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How do you rate books?
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I'm dorky in that I have created a rubric to rate. I start with general enjoyment rating then I add or deduct points for a bunch of different things --quality of writing, complexity of ideas, good characterization. I have the rating system I use posted on my blogThat said, I often struggle with YA and children's books in terms of rating because it's not fair to deduct points for complexity in the same way i might for adult books.
I rate all the books I read based on my enjoyment level. It doesn't matter if it's a children's book or a classic. My ratings are as follows:5: Favorite
4: Loved It
3: Liked It
2: It’s Okay
1: Hated It
Now, there are some books that while I didn't enjoy them very much, I understand their importance or they opened my eyes to something. For example, I didn't much enjoy Fahrenheit 451 and only gave it 2 stars, but I get why it's important and I appreciate its moral lesson. I also only gave East of Eden 3 stars, but the concept of "timshel" was life-altering and really opened my eyes. And, then there are some, coughCatcher in the Ryecough, that I don't get or understand why people love so much and consider them "literature."
I do rate books differently based on the goal of the book (if that makes sense). I expect a non-fiction book to teach me something new, no matter how well written it is. I want a picture book to have engaging pictures that match the tone of the story. I want a fairy tale adaptation to have a sense of wonder and literary fiction to move me. If a novel is suprises me or brings something new that is not common in the genre it will rate higher with me. However, that "thing" might be common in a different genre and would not give another book that boost. Some books are apples and oranges to me and can not be directly compared.
Jenni Elyse wrote: "I rate all the books I read based on my enjoyment level. It doesn't matter if it's a children's book or a classic. My ratings are as follows:5: Favorite
4: Loved It
3: Liked It
2: It’s Okay
1: Ha..."
I too rate books based on my enjoyment level, although sometimes I will read a book that I didn't exactly enjoy but I still found it a book worth reading. My scale is somewhat similar to yours.
I like the idea of favorites only getting a 5. I think so far for me I've only given 1s to books I couldn't finish (which isn't many). I probably give out 4s too freely and should rate some of those lower.
Linda S wrote: "I too rate books based on my enjoyment level, although sometimes I will read a book that I didn't exactly enjoy but I still found it a book worth reading. My scale is somewhat similar to yours. "I agree completely. I think there are some books that are worth reading whether they're enjoyable or not. I usually don't enjoy many classics. They usually take me a little longer to read because I don't find them quite as gripping. But, I still think they're worth reading if only to understand the world more or any allusions to the characters/plot. I usually make a note of that in my review.
If I read a retelling, I always read the original first so I have something to use as a baseline. Usually, I like the more recent story better, though. It's like how I feel about the Beatles' music. I love their songs, but I usually love covers done by other bands better.
Jenni Elyse wrote: "I rate all the books I read based on my enjoyment level. It doesn't matter if it's a children's book or a classic. My ratings are as follows:5: Favorite
4: Loved It
3: Liked It
2: It’s Okay
1: Hated it..."
I have a reasonably similar scale:
5: Favourite. Devastated that it's finished. Give me more. Now.
4: Highly recommended. Waving pom-poms on the sidelines.
3: Enjoyed it. Happy enough to suggest someone else read it. Pretentiously critical nose is twitching over bits though.
2: Meh. Not really worth bothering with.
1: WTF.
I don't deliberately judge different genres differently - but I've no doubt I have an unconscious bias as there are some genres I just enjoy more than others.
I'm fairly similar to Kate and Jenni Elyse. 5 - One of the best books I have ever read. Will stay in my mind forever.
4 - Really enjoyable and highly recommendable.
3 - Quite good but there were faults.
2 - Don't bother
1 - Couldn't finish
I've stopped giving ratings to did not finish books lately though. I don't think it fair to rate a book that I haven't completed.
Here's my ridiculous rating system (text copied and pasted from elsewhere):"When I rate books I begin my rating based on how much I like the book. 2.5 stars means I feel ambivalent about it."
Then I add or subtract stars points by .25 based on a range of other criteria including:
1) writing quality & style (e.g., clarity, simplicity vs. complexity, use of humor, wit, satire, harmony, rhythm, effectiveness of dialogue).
2) characters & character development (e.g. are characters flat or 3-dimensional, do characters experience growth throughout the book, etc.).
3) plot (any devices of plot complication or resolution, is there sub-plot, etc.)
4) setting (e.g., a sense of atmosphere, scenic effects used & effective, etc.).
5) novelty or uniqueness (e.g., writing style, story, etc.)
