New Thoughts on Old Books

Or Various Observations About a Lack of Nuance by a Non-American Black...

Has the Internet really changed book reviews? Anyone can air their opinions on Amazon, or feed its Goodreads subsidiary data and eyeballs. But publishers don’t adorn covers by blurb-quoting lines from “user-generated content”.

Whether or not sites like Substack mark a blogging revival, they’re another way for readers and writers to make new connections. I wonder if there’s space for reviewing old books. Some people write essays that do that in passing, but would anyone want to read a website about what to read – or potentially not – from at least 10 years ago?

That thought was on my mind over Christmas as I idled my way through some bygone bestsellers. One in particular from 2013 made me reach for my phone to start sharing my views – before being reminded that I’d vowed to take a screen break... Here’s what might have ensued had I channelled that spirit and started this sooner:

“I recently returned from a much-needed holiday, on which I had to be restrained from thumb-typing this out beside the pool. The passing of time has not lessened the urge, but I wonder what it might have in store for Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, which I picked up on my way to the airport...”