So, my dear ducklings, I found myself with quite a conundrum on my hands the other day. See, while I was reviewing a book and I was thinking, "You know, I really, really, really enjoyed this book...Buuuuuuuuuut, technically speaking, the book could be better. So how do I rate and review the book???"

Here's the thing: I'm a very analytical, critically minded reviewer. While I'm not an English major, I have taken many a writing course and know a fair amount of literary analysis. So I rate and review things largely based on technique. But here's what I've been realizing: literature, as an art form, seeks to evoke emotion and if we disregard how it makes us feel in the process of analyzing it, then we cannot say we have truly been fully analyzing it as we have ignored an essential element.

Now I'm not saying we should evaluate literature solely on how it makes us feel. After all, technique is the vehicle by which emotion is conveyed and it is my opinion that if a work of art's technique is not strong, then it's ability to convey its message and emotion to full capacity is crippled. But I'm saying that it is my personal philosophy that in all things--and perhaps  especially in analysis--we should strive for balance, for equal parts reason and emotion.

But where does that leave me as a reviewer? From what I've seen, book bloggers seem to be split into two camps--those who review and rate a book based on how it made them feel and those who rate and review books based on technique. But it doesn't have to be one or the other. The question then becomes not if we can write a balanced review based on emotion and technique, but how to do so.

That's a question I honestly can't answer, largely because how you write your reviews is up to you. But what I can say is that I will be striving to write more balanced reviews.

Do you rate and review books based on how they made you feel, their technique, or both? If you rate and review books based on both, how do you do so?

Great news, ducklings! Y'all know I just love discussing things with you, right? I mean that seriously! I adore putting my opinions on topics out there and hearing your varied responses, regardless of whether or not you agree with me. And if I'm not wrong, judging by the number and lengths of comments my discussion posts get, y'all love discussing stuff too! We are a match made in discussion heaven, ducklings! So when I discovered the 2016 Discussion Challenge, hosted by Shannon at It Starts At Midnight and Nicole at Feed Your Fiction Addiction, I knew it was the challenge for me!

The Discussion challenge is exactly what it sounds like: a challenge for us to engage in more discussions surrounding books and/or book blogging. There are different "levels" based on how many discussion posts you plan on making. Personally, I aim to be at least a "discussion dabbler," featuring 1-12 discussions (and I'm more than confident that I will at least be publishing 10-12 more discussions this year)! Each month there is a link up and a random winner is selected to win a book from Book Depository! If you want even more details on the challenge, you can find them here!

So that's all for now! Just wanted to let y'all know I'm taking the plunge and joining the challenge! If this sounds fun to you I hope you'll join us. After all, the more the merrier! Ttyl!