LITTLE BOOK CLUB discussion
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Rating Books
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I don't give out 5 star ratings that much either, unless I know it's a book I will read and re-read again and again without getting bored. If it's a book I thought was REALLY good then 4 stars solidly. If it's a book that I thought was pretty good, but I'm not going to read more in the series or it gave mixed feelings it's 3.
2 stars is if I really REALLY didn't like a book and 1 star is if I hated it and I don't have books often. So that rating is very rare.
Some times more often than not I rate books 3 stars for an ending. If there is a really solid ending it can go from a 3 star book to a 4 star book really quickly, but if it was a 4 star book it can easily go to a 3 star book, which has happened to me before.
After I'm done reading and I've taken enough time to get the feels out, I rate and review as much as possible because I don't want my rating to just be in the moment ya know?
I recently changed how I rate books because I had an average book rating of 4.6 and that didn't really go with what I thought of some of the books, I now have more 3 and 4 stars but still a lot of 5 stars. :)
I really think that Goodreads should implement half-stars. It's really difficult to rate books for me. I can not help comparing when I have to rate a book, even if they books are completely different, because I usually remember how I felt while reading other books, and I just.. do it, I don't know-I only give 5 stars if a really LOVED the book and it left a mark in me, that's why many books that I really enjoyed have only 4 stars, and I clarify if it's more like 4.5.. or just 4 stars.
-I have never gave a book 1 star, because if a book really deserves 1 star that means I wasn't enjoying it at all, and I'd probably just stop reading. I don't like to rate the book if I didn't finished, so I just try to write my opinion in the review.
-I only have 2 or 3 books with 2 stars only and that mean that I finished it for some reason. But I didn't enjoyed the reading
- I rate a lot books with 3 stars, and it means that the book was alright, I read and enjoyed it, and that's all. In general I have many issues with them, a lot of things to write about in the review, things that could be better but they were OK.
A lot of people is talking about how endings should, or shouldn't, change the general opinion on the book, and I think it can make it in some cases. I always try to make them important for the general rating if it's for better. But If it makes the book worst, I try to stick to the good opinion that I have of the book as much as I can.
1 star: the rating I give to a book that I do not like, either terrible storyline, morally unacceptable or where I did not enjoy reading the book at all.2 stars: Enjoyable but not much of a story, either due to flaws in the storyline or character development or the impression that there is something missing, possibly also just not very interesting.
3 stars: good, I enjoyed the book, not much more
4 stars: really good, well written, easy to read or intriguingly written.
5 stars: loved it.
I generally rate on instinct, but I think I'm going to change that. It really annoys me that we can't give half stars, because to me there is a big difference between 4 and 5 stars and many books I've read fall in between. I haven't been using goodreads for a long time so I hope I'll get better with reviews because for now it's really hard to choose what to say and how to express me feelings and thoughts especially if I really like a book.
I generally round up if a book hits X.5If I write a review I mention how much this gets exactly.
For me it is mostly a question of how well I was entertained. Noticeable flaws often prevent a book from getting 5 stars even if I liked it. So 5 Stars is reserved for the ones I really love (so that I can forgive the flaws/ things I see critically) or that are really good and flawless in my eyes.
1 Star is mostly for books that are either utterly boring and/or annoying. I really need negative feelings to get this one out. This is for books that made me quit them (not if they are simply not my cup of tea then I will simply not rate them) and required reading that I hated.
I tend to rate on instinct. Some books, like Unearthly, I really liked but just didn't have the 5 star feel for me. I've never given out a one-star rating, but those are books that I feel have no redeeming qualities. Two-stars are ones that I generally didn't enjoy, but some parts I liked. Three-stars is an okay book that I just liked, four-stars is a book that I really enjoyed. Really the only differences between four and five star ratings for me are small things like the pace of the book or the writing style or something.
Stephen wrote: "1 star: the rating I give to a book that I do not like, either terrible storyline, morally unacceptable or where I did not enjoy reading the book at all.2 stars: Enjoyable but not much of a story..."
Yeah, I use this criteria too, worked so far but also I'd love to be able to use half stars.
It sounds silly, but I wish they had a scale of 10 for rating. (With half ratings! Haha) There is just so much gray-zone between 3 and 4 stars that doesn't express my full liking for the book. It would be easier if I could give a book I liked a lot, but didn't loooove a 6, 7, or an 8 depending on multiple factors. Ratings of 3 imply, to me at least, that it was average when that isn't the case entirely. Sometimes books that I have given 3's are because there are areas of the book I struggled with to enjoy, but then the rest of the book was great. Also there are some books I have given 5's because it was a mix of nostalgia rereading and reaffirmed enjoyment of the book. Anyways I know that isn't going to happen with a 10-scale rating system with half stars haha, so I can hope for a half-star system on a 5-star scale. Ultimately, I want to know when a book is just truly average and not because a lot of people liked it and gave a 3-star. I do, to some extent, judge books by their ratings because I don't have time or the money to spend it on a mediocre book.
This is my usual rating system for books:5 stars: I loved everything about it and would recommend.
4 Stars: There were some things I hated but overall a great book
3 Stars: A good book, but there were some things I couldn't look past
2 Stars: Why did I read this book? Someone get me something new
1 Star: *Throws across the room in fit of rage while making pterodactyl noises*
Basically it all depends on how I feel about a book on the initial read. I do reread some 3 star and 2 star books just to see if my feelings on them change, even though usually they don't. I like the 5 star system though I feel like having half stars would make things a lot easier when it comes to rating because then I could show just how close books came to being a 4 star or a 5 star book but just didn't make it.
