Of Book Reviews and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Some wandering thoughts about why it's okay for me to review books and eat chocolate chip cookies...

I am a fan of chocolate chip cookies.

This is not exactly a particularly polarizing position to hold, even in 2025. A very large number of people are fans of chocolate chip cookies, and even if they prefer some other kind of cookie, they can appreciate that some of us have an affinity for chocolate chip cookies. Even people who don't like cookies at all or avoid them for reasons of health or preference can understand my love of chocolate chip cookies.

I've had a lot of chocolate chip cookies over the years. My mom baked a lot of cookies for us when I was a kid, and I loved all of them. She basically followed the classic Nestle Tollhouse recipe for her chocolate chip cookies, but of course, when I think of my mom's chocolate chip cookies, I think of an entire experience: walking into a warm house full of chocolate chip cookie aroma and pouring a glass of fresh milk before turning on some 1970s afternoon cartoons.

I've had lots of other chocolate chip cookies, of course. There are grocery store chocolate chip cookies that I've had at potlucks, and they're usually okay, but sometimes too sweet or too airy or have that grainy texture like the sugar isn't entirely blended in. I've eaten my own fresh chocolate chip cookies. I've had cookies from coffee shops and bakeries, which are usually at least a few steps to a full flight above my own. A couple of times, I've had gourmet chocolate chip cookies--the kind you might get at a luxury spa or hotel or upscale bakery.

All those cookies start with the same general raw materials: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, a rising agent, a bit of flavoring, and, of course, chocolate chips. Maybe the luxury one also included macadamia nuts. Maybe the grocery store ones had too few chocolate chips or not enough flavoring. But they are all basically chocolate chip cookies.

And as a connoisseur of chocolate chip cookies and an occasional baker of same, I feel morally and ethically obligated to occasionally taste and evaluate chocolate chip cookies that have the misfortune to cross my path.

A Theory of Book Reviews

At this point, you might be thinking, "this is all fine, crazy lady, but you said you'd talk about book reviews this week. What do chocolate chip cookies have to do with book reviews?"

A while back, I saw an article or e-mail or something from a writer I follow about why she wouldn't review books.

Of course, now I can't find it, but let's just stipulate that it exists somewhere on the Interwebz.

It got me thinking about my own approach to book reviews. For a while, when I first started blogging and then eventually published my fiction as an independent author, I didn't feel comfortable posting public reviews. I think I occasionally rated something on Goodreads and maybe shared a few sentences about my thoughts, but that was about it. I mostly thought it was better form to stay away from reviewing books.

But my thinking has changed, in large part because I'm rediscovering myself as a reader.

As my kids got older and I found myself with more free time, I started pursuing a more active and intentional reading habit. Over the last couple of years, I've retreated from a lot of Internet and social media nonsense and started reading physical books again. There is part of me that would love to eventually finish that massive TBR list I compiled several years ago, but also, I want to expand my horizons across almost all categories. I want to read everything--history, self-help, fantasy, business, religion, biography, science fiction, mystery, literary, classics--whatever strikes my fancy at any given moment.

I think it's okay for me to be a reader. I think it's fine for that part of me--that key part of my identity--to exist next to my identity as a writer.

And as a reader who has (hopefully) thoughtful takes on the books I read, I think it's okay for me to share those publicly.

Books as Cookies

Getting back to the cookie analogy, for me, good fantasy is akin to my mom's chocolate chip cookies. Really good epic or high fantasy feels like coming home to me--like walking into a warm house and smelling that aroma that said someone cared enough to make a thing that I would love. I'd put The Chronicles of Narnia and all the books of David Eddings in this category.

But I love other cookies, too, and I'm always willing to try a different version of chocolate chip cookies.

Beach reads are like grocery store cookies--quickly consumed, occasionally regretted, but they meet the moment. Business and some non-fiction is like a cookie from Starbuck's or Subway--it's fine, often good, and pretty much always exactly what you expect. Really good literary fiction is that gourmet cookie with the expensive ingredients that you wish you could recreate, but you know you are definitely not up to the challenge.

I can find something to like about almost every chocolate chip cookie/book. To date, I have only ever given one book a 1-star review on Goodreads (The Alchemist, by Paolo Coelho, if you're curious). I try to be as fair as possible; after all, writing a book is hard, and the fact that someone can actually finish it and put it out into the wide world is something to celebrate.

Writers really are obligated to read as much as possible. I have not always pursued that end with the vigor I'm enjoying now, in part because I simply didn't have the time. But as I get back to it, and as I read across as many categories and genres as I can, I'm relearning how important reading is for someone who purports to craft stories people want to read.

Reading is the raw material of writing. It's the flour, sugar, eggs, and rising agent in your cookies. You might use those raw ingredients in different proportions. You might use gluten free flour or egg substitute, or you might add other additional ingredients. In the end, you could produce snickerdoodles, gingersnaps, peanut butter cookies, pecan sandies, oatmeal raisin, or any one of hundreds of cookies. You might not even call them cookies--you might call them biscuits or biscotti or wafers or some other name.

The words and stories and information you put into your head through reading become the craft you produce through writing.

A Few Ground Rules

This is all a really long-winded way of saying that I intend to start reviewing more books publicly. I started a new tab over on Substack called Just Speculating... where I intend to operate my little book club and review whatever speculative fiction I'm interested in at the moment.

I don't consider myself a literary critic. When I review something, I'm coming at it as a reader, not an English major or a professional critic or even a writer. I'm just sharing my perspective and opinion. I'll tell you whether I recommend something or not, but I am well aware that my opinion is worth exactly what you pay for it.

And I also know that I'm reviewing books in the broad genre I call home. While there is a long and proud tradition of writers being snarky or worse to fellow writers, that's just not my style. Like I said, it takes a lot to put out a book, and I can almost always find something to like about everything I read. I will even hate read a book if it has one redeeming quality--for example, A Bend in the River, by V. S. Naipaul, in which I hated every single character but absolutely loved the writing, so I forced myself to look past the awful people and just enjoy the way Naipaul could weave words, even though he seems to have been kind of a jackass.

In any case, I'm establishing just a few ground rules for my future reviews:

1. I won't write a full public review of any independently published book unless I can honestly give it at least 3.5 stars (which I would probably round up to 4). I'm out here swimming in this indie book ocean, and I don't particularly want to pee in it.

2. I will only write full reviews of books that are broadly relevant to speculative fiction. I'll continue to post ratings and a few sentences about all my other reads over on Goodreads, largely to keep track of my own thoughts.

3. I will focus on the things that are integral to the story--that is, plot, character, setting, structure, etc. I don't really want to get into any weird culture wars or debates about hot button issues online, so as much as possible, I'll be avoiding those.

4. I won't be a jerk. Even if I can't give a book my full-throated endorsement, there's no reason to be mean.

All that said...

I'll be publishing my final post about Circe, by Madeline Miller, this Thursday, April 3. I don't have any plans for another book club read just yet, but I have a stack of speculative fiction on my desk right now that I'm reading through, so it's entirely possible that I'll review one or two of those before we dive into another read. If you haven't already subscribed to my Substack, sign up so you can get the Just Speculating... posts.

If you're still reading at this point, you are a rockstar and definitely deserve a cookie.

I'll see you next week.