6) contribution/influence (influences– on society, the genre, future books, movies).
7) knowledge learned (this is a strictly personal category since I don’t assume that information that is new to me will be new to everyone else and vice versa).
8) depth (e.g., is this just a good story or does the author do more than tell a story? use of symbolism, motifs, parody, allegory).
For example, Dan Brown’s Inferno got a 3 b/c I really enjoyed it (4 star) but subtracted a star (deducting .25 for each item) for writing quality, lack of substantial character development, little depth, and lack of novelty. In contrast, I rated Grass’ The Tin Drum a 3.5 b/c I disliked it (2 stars) but added stars for writing style, novelty of writing style & plot, contribution, and depth.
So, my final rating system will look something like this but will vary according to criteria I listed above:
★ Hated it, & no redeeming additional qualities noted. Recommend avoiding it.
★★ Disliked it, may have 1 redeeming quality (writing style, novelty, etc).
★★★ Liked it or may have a few interesting qualities.
★★★★ Really liked it & it has at least a couple interesting qualities.
★★★★★ Loved almost everything about it. Only a few, if any, minor limitations noted.
Susie wrote: "5 - One of the best books I have ever read. Will stay in my mind forever. 4 - Really enjoyable and highly recommendable.
3 - Quite good but there were faults.
2 - Don't bother
1 - Couldn't finish.."
That's about my rubric as well. I sometimes think I give out 5's too freely though, but I factor how much I enjoyed reading something. Even it something wasn't a masterpiece but I have a lot of FUN reading it, it will generally still get a 5 outta me (Big Little Lies is a great example).
I don't think I've ever given a book a 1 star though. If I can't finish a book- I'll just delete it off my shelf like it never happened. Some things just aren't worth the time. It won't count for any reading goals- and I don't think it's fully fair for me to rate and review having not read it all.
I rate based on my enjoyment and emotional reaction to a book. I guess my ratings are somewhere between Jenni Elyse
5: Favorite
4: Loved It
3: Liked It
2: It’s Okay
1: Hated It
-and-
Jen
★★★★★ Loved almost everything about it. Only a few, if any, minor limitations noted.
★★★★ Really liked it & it has at least a couple interesting qualities.
★★★ Liked it or may have a few interesting qualities.
★★ Disliked it, may have 1 redeeming quality (writing style, novelty, etc).
★ Hated it, & no redeeming additional qualities noted. Recommend avoiding it.
To me a 3-star book is perfectly acceptable - decent writing, interesting story and characters. I am always surprised to read that amazon or goodreads or authors consider that 3-stars is a "negative review."
A 2-star rating indicates that there are some flaws that I couldn't overlook
A 1-star book is one I really disliked and do not recommend, though others might feel differently
A 4-star book is one that I really liked - there is something exceptional about it, whether character development, writing style, or simply a plot that grabbed me and refused to let go.
A 5-star book is truly exceptional - it's the book that I will buttonhole total strangers and tell them "You have to read this!"
I kind of keep my rating the same irregardless of genre. My rating system is more based off of whether or not the story stays with me for a while, and whether or not I would want to read it again.★★★★★: It was amazing! I would love to read this book again.
★★★★ 1/2: It was almost perfect. I still want to re-read it.
★★★★: The book had some excellent qualities, but I couldn't quite bring myself to love it. I might reread it.
★★★ 1/2: These books exceeded my expectations. I'm not sure I would re-read it, but I would still recommend it.
★★★: The average, likeable read. Enjoyable, but not necessarily memorable.
★★ 1/2: Almost, but not quite enjoyable. There was something about it that I couldn't bring myself to like.
★★: This story fell flat. Definitely Meh. Maybe someone else would like it.
★: Absolutely hated it. There are some serious problems with the story that I couldn't ignore.
Book Concierge wrote: "I am always surprised to read that amazon or goodreads or authors consider that 3-stars is a "negative review"..."That's kind of weird - especially with the natural bias towards the centre point on a 5 point scale, and when that point is labelled "Liked It" ... I guess authors would be disappointed with a 3 star though - they've invested so much in the book and would desperately hope that people adored it. And from a marketing perspective a solid 3 star probably doesn't suggest a book that's going to trend and sell well. Maybe that explains it.
Won't stop me giving 3 stars for books that I enjoyed reading!
I post my rating scale on my profile. Here it is:5 Stars: I loved this It was capable of making me feel deep emotions and think. I will gush about it given half a chance. These are the books that I want to keep in my personal library without question.
