Clean Reads discussion
Is It Clean?
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Introducing Goodreads "Cleanreads Rating"
That would be handy for finding books you aren't familiar with.
That's a great idea, and it should be easy to implement!
LOOOOVE it! Compass Book Ratings is a website that has a rating system going. The drawback to their website, for me, is that it is mostly children's/YA books and you have to wait for their people to read and rate a book so it is not super current. I would love if Goodreads would add a simple feature like you are suggesting.
Book Cave is a good newsletter which rates the books very carefully. I have the newsletter and I advertise on there.
This sure would save a lot of time and money wasted on books I get, only to toss them after the first few pages. Maybe authors or editors would be willing to provide this kind of service to readers.
@ Bj - Book Cave asks authors to assess their work against a check list, so it can be done.
Yes! But how do we go about it? Is there a way to contact the developers? It would have more impact if MANY of us did it.
Perhaps if someone(s) could devise a check list and then you could approach the librarians and they could approach... and then bit by bit authors could voluntarily complete check lists.That's just a quick thought off the top of my head.
It would be good. Until goodreads does something about it though, you can check out the websites compassbookratings.com or commonsensemedia.com. Both have an extensive ratings system when it comes to things like language, sex/nudity, and violence. They don't have every book, but it's a start that can give you an idea of what a book contains.
I think this is a great idea - especially being able to see the percentages for the ratings.
I support this! It seems like it would be very straightforward way to get an idea of a book's content without reviewers having to count swear words or describe explicit scenes.
Love the idea. How do we go about showing our support?
Good idea! I have always wondered why books were not rated. I have donated books to thrift stores that I just couldn't finish reading because of the language and explicit sex.
I'm all for this, as I currently have to go to ratings websites and hope the book is listed.
Thank you all for your comments and positive comments about this concept. Some of you encouraged me to contact Goodreads directly, which I did early this morning. I received an immediate answer that this will be discussed with their development team. The person who responded, Carlos O, also said he would personally love this feature. If any of you would like to respond directly to Goodreads on this subject, that may be helpful. They also suggested to join the "feedback" group for any new ideas. Thank you again! I'm hoping we see some changes soon.
I like the idea of rating ~3 areas (language, violence, and sex) on a scale of 1 to 10. Crowd-sourcing this is a great idea.
I'd love to have a rating on book content.
It would be a good idea to create a suggestion topic in the feedback group
This suggestion got posted in the Goodreads feedback group, so head over there and give it some support, along with some thoughts on how it would work or how to balance it.https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Thanks Joel. Yes I'm feeling like the only person who can see in the valley of the blind. They are berating any suggestion of a clean read rating as too crazy to understand.
I tried to post on the feedback but was declined because I’m not a member of the group.
Paul wrote: "Hopefully I captured your attention with the title. Rather than 2,800 of us suggesting books we remember to be "clean," why can't Goodreads add a simple rating system so every reader can suggest a ..."This is a wonderful idea. I have a tendency to mention how clean books are in my reviews, sometimes that is the only thing that I will mention. I hate to pick up a book and find that it is filled with material that I consider inappropriate. I know that everyone has different standards as to what they believe is clean, but if everyone was able to select a rating, I believe that you could at least get an overall idea.
This would be great! Hope they take it on.
Has any headway been made on this idea?
I would LOVE this!!!! I work at my local library and have been working on creating a Clean Reads list for our patrons. So glad to have found this group!!!
Sara wrote: "I would LOVE this!!!! I work at my local library and have been working on creating a Clean Reads list for our patrons. So glad to have found this group!!!"That's a great idea. I might run it by our librarians!
It is a good idea to have a rating system. However, ratings are subjective. What is "clean" to one person, may not be "clean enough" for someone else. So, first, we must define what "clean" is. I mean, do we allow two curse words, or none? Do we allow some sexual content, and if so, how much? Who is to decide, the movie ratings system? I have seen some movies that they said were okay for teens that I did not think were fit for adults. Additionally, do we apply these standards to only print copies, or do we add e-reader versions and audiobooks?As an audiobook narrator/producer, I am struggling, also, with finding good material to put my name to. Perhaps we can further this discussion to put some meat to the bones already suggested by Paul!
Fantastic idea!! I was literally wanting the same thing and could not find something to rate my books anywhere!! You spend so much time looking for a good book then you have to leave it because of the language and so fourth. What can I do to help it move forward??
One thing I do is I always rate it at the top of my review, hoping it will be there to help readers who are looking for a clean read. That being said, that is one of the reasons I started following a certain blog although they don't always review books I read, the content is very clear.
I think it’s a great idea. A system like kidsinmind.com uses for movies would work well here.
2% gave it a G rating
4% gave it a PG rating
88% gave it a PG-13 rating
6% gave it an R rating
0% gave it an X rating
This would give me an educated idea what themes, words and other objectionable materials are to be found.
I'm calling on all 2,800 of you to second this solution (and it doesn't have to be this specific solution) and ask the developers at Goodreads to adopt something like this. This could supercharge their install base, and that's what their advertisers want, right?
Who is with me on this? Any other suggestions as to how we can make this happen?