ISTM a lot of book reviews by official reviewers, meaning those employed to write reviews, are often horribly gushing. Books have now unfortunately become just

ISTM a lot of book reviews by official reviewers, meaning those employed to write reviews, are often horribly gushing. Books have now unfortunately become just a product to be sold and the reviewers are part of the marketing. If I want an honest review I go and read a bunch of reviews off Amazon, accounting for the shills that are there as far as I can. What really bothers me is I know there are some very good books out there that are well worth reading but aren't well known just because the authors aren't, and again, books now are being sold as a brand, just as much as soft drinks. In the UK we have a radio 4 programme where people read and critique each other's recommendations. I can't bear it because they're so pretentious, but I also because the books they go for are almost always (AFAICT) from mainstream authors – these people want a nice, safe, conventional environment. They're just boring people.