A blurb is a short, positive description of a book, written by other authors (because let’s face it, your mom is a little biased). Blurbs are featured prominently on a book’s cover and sometimes on separate pages inside the book as well. NEWPORT has four, and I am extremely grateful to the generous authors who provided them: Deanna Raybourn, Simone St. James, Ashley Weaver, and Beatriz Williams. No matter how much someone enjoys a story, providing a blurb takes time – time to read, time to think, and time to compose a few-sentence sketch that might encourage readers to pick up the book. I so appreciate that these four authors made room for NEWPORT in their busy lives.

So, how do those blurbs get there? For fiction, blurb requests usually are sent by editors to authors whose own work attracts an audience that might enjoy the book in question. But just because an author has been approached does not mean she is obligated to provide praise. Requests to read can be turned down. Even if an author is kind enough to read, she may decline the opportunity to blurb. There are all sorts of reasons for passing: the book may not be the author’s cup of tea, or there may be time constraints (like most parts of publishing, blurbs come with deadlines). But those blurbs on the cover were not command performances, churned out by authors through sheer obligation.

Of course, you won’t pick up a book that screams, “Worst book ever! Read at your own risk!” Even though blurbs are not coerced, they are meant to be marketing tools, not warning labels.

Since NEWPORT’s release, I’ve had the opportunity to blurb a few books myself. To me, it’s an honor to be asked at all, and I take my blurbing seriously. I know the feeling of being the one waiting to hear whether or not a reader (me, in this case) likes the book enough to endorse it. No matter how gentle or logical the refusal to blurb is, the author of the book will always see it as a rejection. We can’t help it; we’re wired that way. It helps (a little) to remember that these are professional decisions, not personal slights.

Good book blurbs allow you a glimpse of the story that awaits once you start reading. Now, thanks to the wonders of the internet, the books those blurbs adorn are not the only written words subject to review: the blurbs themselves are, too.

This brings me back to my original question: are you influenced by the blurbs you read on book covers? I’d love to know.

Although I love to read, I have never been the reader my mom was. Even now, my days are so full that reading is relegated to evenings. Lately, though, that evening reading has begun earlier and earlier, and I’ve been fortunate enough to bury myself in some great books this summer. I’ve enjoyed each one.

This was the summer I discovered Simone St. James, and I gobbled up The Other Side of Midnight in June. The post-war texture of 1920s England combined with the supernatural and deft writing was right up my alley. I would have poured myself directly into St. James’s The Haunting of Maddy Clare, except that this would have required prying the book from my husband’s hands. I had to wait several weeks for that one (and listen to my husband’s “Hurry. Read it. I want to discuss.”), but it was worth it.

While I waited I finished up a nonfiction book I’d begun in spring: Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies. This one was edited by Mark C. Carnes and discussed the factual differences between historical events and how they’ve been portrayed in the movies. (Every once in a while I like to wear my geek hat.)

Next came Beatriz Williams’s newest, Tiny Little Thing. I love getting lost in this author’s big, tasty stories, and this one did not disappoint. It was a great summer read that kept me up way too late each night, but isn’t that what July is for?

I took a break from fiction next and enjoyed Modern Romance, by Aziz Ansari. It managed to be both humorous and true, and I still haven’t figured out whether it’s a snapshot or an indictment.

After this I breezed through Hope Out Loud, Kristina Riggle’s novella sequel to her novel The Life You’ve Imagined. A reader doesn’t always get to see “what happens next,” and the shorter length was the perfect accompaniment to a glass of wine on a hot summer evening. What fun!

Jami Attenberg’s Saint Mazie made me want to find a book club. Any book club. Pronto. There’s so much to discuss here, and it’s all so intriguing.

The best part is that there are still books waiting on my nightstand. I am currently reading Eliza Graham’s The One I Was. Next up will be Jami Attenberg’s The Middlesteins, followed by The Other Daughter (Lauren Willig) and (if I can grab it from my husband, of course) Silence for the Dead (Simone St. James).

Lots of great reading ahead of me. I wish the same for you.

Yum!