Booking it-Honesty

On my mother's blog (www.pointedmeanderings.blogspot.com) she answers the question of the week. I thought I'd give it a shot and see how it turns out.

Question of the Week:
I receive a lot of review books, but I have never once told lies about the book just because I got a free copy of it. However, some authors seem to feel that if they send you a copy of their book for free, you should give it a positive review.

Do you think reviewers are obligated to put up a good review of a book, even if they don’t like it? Have we come to a point where reviewers *need* to put up disclaimers to (hopefully) save themselves from being harassed by unhappy authors who get negative reviews?

Absolutely not! Under no circumstances should anyone ever offer up a review that is untruthful simply to appease or stroke the ego of some aspiring author. One of the blessings of living in this country lies within our 1st Amendment right under the United States Constitution. In short, it gives us freedom of speech, press, religion, and the right to assemble. The aspiring author operates under this amendment to write whatever he/she chooses. Under that same write, those who would review that work have the right and an obligation to review that information honestly. Appeasement, throughout history, has seldom turned out positively for those doing the appeasing.

We, as a society, have taken political correctness to the point that Hitler took Germany and Stalin took Russia. Well maybe not that far, but we certainly put more stock in what people think that we do the truth. Sadly enough, behavior similar to this extends far beyond the realm of book reviews and into the employment sector. Supervisors routinely offer individuals glowing employment references simply to ensure that they leave and go elsewhere. Instead of having the courage to stand up and dismiss them for service or provide them a reference consisting of the truth. The truth hurts, but reviewers should step up to the plate and do the right thing.

Friends don't' let friends read bad books unaware!