Do you want me to read the damn book to you as well.

Just wondered what peoples thoughts are about who much detailed info a review has regarding price and availabilityof a product, but i'm mainly interested in books. The reason being that i constantly get down rated and criticised for not including exact price and place to buy it. But the page that your review appears on contains a range of links to places to get the information from. I know peoples styles are different but is a review that gives you an insite into the book but no shopping list less valid than one that almost reads the book to you and then calls a cab to take you to the shop to buy it. Well you know what I mean. How much work should the reader be expected to do?

For books I do tend to include price in my review however I would not mark someone down for not including it as I tend to buy on Amazon using Dooyoo vouchers for pretty much all of my reading material with the exception of te stuff I get from the corner shop and a select bookstore in central London.

agreed, i would add the price and where to buy, as i do on my flm reviews, but i would not mark down for not including it either. i think that's abit wierd. x

Unless the price is a significant part of a product that just needs to be mentioned, I usually don't give out prices or where to get it mainly because my shopping venues are usually completely different from the people in the UK and the differences in currency just makes me refer people to go to Amazon or Ebay and see for themselves. Wouldn't really be of much use for me to say "I went to Anttila and got this DVD for €15. What a bargain."

Thinking about it now , I usually add in the price of a book but not always but I dont think I have ever put in the price of a DVD in any of my film reviews. Dont know why that is!

I have been asked several times to include how many pages a book has so do so now just for an easy life, same goes for price and ISBN too. Any idiot should know that this info is available and more up to date elsewhere (after all the price I quote is probably inaccurate a week after posting!) yet it is still expected. More to do with anal review readers than actual consumer helpfulness.

Do you think someone might not read a book because it has 50 pages too many! I do include the info just because once I saw someone had commented that they hadnt included it. It wouldnt determine whether I bought the book and I certainly wouldnt mark a review less helpful just because it didnt say how many pages were in it.

I will only read a book that is less than 357 pages long so it is essential that i know how many pages the book has. If I get caught out and find myself reading a book that is longer I always stop at the end of the356th page so you see that it is important. I have read loads of books but only know how three of them end.

Personally how many pages a book has is less important to me than being able to read it with my eyesight !!

Hmmmm, if there are many versions of a book available (e.g. The Da Vinci Code), the number of pages can easily vary. A standard paperback is usually a lot smaller in size than say a hardback version of the same book (with the possibility of having a few pictures thrown in). The hardback could be 330 pages long, but the paperback could be 370 pages long.

So how can people put a definite amount of pages and assume it will be the same everywhere (assuming you may have read a version not available in another country). And if the font is simply made larger rather than the book size (say from 11 to 12), it can in the worst cases add 100 pages to the book (and I know that well enough). And then of course you have your classics that have been reprinted tens of times.

Just making a point that at least be sure that the amount of pages is going to be constant... blah, that's what you get from a book designer!

I'd say anyone wanting to know how many pages a book has, exact price and where to get it (unless out of print) is being pretty anal

Most book reviews cover length in general and since most people know about Amazon I'd reckon wanting to know where to buy it is a bit pathetic... as for the ISBN ... sigh, is it really that important ina reivew?!

raehippychick wrote:

ISBN ... sigh, is it really that important in a reivew?!

Well as far as ISBN numbers go, they can be useful if you're ordering the book abroad straight from the publisher or something. It identifies the country where it has been published, who the publisher is and what the title of the book is in their catalogues. If you're just going about Amazon for book purchases, then it is of minor importance, but for people who are after a certain version it can be most helpful in tracking it down. But I don't think they are essential in reviews such as the one's we write.

ISBn numbers are not essential in a review and remember, you are not selling the book but telling people about your thoughts on the book.

Angus wrote:

ISBn numbers are not essential in a review and remember, you are not selling the book but telling people about your thoughts on the book.

absolutly...thats my point. I must confess that I sort of compromised on the last couple that I wrote and put the ISBN and publisher at the bottom. The bastards must be getting to me.

berlioz wrote:

.. blah, that's what you get from a book designer!

I thought all you Finns were reindeer farmers and ski shop owners?

steerpyke wrote:

I thought all you Finns were reindeer farmers and ski shop owners?

I haven't put ski's in my feet since I was 13 and I don't think I have ever seen a live reindeer (outside of perhaps once going to some zoo-type place).

I collect and catalogue ISBN numbers so they are really useful if included in a review.

I also collect pictures of Finnish people however they must be stood next to a reindeer.

atticusuk wrote:

I also collect pictures of Finnish people however they must be stood next to a reindeer.

I can edit myself standing next to a reindeer in Photoshop. The graphics programs are just fantastic aren't they?

Perfect can the antlers be pointing in a south easterly direction as that would complete the directional category of my collection. Also if you have a Swedish friend called Benny then can he be in the background as that increases the value of the photo significantly.

atticusuk wrote:

Also if you have a Swedish friend called Benny then can he be in the background as that increases the value of the photo significantly.

Why do you assume I know any Swedes or guys named Benny? What am I missing here?

we all know that this expert knowledge of classical music is a cover. At night you draw the curtains, don your glittery flares and put on your Abba records, which as we all know contained a Swede called Benny....go on you know you want to.."can you hear the drums Fernando."