Since I haven’t so much as looked at a contemporary book this week, I’m going to take today to point y’all toward a reviewing opportunity. I know many of you post book reviews on your blogs–did you know that if you sign up to be a reviewer at the Christian Review of Books, you might be able to get that book you’ve been waiting to read free, for reviewing purposes?

The CRoB is the brainchild of me and my hubby. We launched it in 2004, when finding a review of a book from a Christian perspective–or a place to find reviews of mostly Christian books, period–was nearly impossible. Since then tons of sites have sprung up, but the Christian Review of Books is still distinctive. We have over 50 volunteer reviewers, and we’ll not only review CBA books, we’ll review ABA books from a Christian perspective.

This is on my mind today because I spent my entire afternoon yesterday scanning, alphabetizing, and shelving the 289 (!!!!!!!) books that we have available for our reviewers. Needless to say, these no longer fit on the three shelves I have designated for review books. I know they’ve amassed so much in part because we haven’t added new ones to the list soon enough, but it’s also because we’ve been getting a crazy amount this summer–an average of two a day, I’d say, then there are the days when we get a box of 18 from a publisher . . .

So. Wanna be a reviewer? Request a few (dozen, ha ha) of these books? (As long as you can point me to where you’ve written a review before, you can request as many of our books as you like. If you’re only getting started, we ask that you start with a single title.) It’s soooo simple these days.

1.) Go to www.ChristianReviewofBooks.com

2.) At the top right, you’ll see “Reviewer Login | Register to Become a Reviewer.” Select whichever applies to you.

3.) If you’re new to the CRoB Reviewer list, signing up’s a breeze. Just input the necessary info so we can contact you as necessary. At which point you’ll be directed to your Reviewer Account page, which is where you’ll be taken if just signing in.

4.) The first paragraph under the greeting has a link to our new list of available books. Click on it, and you can browse by author to see what’s there. Clicking on a book cover will give you a description of the books. (Is that not the most awesome thing ever??)

5.) Email review@christianreviewofbooks.com with your list of book requests, and with the subject line of “Book Requests.” Include your mailing address please.

6.) Get the books in the mail! Woo hoo!

7.) Read them.

8.) Write up an honest review–be sure to include positives as well as negatives.

9.) Log back into your account and click “New Article”

10.) Post the review you wrote. I have to approve everything, which only takes a single click from me, and then it’ll appear on the site!

Hope to see some of you over at the CRoB!