In 2016 I wrote about five types of book review. These were:

• Full review.

• Thumbnail sketch.

• Honourable mention.

• Nano reviews.

• Books I want to read but will probably never get around to.

I’ve used each of these approaches in my newsletters and websites, and they have proved quite useful. I’m thinking about introducing another kind: Books Unseen.

The rationale is that although I can’t comment about books I haven’t read, it probably is legitimate to mention books I’ve read reviews of. I think perhaps this especially applies if I wish to flag up the recent (or even, sometimes, forthcoming) publication of a book.

For instance, I might write, “Fred Blogs has just published a guide to using semicolons, and from the reviews I’ve read it sounds pretty good.”

Is it cheating? Well, not if (a) I am unlikely to review the book myself and (b) I trust the reviewers’ opinion.

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