They don’t have to be extensive or in-depth–just going to Amazon and/or Goodreads, and giving a book your rating in stars and a sentence or two would be enough–as in “really enjoyed it–loved the characters” or whatever. And if you were to sign up and then received a book you didn’t like at all-maybe you don’t care for that topic or setting or style of book–no one would be pushing you to read it. You could email back and say, “This just isn’t my cup of tea!” and then tell them what kind of books you prefer, so you could get something else that you enjoy.

Everyone is different in their taste, that’s for sure! I remember hearing an editor saying that she hated ranch/cowboy books and had never bought one from her slush pile of submissions. So not every single book you pick up will be one you want to read.

The “stars” rating on Amazon and Goodreads is easy too– as an example, here’s how I do it:
Five stars if I really enjoyed the book and would give it to a friend
Four stars if it was a good book and I read it clear to the end
Three stars if it was very average
If it was not at all my cup of tea and I didn’t read more than a few chapters, I figure that I can hardly give it a fair rating since I read so little, so it just goes in my pile destined for Goodwill.

But that’s just me. 🙂