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As an independent author I appreciate the importance of reviews for books that don't have a big publishing house behind them, so I try to review every indie book that I finish reading, especially those that only have a handful of reviews posted. That sort of culls out some of the more critical reviews that I would have otherwise given out, since I only tend to push through a book that has engaged my interest in some way. I don't feel that I can give a fair review if I didn't bother to finish the book. I admit that some of the more mean-spirited comments can be demoralizing, but that's just a part of getting your work out there.
Even short reviews are valued and valuable. I try to keep my online reviews focused and send more detailed comments with specific citations, etc. directly to the author. It's very frustrating to get comments that are vague enough that I can't remedy them in the next edition of the book (or in future writing). It's time consuming but I've taken to highlighting typos and minor errors I find as I'm reading; my Kindle compiles them all into a single list in the "My Clippings" file. I've forwarded a few of those to authors and have gotten gracious thanks in each case.
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