So, want to know what books Harriet's given two and three stars to?

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So, want to know what books Harriet's given two and three stars to?

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Oct. 31st, 2009 at 3:35 AM

Or did you think such a thing from if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all Harriet was even possible? Thanks to some sleuths at Amazon who figured out how to sort a person's reviews by star rating I took the link and popped in Harriet's customer ID and here is a link where you can search reviews by relevance, rating, date, etc. Change the search to low to high and voila (!) you have three two star reviews at the very top. Considering some of the very very bad books I've picked up that Harriet's given five stars to one has to wonder how bad a book can be that she's given a two star rating. I'm not sure I want to try them and find out but here are the three two star rated books that tops her "list":

Had the makings of a good story but it fizzled, March 23, 2001

too harsh a protagonist, feels stereotypical, April 25, 2000

So-so, July 31, 2001

So-so?

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( 5 comments — Leave a comment )

readersrespite wrote:

Oct. 31st, 2009 02:24 pm (UTC)

Ooooh, the Harriet-machine doesn't love every single book? I'm shocked. You're smashing my illusions here and taking away my known, comforting world, LOL.

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misfitandmom wrote:

Oct. 31st, 2009 03:34 pm (UTC)

Heh, out of over 20K reviews there are those three two star reviews and about 73 three star. The rest - all glowing.

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readingadventures.blogspot.com wrote:

Nov. 1st, 2009 07:51 am (UTC)

Three 2 star books since the year 2000 is pretty good going isn't it? ;-)

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misfitandmom wrote:

Nov. 1st, 2009 12:51 pm (UTC)

I agree, that's some pretty good book mojo. Although I doubt she's reading most of them these days - outside of the book jacket that is :p

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louspages.blogspot.com wrote:

Nov. 8th, 2009 11:21 am (UTC)

I've long ago stopped reading Harriet Klausner's reviews, mainly because she is always (or almost always as your post shows) giving all books such glowing reviews, but also because I doubt she reads them all anyway.

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( 5 comments — Leave a comment )

After spending the day job chasing contractors for money I like nothing better than to settle down into my favorite chair with a book and the cat and immerse myself in the past. I've been reviewing on Amazon for several years and just started this LJ blog for fun and to share my love of books with others. I must be doing something right, last time I checked Amazon said I had 49 fans!

I get most of my books from the library with the occasional ARC from Amazon Vine (although my success rate with that program is poor to middling). I know most people shy from writing critical reviews and maintain the old adage "if you can't say something nice...." but after making the mistake of reading Pillars of the Earth I discovered that if I had looked at those one and two star reviews I would have thought twice before wasting time and money. Not every book is for every person - even with those I have very similar reading tastes.

Favorite authors (in no particular order), Sharon Kay Penman, Elizabeth Chadwick, Dorothy Dunnett, Anya Seton, Daphne Du Maurier and last but not least Dumas Pere'.

email, misfitandmom at earthlink dot net

April 2010