4 Stars: I really liked this book. It is one I am pleased to have read, but I recognize its flaws. I will remember the details of this book. I may or may not want to own this book.
3.5 Stars: I liked this book. It is a book I would recommend to the right person, but I will not rave about it. I am unlikely to keep this book in my library.
3 Stars: I liked the book, but it was nothing special and will likely not recommend or remember much about it. I will not make space for it in my library unless part of a series I love.
2 Stars: I did not like this book and possibly did not finish it, but it has redeeming qualities. It will not be in my personal library.
1 Star: I hated this book. I will be very vocal in my disdain. May consider owning for the sole purpose of defacement and destruction
Without all the extra explanations, my rating scale appears to be similar to Sara's. 5 stars (rare from me): Loved it! Amazing! Couldn't put it down and/or couldn't wait to get back to it.
4 stars: really liked it. Very good
3.5 stars: good, I enjoyed it; if a series, I'm likely to pick up the next one
3 stars: it was ok. Nothing special. I may have skimmed parts that weren't as interesting to me; if a series, I probably wouldn't continue
2 stars (rare rating from me): Didn't like it. Bored
1 stars (not sure I've ever given this, but I have given 1.5): Hated it. Really bored.
Ok, I just added in those explanations now.
I mostly go on enjoyment and interest (did it keep my attention or was I bored or got distracted easily). I also try to keep the same scale regardless of type of book I'm reading.
I give 1 stars to books that make me think about kicking the author in the shin so that s/he can share the pain I'm in for having spent any of my time reading something that bad. If I just didn't like it, 2 stars.
3☆ is Its OK, nothing to write home about. Maybe it was a bit of empty fluff that I felt like reading and did like but. ... fluff.
4☆ Enjoyed it! Would likely recommend.
5☆ LOVED IT. If I REALLY loved it, then you'll see me pimping it out hard to everyone I know.
Like .... The Huntingfield Paintress. From a small publisher but easily a contender for Best of 2016. If it could get some visibility. .. or word of mouth viral action going.
I think my scale is quite close to Sara's.Kate's is the scale I'd most like to adopt.
I particularly like Kate's 1⭐ definition.
Jen wrote: "Here's my ridiculous rating system (text copied and pasted from elsewhere):"When I rate books I begin my rating based on how much I like the book. 2.5 stars means I feel ambivalent about it."
Th..."
Wow! That is a lot of criteria. I think having to keep track of all that when I read would just make me go crazy. To each their own, though.
Jenni Elyse wrote: "Jen wrote: "Here's my ridiculous rating system (text copied and pasted from elsewhere):"When I rate books I begin my rating based on how much I like the book. 2.5 stars means I feel ambivalent ab..."
It's admittedly a bit much. I don't really keep track of it while I read though. Honestly I'm a researcher for a living so I like spreadsheets and having systematic ways to evaluate things.
I will say that I find it helpful for writing up my blog reviews. These are all criteria I use as a guideline to writing up my blog reviews so it's not hard to keep it all straight. However, a book like Raven Boys is not one I'll typically review on the blog so in those cases, it usually more of a general impression rating rather than spend a lot of time thinking about all the criteria
My scores are similar to Jen's but I don't have such an exact system for it all. I've noted some changes of mine.★ Hated it, & no redeeming additional qualities noted. Recommend avoiding it. OR I hated it so much even if well crafted/written that nothing it might have in its favour could ever motivate me to bring it up a star.
★★ Disliked it, may have 1 redeeming quality (writing style, novelty, etc) OR I might have hated it overall but it had some overwhelmingly in its favour that made me decide to give it an extra star.
★★★ Liked it. May have some real problems even so, or may just not have liked it a lot. I have a few series I rate at 3 stars all the time, but still enjoy them from time to time, but I think the writing is fairly average or not special, but the writing style and so forth is much more enjoyable for others even if it's fairly straightforward or follows a predictable but comfortable pattern.
★★★★ Really liked it & it it has something special about it or it's quite good but not enough to give 5 stars. OR it could be rounded up or down on Goodreads, so is rather flexible as is 3.
★★★★★ Loved almost everything about it. IF it was 4.5 stars rounded up, then only a few, if any, minor limitations noted.
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
The Huntingfield Paintress (other topics)Big Little Lies (other topics)
I find myself judging books on different scales. I think that's because I read different types of books with different goals. Some books I read purely for entertainment, the same reason I watch a 30 min sitcom. If I enjoyed the book, it gets a high rating.
What do you do? Am I being too easy on some genres and too hard on others?