Another issue that has become more visible lately is the question of where bloggers get their books from. Taking this one step further, if we receive ARCs or review copies from publishers are we morally required to tell our readers and also are we more likely to positively review the book because we received it for free?

I have written before that I think it is bizarre to accuse anyone of positively reviewing a bad book because they hope to get more free bad books to review. (Why would you want more bad books - free or not?) But it also bothers me that the insinuation here is that bloggers are more likely to succumb to the "swag" mentality. Readers do not know us that well - do not know our professional or financial situations, so why do you think that free books would have such a huge impact on our lives? Why, in other words, would we be the most likely ones to lie in a review?

But regardless of thoughts on those arguments, I am perfectly happy to explain where the builk of the books I review come from. Keep in mind that most of the books I review are for Bookslut or Eclectica - and not my personal site. The higher exposure (especially through my Bookslut column) accounts for why I receive a lot of books from publishers. Last year around 500 books were sent to me, most of them not requested. Here's how I came to have them.

Booklist: The books I receive for review at Booklist come via the decision of my editor, Donna Seaman. I do not choose these books at all - although Donna and I have decided over time which types of books I'm more likely to receive. I review books on aviators and polar exploration (big surprise) and also lost of nature/environmental titles. I also recently reviewed a book on the history of women in auto racing. Usually it is just what Donna thinks fits best with me.

Bookslut/Eclectica: I generally request about 150 books a year for these two sites. Annually, I have 12 YA columns at Bookslut and about 8 themed articles covering multiple titles at Eclectica (also YA). I also review about 30 picture books in two semi-annual picture book reviews over there. The rest are for standalone reviews at either site - and are usually adult books.

I request review copies from the catalogs mostly. Roughly 75% of the books I request this way are sent to me. If I request a book then I do feel that I must make a good faith attempt at reviewing it - meaning I intend to read it and review it but if I deem it unreadable then I will not review it. This happened to less than 10 books I requested last year, so that system has worked pretty well for me.

I also request books that I see mentioned in Booklist - usually this is how I hear about polar exploration books. I also will request books I see written about favorably at other sites from bloggers whose opinon I trust - this is how I heard about Mohr from Unbridled Books (via Gwenda) and From Baghdad With Love from Lyons Press, both of which have since published other books I have reviewed as well.

The rest of the books I receive are mostly sent unrequested from publishers hoping I will review the books. These books have a very short shelf life around here. I decide from the enclosed PR copy on the book (which gives a brief plot summary usually), the dust jacket description and the first few pages if I'm going to consider it. Few make the cut, but in my May column I include Unshapely Things, a very cool fantasy/mystery. That one showed up unrequested and I enjoyed it a lot, so this method certainly can turn out positively.

I also receive a few books due to contact from authors. Usually I receive an email here at the site from the author explaining what their book is about and asking me if I would be interested in a review copy. If it's not my thing, then I let them know we wouldn't be a good fit. Otherwise, I suggest they send a copy - and make it clear that I give no promises. Kristopher Reisz sent me Tripping to Somewhere this way several months ago and his book is in my May column as well. So again, this method can work out but it's far less likely to then via a publisher.

For Voices of NOLA I pretty much always request the books as they must be specific to the city. Recently I did hear from a publisher (Garrett County Press) who had a NOLA book he wanted me to consider - I'm finishing it right now and it will be the next book reviewed at the site. Voices is such a specialized site that I count on contacts like this to help me uncover relatively uknown NOLA-related books and authors. So far we have written about books from big and small publishers over there and I think the mix is really quite impressive. Most recently I reviewed An Unnatural History of Cypress Parish, from Unbridled Books and prior to that reviewed an entire series of books from Soft Skull, a title on NOLA zines from Last Gasp and a great look at past and current musicians from Marion Boyars. All of them are excellent small indy press titles and would have been less known if I didn't work my butt off at finding such titles and developing relationships with indy presses.

Which brings me to my last point on obtaining books to review. In several different posts over the last two weeks I have read that people think bloggers are likely to fall victim to reviewing only what the publishers want reviewed. Books appear, we all read them, we all like them, we all write about them. In other words very little thought and creativity seems to go into how we decide what books to review. I don't know how anyone could come to this conclusion after surfing the lit blogosphere, but maybe that proves my point - they don't read a lot of lit sites and thus they think they know what books folks are talking about, but really, they don't.

Not that such a thing could happen among print reviewers, of course. (Don't make me name the authors - you know which big important reviewed-to-death titles I'm referring to.)

From the very beginning I have actively sought out smaller independent publishers to include in my columns and articles. Part of this is due to my own interests - I was a fan of Oni Press and Subterranean Press long before I began reviewing. Both of them now send me review copies and Kage Baker's wonderful Rude Mechanicals which I reviewed in the current issue of Bookslut was obtained this way. I do not review every title I receive from these publishers however, just as I don't receive every title from Random House or Penguin. As I said before some books just are not a good fit for me, but a careful review of recent titles I've reviewed will show a wide array of publishers and titles.

For example:

In Bookslut, I have two Kage Baker novels reviewed, one from Sub Press and one from Tor. I also reviewed two books on the Iraq War, one from Soft Skull and one from Interlink. And there is a WW2 memoir from Unbridled Books that I combined with a discussion of Jo Walton's alt history novel, Farthing from Tor. (A book I received as a Christmas gift.)

In my column are titles from First Second, Penguin, Knopf, Tricycle Press, Candlewick, Front Street and Tundra Books. Pretty cool spread and I didn't even plan it that way - it's just how the books fell into the theme I was building for April.

If you look at Eclectica, I have a feature on mysteries that includes titles from Soho, Serpent's Tail, Akashic Books and Bitter Lemon. My piece on YA adventures has titles from Greenwillow, Candlwick, Chronicle, Putnam and Houghton Mifflin. My Picture Book review has eighteen titles from a ton of publishers, but includes Charlesbridge, Children's Book Press, Front Street, Chronicle and Tricycle Press.

Lots of books reviewed in all that - from lots of publishers. I don't think anyone could say that I stick close to what is big and popular or write about the same books as others. (To further illustrate my point, I have a review of the GT Labs graphic novel Wire Mothers heading in to Jessa shortly for the May issue.) But rather than just making a point about myself, I think print reveiwers and readers need to consider that I am not an isolated case - all kinds of bloggers are making all kinds of forays into the reading and writing and reviewing fields and they are taking their particular interests with them. I seek out books on the subjects and characters that interest me, and I'm not the only one doing this. Because I review so many different types of books from different sources, many more books have been sent my way from other small presses. Yes, every publisher and author hopes I will favorably review their title but I could not possibly do that - even if I wanted to. No one can read that many books and write about them; it's just not possible.

So I send out requests to varied destinations, I read books I receive from all over the place and I write about the ones I think other readers need to know about. And as to why I am not compelled to favorably review a book I do not think is well written, well that's easy:

There are ten other books stacked up beneath it that I know are probably better. So I reach for the next one, which is what any good reader would do.

Finally, please don't send me any free mugs in the hopes it will make a difference when it comes to a review - as I have said before, I'm just fine on mugs as well.