A Review Format of Our Own

When Jenny and I first started this blog, we both agreed we wanted to have a unique but informative structure when it came to our book reviews. One thing we both admire and appreciate in other book blogs is a consistent review format - we know exactly what we're going to get when we visit those blogs. We had a really brief conversation about our own review structure, and then kind of hit the ground running when we launched our blog back in November and didn't ever establish anything uniquely ours. Now that we've had a little more time to think about it, I think we've finally come up with a review format that fits us and also plays off our blog name in a fun way!

So here is what you can expect from book reviews on The Pathological Readers from now on. We'll begin with The Vitals, which will include:       

• Book Cover
• Title
• Author
• Release Date
• Page Count
• Genre
• Target Audience
• Series
• Source and Format

After that we'll provide a Summary From Goodreads. Occasionally when the Goodreads summary won't suffice, we'll write our own, but for the most part the summaries will be from Goodreads.

Next, we'll include a Chart rating our overall thoughts (on a scale of 1 to 5) on five different aspects of the novel. This will allow you to digest our book review in one fell swoop if you don't have time to read the entire thing. Here's a sample chart for a book we've already reviewed, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight:

 Next, we'll jot down our Notes, which will be the meat of the book review. This is where we will share and discuss all of our thoughts on the book in detail. As part of the notes, we'll include a Chief Complaint, which will spell out what didn't work for us or what we didn't like about that particular book. This definitely does not mean we're forcing ourselves to think negatively about every book. If we don't have anything bad to say about a book, we'll be sure to make that clear in this section. :)

At the end of the review, we'll give our Overall Diagnosis, which will utilize our new rating system. Even though Jenny and I both loathe stars, we've tied our ratings to a 5 star scale just so people can have that comparison. Don't worry, we're giving ourselves the freedom to give half stars or even quarter stars if we feel like it. This is our blog after all! So at the end of our review you can quickly see that the book caused us to Suffer From a Case Of...

After the Overall Diagnosis, if there was a quote or two that stood out to us, we'll include it under Notable Quotes and also share reviews from other blogs so our readers can Get a Second Opinion.

So there you have it, folks! The new review format for The Pathological Readers. We hope you like it! If this was confusing or difficult to visualize at all, you can see everything come together tomorrow as Jenny shares the first review in the new format. Be sure to check back and let us know what you think! 

Mini Review: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Release Date: January 2, 2012
Pages: 236
Genre: Contemporary
Target Audience: Young Adult
Series: No
Source and Format: Bought; Nook eBook

Summary (From Goodreads)
Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. Having missed her flight, she's stuck at JFK airport and late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's sitting in her row.

A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?

Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.

Thoughts on The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
This book has so many fun things going for it -- an adorable cover, a quirky title, a meet-cute romance, and the perfect mixture of fluff and substance. It was a great choice as my first read for 2013, and at 236 pages, it was a quick read too. 

With the phrase "love at first sight" in the title, you'd think that insta-love would be all over this book, which is one of my biggest pet peeves with young adult novels (or any novel, really). But let me assure you, that is not the case with The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. I am even a little bit of a believer in love at first sight myself, since the husband likes to say he knew I would be someone special when he first saw me. He ended up being right about that one, y'all! ;)

Another thing I particularly loved about this book was how Hadley's love for reading played into the story, especially in her relationship with her father. I really connected to this element of Hadley's character, and some of my favorite quotes from the book came from this aspect of the novel (one is included below).

This book wasn't anything groundbreaking, but if you find yourself facing a long flight coming up soon, or have a free afternoon to curl up with a short novel, this one might be the perfect light read for you. I'd recommend it!

Memorable Quotes

“It's not the changes that will break your heart; it's that tug of familiarity.”

“Even when she was old enough to read herself, they still tackled the classics together, moving from Anna Karenina to Pride and Prejudice to The Grapes of Wrath as if traveling across the globe itself, leaving holes in the bookshelves like missing teeth. And later, when it started to become clear that she cared more about soccer practice and phone privileges than Jane Austen or Walt Whitman, when the hour turned into a half hour and every night turned into every other, it no longer mattered. The stories had become a part of her by then; they stuck to her bones like a good meal, bloomed inside of her like a garden. They were as deep and meaningful as any other trait Dad had passed along to her: her blue eyes, her straw-colored hair, the sprinkling of freckles across her nose.”

Disclosure: This review was originally posted on my lifestyle blog on January 29, 2013.