J. Kaye brought up an interesting point in one of her comments that I wanted to address to everyone who reads this blog: how exactly does my rating system work? Why do I sometimes give sub-5 star reviews to books that I seem to have thoroughly enjoyed?
It's a great question, but the answer is a little more ambiguous. My rating system is a personal one, and often has to do more with my gut feeling at the end of reading a book rather than any sense of logic. Part of it has to do with whether I want to own a copy of the book - is this something I want to display on my shelves? Is it something I might want to reread one day? If the answer is no, but I enjoyed the book, the rating will probably be a four star one. It also has to do with my sense of enjoyment - did I enjoy the book, but it was poorly written? Did I not enjoy the book, but it was well written? Did I appreciate the book, but not enjoy it (even though it was well written) because it was a difficult subject matter?
I can definitely tell you that sub-three star means that I didn't like the book, though I will look for something positive to discuss in my review. But that four-to-five star area is definitely gray; there's a lot of elements that go into my ratings, and a good amount of it is simply gut feeling.
I know a lot of you have a more transparent rating system. Do you think that's something I should do? What are your thoughts? If people would like something easier to interpret, I'd be happy to come up with something - let me know your thoughts in the comments.
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Welcome! I’m Swapna Krishna, and this is where you’ll find my book reviews. Feel free to look through my review database. I also host the South Asian Review Database and run the South Asian Challenge, which promote the authors and literature of the region.
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15 comments:
I just started doing ratings because i think it's really hard to tell what i think of a book sometimes from a review (I've realized I make everything sound like I like it, even if it was just ok, i don't know how to stop it, without insulting the book!). I guess I see a 3 as ok, what's expected. 4 pretty good and 5 is really really good. 2 is not very good and 1 is probably a piece of crap.
I like your rating system, it makes sense to me :D
I don't have a rating system, but have been thinking about starting one. I can't figure out how I'd do it, though.
I find it very difficult to rate books. I don't think a 5 start rating is sufficient. If i ever rate my books, it will be between 1 to 10. There are so many books that are good and i just don't want to rate them a blanket 4. There could be various shades when i say good.
Similarly when i say 3 books are excellent, i would still not rate all of them 5 starts.
I feel it is insufficient somehow, that I am not doing justice to the book.
I use a 5-star system also, and ratings have a lot to do with my gut feeling as well. If I like a book, it's probably going to get 4 or 4.5. I have to LOVE it for it to get a 5, and it also has to be something that I think many readers will enjoy in order for me to recommend it so highly. 3 and 3.5 mean it was OK, or I liked it but didn't love it, and like you, anything below 3 means I really didn't care for it.
I don't present my ratings until the very end of the review, so by then, everyone knows exactly how I felt about the book. I think your system makes sense, and really, all ratings are subjective.
For it to be a 5, I have to want to keep it on my shelf and loan it out to others. I only rate on LT, not on my blog.
Ok I thought about it some more, I see a 3 as take it or leave it depending on person taste. I just rated a book a 3 and i think everyone thought i loved it, when in fact it was just ok/fine. I guess i didn't illustrate that properly. Man this is hard! I too always try and find something positive to talk about for all books and maybe that makes it seem like i like all books more than i do. I'm very interested to see what others have to say about this, good discussion :D
S. Krishna: I wasn't questioning the reasons behind the rating, so much as trying to discern what the rating was. I was confused by the use of stars and numbers. I think if you had said 4.5 out of 5, I would have understood what your rating was.
I think ratings are very personal. I don't do them because I find they are too subjective. I will give a review of the style and content and say what I thought about it, but I leave the rest up to the reader. Occasionally, I will say whether I have reread this book or would reread it...in other circumstances, I will say a book is one of the best I've read this year. Its rating the book without providing a number.
I'm not sure this helps you! LOL But rest assured I was confused by the number-star combo.
I don't do "stars" on my blog reviews, only on LibraryThing (because it's required ... I think?)
My ratings are based on the Netflix star system:
1 - didn't like it
2 - just OK
3 - liked it
4 - really liked it
5 - loved it
I agree with Rebecca, that the text of the review gives a pretty good idea of whether I liked/didn't like/loved a book ...
Hmm, do I need a rating system?
I have a rating system- 10 total.
Liked it- Li
Loved it- L
Can't get enough of your sexy wit-S
Exceeded my expectations-E
Didn't hate it but I didn't like it-D
Non habit forming cure for insomnia-I
Not quite what I expected-Q
Speechless-Sp
Trite-T
Get on with the plot already-G
Waste of paper and ink-W
These are what I'm usually thinking as I read the book.
Love these comments above. I was where you were a couple or so months back and ended up with a set in stone rating system...lol! Authors were asking me to post my reviews on Amazon and that was something I was doing anyway. No biggie, right?
I also post my reviews on Shelfari, GRs, Facebook and LT. All have a 5 star rating system, so I can't do the 1 - 10. I found something that is VERY simple for me to use, which was easy since I am basically simple minded...lol!
Excellent question and I've really enjoyed reading all of your comments.
I have some issues with the five star rating system. It is inadequate, but if you rate on Amazon, you have to use it. I'm uncomfortable with how important those stars are on Amazon.
I agree with what Violet said in that the area between a four and five gets very fuzzy for me. In my mind I read a ton of books that are a 4.5: better than a 4 but not quite good enough for a five.
I love that you can use half stars in LT. I really wish Amazon would allow this. For all the other places I post my reviews (Amazon, Shelfari, and Goodreads) I round up but on the latter two I use a tag for the ratings that allows me to rate them in half-star increments.
It is hard to separate my feelings about a book from my assessment of the quality of the book. Which is why I tried, then quickly quit doing ratings on my blog.
If I could figure out a rating system I was comfortable with, I'd use it.
I love J. Kaye's system. Like her, I have elements that are essential but my problem is I don't have five - only three - so I can't translate it into a five star system.
I don't rate books because I have a hard time assigning the rating. Book Binge, I think uses 1-5 but separates into quarter stars. I think maybe I could do something like that. But would all 3.75s really be equal in my mind?
I also have a problem reading ratings like that. A 3 star book just doesn't sound like anything I want to read. I don't mind reading reviews, but the ratings make it all seem so final.
Alea, oh my gosh, I laughed at your comment b/c I've had the same thing happen! I though t my review was really clear in that I didnt' love it but thought it was ok and everyone thought I loved it. ;)
Amy- LOL! I know. I thought the ratings would help but i guess maybe they aren't.... I'll just virtually smile and nod i guess!
I have a defined rating system, but even then I think that it all comes down to how a book makes me feel. I do take in certain technical criteria, but it's all so subjective. Like you, sometimes my reviews do come across as if I liked a book much more than I might have--or even vice versa. I like to think both my review and my rating balances says more together than separately.
I think rating systems are personal and subjective. Most books I read fall between 3 and 4. I rate higher when the book is hard to put down, the story line(s) cause me to think outside my comfort zone, the dialogue is honest and real, the author writes in such a way that I feel the characters are talking to me instead of me reading about them, the story is unique, funny, or just a really good read. If I consider a book ownership-worthy, then they will definitely get a 4.5 or 5 rating.
I do have to say even for the books that I give a 3 or 3.5 rating, I still would recommend them. Just because it was an okay read for me, doesn't mean that someone else will not enjoy them.
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