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Is it possible to get most of the benefits of a book by reading 5-10 Amazon reviews of it?

I read a lot but can't it all.

Am I fooling myself by reading what other people thought about books instead of reading the actual books? It feels like I can digest a lot of the books' ideas but simply going through Amazon.
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tynamite
tynamite's avatar Alexandra Pell wrote an excellent answer, but I'll try to explain what she said in an easier way.

When looking at reviews of a book on Amazon, all those reviews do is extend the functionality of the blurb. Let's not forget that the purpose of a blurb is to let you know what sort of writing the book is. By reading the blurb, you can have a further knowledge of what the book is about, some ways the author wrote in, and how enjoyable the book was.

However knowing that cannot let you know whether you'll enjoy the book or not. Someone could write about things you like, with a book you don't enjoy and vice versa. Someone could use more writing techniques and you could still not enjoy the book, and vice versa.

Reviews of books aren't like movie or tv show trailers, as at least there, you can see the medium that you would later on consume. With book reviews, you can't.
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An assertion, is basically a statement you can make, that is either true or false.

Richer people have better health.

The question for that would be, Do richer people have better health?

And don't forget to make your assertion, match your question.

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