Every Day Quotes – challenging-to-read reference material, 2 Stars
So, I did agree to read and review Every Day Quotes by author Nathalie Montreuil however, when the book finally arrived I was certainly taken aback. I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting, but I do know it wasn’t what I held in my hands. Where was the explanatory back jacket ‘blurb’ that would provide the searching reader an idea of whether they wanted to read this title or not? Hmm…
I checked inside the dust cover, but there was nothing on the interior flaps either. Um…? I then flipped through the book’s first few pages; seeking the author preface and/or introduction, but alas, that was also nowhere to be found. Every Day Quotes went directly from the title page, to the “Table of Contents,” to the start of the quotes. Interesting… I was quite surprised to note (that in a book as ‘no frills’ as this one) that the “Table of Contents” was not in alphabetical order. If I’m looking for a quote on a specific subject such as: “Ambition,” I would expect to find that located near the beginning of the book and not nestled in between “Success” and “Friendship.”
Anyway, having found myself at the ‘meat and potatoes’ section of Every Day Quotes, I began to read. While I do appreciate the time that Montreuil has no doubt invested in her compilation of Every Day Quotes, I was immensely disappointed by its presentation. As a writer (and a professional book reviewer) I do understand the importance of an easy-to-read font size. In fact, I know many a reader who, if the font is too small, will simply set the book back down – even if they were initially interested in reading it.
My next issue would have to be that there were no beginnings, or endings, to any of the quote categories sans the initial start of this book. Page breaks are important things; especially in reference-type reading materials that seemingly embrace the ‘less is more’ concept when it comes to font size. And finally, an explanation of the “quote rating” found within each quote would have been extremely helpful for us, the readers, to understand the point the author was attempting to make. Was the quote rating meant to show how often that specific quote had been used? Was it meant to show how relevant people had found that quote to be? Or, was it merely some random number picked by the author and then validated by a magic 8 ball??
With all that said, I don’t want to totally slam this title. As a reference book of sorts, Every Day Quotes could be helpful. Every Day Quotes does provide a wide array of quotes on many a different subject. It’s an interesting book, but probably not one you want to read before you turn in for the night.
As reference material: 3 stars
For compilation: 1 star
Total overall rating: 2 stars