Book reviewer jargon reviewed

From the Telegraph (UK):

The book world has a language all of its own ... This literary lingo consists of words, constructions and formulations few English speakers use, but that sound true if used about books. I started to notice it everywhere, and began keeping a list of phrases that recurred and jarred.

Here's an example pertinent to ACW history:

As good as any novel – why should writers of fact aspire to the standards of novelists?

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"Well worth the trouble." - Civil War Bookshelf