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770 books · 261 voters · list created September 12th, 2011 by John Burns (votes) .
38 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


John 873 books
52 friends
Lisa 7630 books
137 friends
Phillip 5386 books
138 friends
Kamakana 6608 books
465 friends
Διόνυσος 6452 books
106 friends
Rob 1179 books
39 friends
Maurizio (matemati) 1592 books
290 friends
Jessica 2218 books
79 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-50 of 63 (63 new)


message 1: by Lisa (new)

Lisa KTP, what exactly do you want us to vote on, that they are maligned, or whether we like them?


message 2: by John (last edited Sep 12, 2011 05:38PM) (new)

John Burns Lisa wrote: "KTP, what exactly do you want us to vote on, that they are maligned, or whether we like them?"

Ah, sorry, maybe it's a bit confusing. Vote for books that you like that have a rating of less than 3.7. Maybe the title needs changing to something less ambiguous.


Maurizio (matemati) I hadn't realized that so many good books had gotten such a low rating: thanks for pointing it out


message 4: by John (last edited Sep 13, 2011 05:28AM) (new)

John Burns There are a few books on goodreads that i consider to be my favourites and which are widely considered to be masterpieces that have bizarrely low ratings. I think it's because these are the sort of books that kids are forced to read at school and end up hating as a result. This list will probably end up looking suspiciously similar to this list: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/53...
I myself read Animal farm when i was 13 and thought it was great, then was forced to read it for school at 14 and suddenly i couldnt stand it.


message 5: by Lisa (new)

Lisa Killthepopular wrote: "There are a few books on goodreads that i consider to be my favourites and which are widely considered to be masterpieces that have bizarrely low ratings. I think it's because these are the sort of..."

Is the teaching so bad, I wonder? I loved every book we did at school, I can't ever remember hating any of them because my teachers brought them alive and we had great discussions about them. Maybe I was just lucky...


message 6: by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (last edited Sep 15, 2011 09:12AM) (new)

Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) There are a few books on the list now that have an average rating of 3.7 or better (inter alia by Virginia Woolf, Sandor Márai, Doris Lessing, Margaret Atwood, Zadie Smith and Yasunari Kawabata). Should those be removed?


message 7: by John (new)

John Burns Ok, have just removed a load of books that had 3.7something scores. God dammnit, why is it so hard for ppl to follow simple instructions? Please don't add any books with scores higher than 3.69 cos i'll just have to trawl through the list and remove them.


message 8: by Ben (new)

Ben Deleted Landed (rating=3.71)
Around the World in Eighty Days (rating=3.70).

So close!


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Killthepopular wrote: "Ok, have just removed a load of books that had 3.7something scores. God dammnit, why is it so hard for ppl to follow simple instructions? Please don't add any books with scores higher than 3.69 cos..."

At least Twilight hasn't crept on!


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Susanna wrote: "At least Twilight hasn't crept on!"

Yet. And New Moon already has ...


message 11: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (last edited Sep 19, 2011 03:09PM) (new)

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Technically it qualifies! LOL

Twilight's rating is just over the line. Double LOL


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) So I noticed as well! :)


message 13: by John (new)

John Burns Removed: Wuthering heights (3.70)
Death in venice (4.02)
The school for wives (4.01)
The misanthrope (3.83)
The miser (3.78)
Looks like there's a moliere fan who doesn't understand the premise of the list...


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) For those who have trouble determining a book's average rating (which will not show in a book search performed solely under the Listopia "add books to this list" tab):

Open a second browser window (or second browser tab). In that second window/tab, perform a search by author or book name in the search window at the top of every Goodreads page, or access your bookshelves via the Goodreads menu. That way, you'll see books listed the same way as they appear in the Listopia "all votes" tab/mode; i.e., with a red average star rating and, next to it, in small grey print a number and the words "avg rating." Mentally place a decimal point between the number's left and middle digits (so that, for example, the "356" of Lord of the Flies becomes "3.56" and the "368" of Animal Farm becomes "3.68"). Eh voilà! Now you know whether or not your chosen book qualifies for inclusion in this list ...


message 15: by Andy (new)

Andy Removed:

Saint Joan
The Mayor of Casterbridge
Oliver Twist
The Great Gatsby
The Crimson Petal and the White (all 3.70)

The Deputy (3.71)
Scales of Justice (3.78)
Afghanistan: A Russian Soldier's Story (4.00)


message 16: by Andy (new)

Andy Removed: The Client (Avg. 3.70)


message 17: by Graham (new)

Graham Downs I recommend Animal Farm be removed from this list as it now has a rating of 3.7 :)


message 18: by John (new)

John Burns Done. This list now has a new number one: Lord of the flies.


message 20: by John (new)

John Burns Removed a farewell to arms (3.7).


message 21: by John (new)

John Burns Out of interest, have i put the "less than" symbol the right way round? Does this symbol: < mean "less than" or "more than"?


message 22: by Andy (new)

Andy Yes, it's right. < means less than.


message 23: by John (new)

John Burns Removed morality play and Halo for having too high a rating (both 3.70).


message 24: by John (new)

John Burns Removed The metamorphosis, the war of the worlds and Kidnapped.


message 25: by John (new)

John Burns Removed Death in the afternoon by hemingway.


message 26: by Lisa (new)

Lisa Killthepopular wrote: "Removed Death in the afternoon by hemingway." Wish there was an option to prevent others from adding to a list?
Yes, me too.


message 27: by John (new)

John Burns Actually this one had 3.70 so i assume it was one where the rating had just risen slightly, but yeah, automated options like this would make the job of list moderation much easier.


message 28: by Lisa (new)

