Readers have told me they’d love to give reviews of books online so they can encourage others to take a chance on an author’s work, but they’re intimidated by what and how much to write, especially when they see the way some others do theirs.

Remember having to write book reports in school? You might’ve been required to summarize The Scarlet Letter or Lord of the Flies or whatever, and you’d hit all the plot points—”and then this happened and then this, etc.”—filling up the required number of pages and ending with a few lines about what it all meant. Somehow, the book review has become the book report for those who enjoy taking notes while they read. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I think it complicates an otherwise simple activity, and it’s not the only way to do this.

When I’m reading reviews to decide which books I’ll buy next, I don’t want plot points spelled out for me. The summary on the book’s cover provides enough of those details along with who the main characters are and what’s at stake. No, what I’m looking for is the audience’s emotional reaction to what they’ve read, especially for novels. I want to know the feelings the book evoked. In nonfiction, I want the same, and I also want readers to tell me the insights they gleaned, what they learned, their epiphanies.

I read for the same reason I write: to feel. Naming the obvious genres, thrillers should thrill me, romances should make me swoon, and mysteries and suspense novels should create tension and anticipation. If readers feel these kinds of things when reading such books—or the books fail to deliver those emotions—I want to know.

I also want to know how readers responded to the main characters (“I love the heroine! I want to take her out for coffee!”) and their reaction to the overall story and reading experience—“couldn’t put it down,” “didn’t want it to end”—so I’ll get an idea about how much I’m likely to enjoy the book too. As a bonus, if the language is well crafted, such that the reader went back and reread or underlined passages they particularly appreciated, I’m looking for a mention of that in the reviews as well.

The common denominator, of course, is emotion: how the book made you feel. I think this is all that’s needed in a book review. You don’t have to write a book report if you don’t want to—just write a few sentences about how to the book made you feel.

Amazon.com remains the best place to do this because that’s where the vast majority of people go to discover their next great read. We can wring our hands about how Amazon has destroyed independent bookstores and even taken down brick-and-mortar juggernauts such as Borders and put Barnes and Noble on life support, but the fact is that hundreds of millions of people buy their books through Amazon, and nothing will change that short of a successful anti-trust suit that breaks their monopolistic hold. And here’s a fun fact: you can buy your books exclusively through your neighborhood bookstore and still post reviews on Amazon. Such reviews won’t receive their “verified purchase” tag, but they will include your review nonetheless. Goodreads is an alternative to Amazon—which is why they bought Goodreads back in 2013—because its focus is on people sharing reviews and reading lists rather than commerce.

And why bother to go to this effort?

First, it’s likely you’ve benefitted from others who’ve shared their opinions about the books they read. Posting your feelings about a book is the best way to pay that forward to help other readers find the next book they’ll love. Think of it as a public service.

Secondly, and selfishly, recommendations from trusted friends and family along with online reviews are the most influential things that drive sales. When was the last time you bought something unfamiliar online where you didn’t at least glance at the average number of stars the item received from reviewers? Do you pause before purchasing something you haven’t tried before because it only has a couple reviews? How often have you looked for an alternative when the item you were considering had an average of three stars or less and lots of disparaging comments in the reviews? Books in this regard are no different than any other products: sales are often determined by the number and kinds of reviews they receive.

One of the reasons Hardscrabble Road continues to outsell all my other books combined is that more than 1,200 people have reviewed it on Amazon alone and over 85% have given it four or five stars there. Even the one-star reviews are helpful: I sometimes receive those from readers who were offended by Papa’s swearing. Yup—he’s all manner of offensive, and if you’re affronted by swearing, this book is not for you. It’s good to have that warning there to avoid upsetting others bothered by cussing. Parenthetically, I’ve noted that those disturbed by Papa’s language seldom mention in their reviews how violent and cruel the SOB is, as if terrorizing a family is forgivable as long as one avoids bad words. Just sayin’.

So, if you have favorite authors, and you want to encourage others to discover the books you love, the best thing you can do is to tell your friends and family about it and recommend it to strangers through online reviews. Keep it simple: tell them how the books make you feel. You’ll be doing your fellow readers and the authors who depend on them a huge favor.