My Star System
I recently commented on Lori’s GoodReads post with my star system because it had been on my mind after seeing someone else’s review in my feed. I do not rate books unless I can give them a four or five. Meaning, if my impulse is to give it a three or below, I keep it to myself, mark the book as read, and move on.
I do this for a number of reasons. One, I know the author will see the ranking and not be able to discuss it with me. I mean, imagine if a friend ate dinner at your house, yelled out a score for the meal, and then ran out the door to jump on a ship and disappear forever. If she called out four or five stars, you’d probably just focus on the strange behaviour. (Why is she eating, running, and calling out a score? Where is she going on this random ship?) But if she gave your meal a two, you’d also wonder where you went wrong with cooking or menu planning.
Of course, I could go deeper and give the book a review BUT my feeling is that if I didn’t enjoy something, I don’t want to dedicate more time to that thing by talking or writing about it. If I read something and don’t rate it, you can guess that I didn’t like it. No extra effort expended.
I also believe that just because I don’t connect with a book doesn’t mean that it isn’t the perfect book for another person. Negative reviews could scare off that hypothetical person. If I’m asked, I may tell a person why I didn’t enjoy a particular book and who may find that book totally enjoyable. But if I’m not asked, I assume that the right people will find the book or it will disappear from people’s TBR pile.
I’ve also been burned by other people’s reviews. I recently read a book that I disliked tremendously. I bought it because it had mostly five-star reviews on GoodReads––over 24,000 of them. But it was terrible and I’m out $17 that I could have spent on the next book in the series I’m reading. Reviews usually guide me towards great books and save me time, but sometimes they go the other way, guiding me towards things that I don’t enjoy.
So that’s my star system. I don’t always remember to add books that I read to GoodReads––I track my books in a paper notebook––but when I do, I only star or talk about the ones I really like.
6 comments
Your explanation of your system makes a lot of sense.
I don’t use google reads but I do use amazon for absolutely everything. I’m not someone who reviews everything, but I tend to review things I completely loved or completely disliked, or at least assign stars to the purchase.
As far as books go, I know how subjective that is, and my tastes might not be someone else’s, so I only star/review if the writing is clunky or the story was really terrible. Same with movies or tv shows. But I don’t leave bad stars without writing a small review on anything.
Other purchases I only review if the item doesn’t work like it should, or is otherwise subpar and doesn’t seem like it was just a one off, or if it’s way better than I expected and an super happy about it. I try to leave useful information, unlike some of the reviews you can find.
I use Goodreads regularly, primarily because I am in a neighborhood book club and we use the site to share the books we read with one another and to help us choose books for upcoming months. I also get ideas from what friends have read for what to add to my own “Want to Read” list.
I have only read a few books by authors I know (yours included), and I make it my policy not to rate those books. As you mention, it’s just awkward, and I feel like I cannot totally separate my knowledge of the author from the work.
Unlike you, I do actually rate books that I didn’t enjoy. I realize in reviewing the Goodreads explanation of the rating system that I don’t follow it completely:
1 star – didn’t like it
2 stars – it was OK
3 stars – liked it
4 stars – really liked it
5 stars – it was amazing
I have never given a 1-star review, but I have given a couple of 2-star reviews. By rights, if I were closely following their system, I should probably have given some books that I rated 3 stars only 2 stars.
My fellow book club members say I am stingy with my stars: I rarely give a 5-star rating! Even a book I’ve really enjoyed generally gets a 4-star rating from me unless I think it’s something that will stick with me over a long period of time, or was exceptionally engaging.
I agree with Lori’s comment about the need for a category of books I’ve started and plan to *eventually* finish but am not currently reading. As it stands now, I just keep them marked “Currently Reading,” even though I’m really not actively reading some of those books.
One of my biggest complaints about Goodreads is that I would like to be able to give a half-star in my ratings. A lot of books I read fall between 3 and 4 stars for me, and I have a hard time deciding what to rate them.
I use Goodreads regularly, and record each book religiously, carefully following their rating system (as Sharon noted above). A three-star book is still a good book – one that I enjoyed, that I would pick up and read again. It might not be a genre that I usually read, or I might not feel I can relate to the characters, or perhaps I just wasn’t in a frame of mind to be able to give it my full attention. But if I rate something three-stars, I definitely mean it as a compliment. But are you saying that you would see it as a criticism?
Two stars is for a book that is okay, but that I wouldn’t rave about. So I use two stars for books that didn’t grab me very much, or that did grab me but I couldn’t get over some of the bad writing (that happens with guilty pleasures). But they’re usually still books I manage to finish.
I tend to use four-stars for books I can’t put down, and five stars for books that are, well, as Goodreads says, amazing.
I was going to say I never give one-star ratings, but I’ve just checked, and I do. I note that some books get one star, even when I’ve read them and their sequels, so I clearly didn’t hate the books. It’s more because I hate myself as I read the books!
I don’t rate anything on Amazon, or anywhere else. And I only follow other people’s recommendations if I know them, and know what type of books they read. We don’t have to read the same type of books, or always agree (we often don’t) – but we have to have some in common that we love.
It would be an interesting study to explore what effect being an author has on one’s reviewing policy. I feel like my policy is a lot like yours and with the same reasoning.
I didn’t explain how/why I rate books in my post, but I agree with Sharon that half-star ratings sure would help. 😉 I also agree with Mali that I don’t think there’s anything wrong with three stars. To me, three stars means I enjoyed the book. Maybe it didn’t knock my socks off — I may not have found it hugely challenging or original, or perhaps I had a reservation or two about something in the story/content — but on balance, I still enjoyed it or got something out of it.
Four stars (my most common rating) means I really, really liked it — but not quite enough to give it the top rating. Five stars means the book knocked my socks off in some way — the writing was brilliant, or I learned a whole lot from it, or it left me thinking long after I finished it. (Etc.)
I’ve only given two stars to three books to date (including one of my more recent reads). These were generally books that had some interesting points, but that I found tough reading, or disappointing in some way. I’ve never given one star. The only “book” I’ve read & recorded but not starred was the Mueller Report. 😉 I didn’t view that as a standard book… but at 400-odd pages, I was determined to get credit for reading it, lol.
It’s also important for people to realize that companies, both large and small, pay other companies money to post positive reviews, ratings, etc. So, even it’s rated well, it might not be a genuine rating.