount of pressure."

He groups Cannon in with other campaign lawyers who were trying to perform “due diligence” on the claims - while another group of lawyers, led by former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, did not appear concerned about whether the fraud assertions were true. “They just wanted to impugn the election results by filing lawsuits they must have known were false,” he said.

A spokesman for Giuliani did not respond to a request for comment.

Since the election, Block writes, he has received subpoenas as part of investigations by special counsel Jack Smith and Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani T. Willis, who are both pursuing criminal cases against Trump, alleging that the former president improperly tried to overturn the election. At issue in both of those cases will be whether Trump understood that the allegations he was making about voter fraud were false. Block said he has provided documents and met with investigators but did not know whether he would be asked to testify in any trials.

Block writes in the book that it has disturbed him to see so many Republicans embrace Trump’s false claims, including in his home state of Rhode Island. And he says he fears that even more claims will come this year from Trump and those who follow him.

“It’s important to understand why the claims of fraud that were made were not just wrong but were demonstrably wrong. We have a narrative that’s false that the election was stolen,” he said in an interview. “The election wasn’t stolen, and you can prove it.”

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Her winsome animal characters and their comic adventures expressed universal truths and feelings, rendered in a naïve and often surrealistic style.

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