Lisa Killthepopular wrote: "Actually this one had 3.70 so i assume it was one where the rating had just risen slightly, but yeah, automated options like this would make the job of list moderation much easier." Especially with long and shortlists, where you really can't add to them...


message 29: by John (new)

John Burns 3 big ones gone: Call of the wild, Tale of two cities and Jekyll and hyde. Also Ruth by elizabeth Gaskell. All had 3.70.


message 30: by John (new)

John Burns Removed Vanity Fair.


message 31: by John (new)

John Burns Removed mill on the floss and tom jones.


message 33: by John (new)

John Burns Removed Ivanhoe


message 34: by Ted (last edited Dec 21, 2013 11:51PM) (new)

Ted Okay. I voted. I found several books that I personally think are underrated. But the whole exercise seems sort of pointless to me. (I know it's fun, and maybe that's the point. And by the way, I'm not knocking the person who set up the list. Maybe simply voicing a disagreement. Maybe just being grouchy?) Anyway ...

WHAT IS TO BE DONE? The ratings of these books are what they are. People read books, then they rate them, generally based on how much they enjoyed reading them, or how much they think they "got out" of them, or if they "grew" intellectually or emotionally by reading them. But, simply put, a lot of readers have basically found many of these books rather boring (I suppose).

Some of them are recognized classics. Are we to not allow people to read (and rate) them unless they demonstrate some kind of critical acumen?

I suppose it could be argued that the top books on the list (once a lot of people have voted on it) are candidates for reading by someone looking for a read that might be better than its rating indicates. Is that the service that the list will hopefully provide for readers (who choose their reading by paying attention to GR ratings)?

But it's kind of hard for me to imagine many people ever finding this list, and then if they did, actually using the top-rated books on it to make a reading list for themselves of books that they wouldn't have read otherwise.

Oh God ... look at the time I've spent writing this long, lengthy, b.s. comment. Please excuse me.


message 35: by Riku (new)

Riku Sayuj Ted wrote: "Okay. I voted. I found several books that I personally think are underrated. But the whole exercise seems sort of pointless to me. (I know it's fun, and maybe that's the point. And by the way, I'm ..."

Made my day, this comment. Hence excused. :)


message 36: by Ted (new)

Ted Riku wrote: "Ted wrote: "Okay. I voted. I found several books that I personally think are underrated. But the whole exercise seems sort of pointless to me. (I know it's fun, and maybe that's the point. And by t..."

Thanks for your kindness Riku. 8}


message 37: by Sophie (new)

Sophie Ted wrote: "Okay. I voted. I found several books that I personally think are underrated. But the whole exercise seems sort of pointless to me. (I know it's fun, and maybe that's the point. And by the way, I'm ..."

Yeah, I'd say fun is the point. It's not saying "these books MUST have a higher rating," it's saying "these are books that a lot of people think are better than their rating would indicate." It's a Goodreads list. It's for fun.


message 38: by Ted (new)

Ted Sophie wrote: "Ted wrote: "Okay. I voted. I found several books that I personally think are underrated. But the whole exercise seems sort of pointless to me. (I know it's fun, and maybe that's the point. And by t..."

I always endorse fun, Sophie. At least 'till your daddy takes your T-bird away. (I'm sure that's before your time - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXOfYw...)


message 39: by Sophie (new)

Sophie Ted wrote: "I always endorse fun, Sophie. At least 'till your daddy takes your T-bird away. (I'm sure that's before your time)"

Seriously? Because the Beach Boys are so obscure and unknown, right?


message 40: by Ted (new)

Ted Well, I'm not surprised if you know the song, but I reckon it came out before your time. No? (Yes! I just checked your profile.)


message 41: by Sophie (new)

Sophie Yeah, but like... do you not know what the Charleston is because it was before your time?


message 43: by Luke (new)

Luke Deleted for having a rating exceeding 3.69:

Tess of the d'Urbervilles
The Da Vinci Code
Kim
Stargirl


message 44: by Sophie (new)


message 45: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Mar 03, 2015 01:41AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Removed for exceeding the rating of less than 3.7:
Great Expectations
The Diary of a Nobody


message 46: by Mike Briggs (last edited Jan 27, 2017 01:50PM) (new)

Mike Briggs Removed because their ratings were too high:
An Inspector Calls
by J.B. Priestley
3.70 avg rating — 9,935 ratings

Shirley
by Charlotte Brontë
3.70 avg rating — 22,275 ratings

Postcards from No Man's Land
by Aidan Chambers
3.70 avg rating — 1,823 ratings

Past Mortem
by Ben Elton
3.70 avg rating — 3,761 ratings


message 47: by Sophie (new)

Sophie Removed The Devil Wears Prada at 3.71.


message 49: by John (last edited May 12, 2018 02:08AM) (new)

John Burns As the original creator of this list I've made the decision to raise the rating limit from 3.7 to 4. The reason for this is that since the list was created back in 2011 the average ratings on goodreads have migrated upward so dramatically that most of the books that were in the original top 10 of this list are now no longer eligible for inclusion. When i created the list a rating of <3.7 represented maybe 30% of books on goodreads. These days I'd say it only covers about 10% of books on goodreads. Therefore I'm raising the limit so that the list can revert to its original purpose which was to represent these lower scoring books that deserved more recognition and not just the absolute lowest scoring books on the site.
It's also worth mentioning that the uniqueness of this list has been rather diminished ever since someone else created a list with the very similar premise of only including books with a <3.6 rating (https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...), so from that perspective it also makes sense to put some distance between this list and that one.
From now on please only remove books that exceed a rating of 3.99. Thank you.


message 50: by Mary (new)

Mary It saddens me how Jewel's poetry and Eagle Eyes do not get the recognition they deserve. There are themes like acceptance, diversity and disability that are not recognized.


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