Mod
Catriona (LittleBookOwl) wrote: "I think I can be quite generous with my ratings, but then again I can be really picky with the books I pick up to read in the first place - I often do quite a bit of research before buying books to..."I find that by doing some research on books you don't get surprised by books as much and you possibly don't leave your "comfort zone" when it comes to book genres. I personally like not knowing much about the books I read beforehand, mostly not more than what is on the back of the book.
I am quite generous with my ratings, so I have a favourites shelf to distinguish the 'LOVED IT' 5 star ratings I gave, from the 'It was really good, I enjoyed reading it a lot' 5 star ratings that I've given. I've tried to be a bit stricter these days with my ratings, but it's hard without a more specific rating system, I'd like goodreads to try using half-stars or percentages.
I'm pretty generous with my ratings because i like supporting the authors. I know if the average rating is high more people are likely to pick up the book.1 star: i would not recommend and did not enjoy. I most likely found part of the book offensive in some way as well.
2 stars: i did not enjoy but could see some merit in it or know others might enjoy it.
3 stars: enjoyable but not great. Possibly forgettable characters or plot.
4 stars: really enjoyed it and would recommend but didn't blow me away
5 stars: loved it and want to reread. Had the whole package (great characters, plot, world, writing)
I tend to DNF 1 or 2 star books so I don't have a ton of those!
Kirsty wrote: "I am quite generous with my ratings, so I have a favourites shelf to distinguish the 'LOVED IT' 5 star ratings I gave, from the 'It was really good, I enjoyed reading it a lot' 5 star ratings that ..."I like the idea of a favourites shelf! I might use that :D
Catriona (LittleBookOwl) wrote: "I think I can be quite generous with my ratings, but then again I can be really picky with the books I pick up to read in the first place - I often do quite a bit of research before buying books to..."That sounds like me! I have never given 1-3 stars on any book.
Mod
Mmm that is true.
My research is more seeing what reviewers, particularly those I trust have rated them - I usually avoid reviews as I like diving into books without knowing.
But you are definitely right about not leaving my "comfort zone", which is something I'm working on :D
Catriona (LittleBookOwl) wrote: "Stephen wrote: "Catriona (LittleBookOwl) wrote: "I think I can be quite generous with my ratings, but then again I can be really picky with the books I pick up to read in the first place - I often ..."I guess I do the same to a certain extent when I listen to what my friends think of certain books, it does sometimes affect whether I read a book or not, or at least the priority of that book on my TBR list.
Leaving the "comfort zone" can be quite hard, because there are so many books that are in this "comfort zone". let's say for the sake of an example: Epic Fantasy is your favourite genre: you will never run out of books that come under that genre, so technically you don't have to try new books because there is an endless supply of books(possibly does not apply to immortals depending on speed of reading vs. # of books published) you will undoubtedly enjoy very much but you might never read that one book that could/would change your life ^^
I've given three 1 stars but I have seriously loathed these books, and I've loathed them pretty much from the start of the book and they left me in a bit of a rage. I've given a few 5 star ratings though, these books I loved and would reread or really kicked me in the gut (My Sisters Keeper).
4 is my most used rating, this is for any book I really liked but just didn't love.
3 means I liked the book for what it was or I could see why other people may like it but if I have the physical copy it's probably going to the op shop the next day and I wouldn't continue this series.
2 means it was pretty bad but it held some entertainment, I could have lived without reading it and probably wish I had read something else but meh!
I have 22 books on my favourite shelf, and 5 stars doesn't automatically put a book on my favourite list, it really has to be my favourite. Usually a favourite book in a series, sometimes a whole series and a lot of older books that I loved when I was younger.
Catriona (LittleBookOwl) wrote: "I think I can be quite generous with my ratings, but then again I can be really picky with the books I pick up to read in the first place - I often do quite a bit of research before buying books to..."I'm kind of the same. The books I usually read have already been rated by poeple whose opinion I value, so I'm never really disappointed in the books I read.
However, I only give 5 stars to books I really really loved. I'm really picky with 5 stars. If the book had anything in it I didn't love that it's an automatic 4 star book. Or in some cases even worse.
My biggest struggles are always between 4 and 5 stars. I can't say that a 4.5 stars book's rating is closer to which so most of the time I give 5.
I read great books so I only have a few 3's and 1, 1 because I had to read it for school but generally I rate books a 4-5. Here are what I do the ratings as:5: It was amazing! There might've been 1 thing that annoyed me but other than that I loved it! Re-read x10000
4: I was great! There were some irritating parts and I couldn't quite get into it at the start but after a while I was in love. I could re-read it and still love it.
3: It was good. Not that great but I could re-read it without getting too bored. The story was too slow and not much happened but when it did it was great.
2: It was ok... NOT a re-read! The characters were annoying and nothing happened.
1: Don't mention the title in front of me EVER!!!
Anyway, I'm kinda curious: how do y'all determine what rating you think is appropriate? Do you have any kind of criteria for books? Do you put a lot of thought into it? Or is it a more impulsive/emotional decision?
For me, unless I fall so head-over-heels in love with a book that there's no way it'll get anything except 5 stars (like with Clockwork Princess and Divergent!), I put a good deal of thought into it.