For decades Kirkus Reviews has been one of the more important venues for book reviews, and one of the more feared. As the New York Times reported in 2009,

“When I was a book publicist, the worst part of my job was having to read a Kirkus review over the phone to an author. 2 cigs before, 2 after,” recalled Laura Zigman, an author and former book publicist for Alfred A. Knopf, in a Twitter post.

Kirkus folded in 2009, but reopened the next year when it was purchased by real estate developer, NBA team owner and bibliophile Herb Simon.

In this week’s issue (which is behind a paywall) they have a review of The Distraction Addiction, and it’s pretty positive. They describe it as “A well-researched program to help reclaim personal downtime from the inundation of cyberinformation.” 

Why’s this matter? Because Kirkus is one of those places that buyers and bookstore owners consult when they’re deciding what books to order and stock. The Times again:

Although typically not seen by the general public — except in blurbs on books or excerpted on barnesandnoble.com — Kirkus reviews were often used by librarians and booksellers when deciding how to stock their shelves.

“None of us can read everything we suggest, so we lean fairly heavily on reviews and reviewers as basically our own advisers,” said David Wright, a fiction librarian and readers’ adviser for the Seattle Public Library.

Mr. Wright, who said he read reviews from Kirkus as well as its rivals Publishers Weekly [which reviewed the book too], Booklist and Library Journal, said the reviewers for these publications “always really seemed like this gathering of friends and family that you could gather to get feedback on what really was in a book to see if a reader might like it.” He added, “Kirkus has always anchored that table.”

So, good news, especially since we’re reaching that stage in the process where buyers start ordering copies!