Keith
wants
to read:
Recommend me books that you were amazed by (to five-star levels) in genres or sub-genres that you normally dislike or are ambivalent about. Neil Gaiman's American Gods was this for me in the urban fantasy genre, for example.Recommend me books that you were amazed by (to five-star levels) in genres or sub-genres that you normally dislike or are ambivalent about. Neil Gaiman's American Gods was this for me in the urban fantasy genre, for example....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
she
said:
"
This was the first zombie book I read. I really wasn't in to the idea, but ended up loving it. This was the first zombie book I read. I really wasn't in to the idea, but ended up loving it. ...more
"
he
said:
"
An autobiographical novel in Norwegian? Sounds riveting, right? Well, all irony aside, for me it had a similar impact as being hit in the face with.....well.....an iron. Astounding stuff.
"
