I pretty much review everything I read, and generally post the review on one or more of the "big" sites (amazon, smashwords, etc). If I couldn't finish for some reason, I'll "review" what I did read, but I won't do the star thing, and I won't put it on any site other than my blog. Once in a while, I do review outside of my "comfort zone" if it sounds remotely interesting, and I am often pleasantly surprised when I do ("
Lovers and Beloveds" is a good example of that). It's a good reminder to me to give things a chance that I might otherwise not.
Like Frida, I really only try to read a book if I'm in a mood for it. Otherwise, my response may be unfairly tainted. I recently reviewed an epic fantasy that I had started several times before actually reading. It wasn't that the book was bad, I just realized each time I wasn't ready for it yet. And now, although the next three books on my lists are fantasies, I'm not ready for them yet, either. I like to mix it up.
With regards to the whole "which books to review" thing, I do review books that are in the middle. I find most of the books are there anyway. It's sometimes hard to find comments for a book that was just "eh," but I think those reviews can be important as well. Sometimes I'll look on Amazon and see that there are a ton of 5 stars and a ton of 1 stars for a book, and I'll think that people either loved it or hated it. But what if there really was a big congregation of people who just thought it was in the middle and didn't bother reviewing for that reason? As a reader, I'd want to know.
I really do hope authors understand that I can enjoy a book that didn't rock my world. In fact, my star ratings don't necessarily reflect which books I enjoyed reading the most. I know that may sound contrary, but (to me) it's not. The ratings do, however, reflect on what I think is the overall quality of a book, rated on many different factors (grammar/writing skills, character development, plot, etc). Sometimes I really do enjoy books that don't have it all together. Hopefully my review will be clear enough on what I did like and what I didn't that another reader can decide for him or herself if it's a good bet.
I started off my adult life as a teacher. It's not in my nature to totally slam people and their attempts to do things. It's in my nature to offer constructive criticism mixed with *honest* praise. I would hate knowing that I've broken the heart of a fledgling author, and I find it really difficult to write reviews for 1-2 star books for that reason. I can almost always find something redeeming about the book, but to present one redeeming factor that is accompanied by 10 "needs work" issues is difficult to do without coming off like gangbusters. That vast majority of books I review initiate as review requests, and I will assume they've read my review policy (even though I can tell some haven't... my name is GRACE, people, and I read epub!
) and I'll assume they are looking for an honest review. And, in all honesty, I'm one person with an opinion. I'm not the be all end all to reviewing- not by a long shot. A mostly negative review from me isn't going to make or break your career, just as a totally positive review won't determine your life-long success. I'm sure it's hard to let go of your "baby" (ficbot, I like the idea of looking at it as a commercial endeavor instead), but if you're going to let your baby fly, you've got to know that the flight may not be carefree. It's a risk an author takes.
On a sidenote, I rate in half star increments, so that presents a bit of a problem when I post on the other sites. 3.5- should it be a 3 or a 4? I try to be fair by making some 3 and some 4, and I choose which ones based on the other reviews. So if there are only 2 reviews, and a 3 would pull it down by a lot, I might choose to put it as a 4 star review on that site. On the other hand, if it's got 5 5 star reviews and 6 4 star reviews already, I may choose a 3 on that site. I always put in the body of the review the actual rating I gave. It's just the way I operate.
*sigh* all these rambling thoughts with which to torture people... should have written my next review already!