Keith
wants
to read:
I'm looking for resources (either history books or historical fiction) about North-Eastern Europe (Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus and Russia), particularly in the medieval/early Renaissance period (from the 6th century uI'm looking for resources (either history books or historical fiction) about North-Eastern Europe (Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus and Russia), particularly in the medieval/early Renaissance period (from the 6th century up to the formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth)....more
About:
I'm a scientist and aspiring author with a wide range of reading interests. I acquire a lot of free and second-hand books, which is useful for securinI'm a scientist and aspiring author with a wide range of reading interests. I acquire a lot of free and second-hand books, which is useful for securing little-known and/or out-of-print genre fiction and also for finding some of the worst published writing in the Universe.
Though I try to follow it to avoid confusion, I find Goodreads' five-star rating system insufficiently precise to categorize different books, particularly ones that I disliked to different degrees. I've therefore instituted a set of shelves to give half-star ratings (1.5, 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5) in between the official ones. Books shelved as 1.5 and 2.5 stars are given 2 stars as their official rating, leaving 1 star for "the worst of the worst". 3.5-star books get 3 stars and 4.5-star ones get 4, again leaving 5 stars as the "best of the best".
My (large number of) shelves are mostly self-explanatory, but to clarify the significance of a few of them:
Rated Much Higher Than Average: My star rating (including half stars) is at least 0.5 stars higher than the average over all those who rated the book. Rated Much Lower Than Average: My star rating (including half stars) is at least 1.0 stars lower than the average over all those who rated the book....more
