21st Century Literature discussion
Question of the Week
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What Is Your Average Rating For Books On GR? (9/18/22)
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Mod
2022: 3.8 stars
Fairly predictable as I give out a lot of 4-star ratings and I don't think I try a lot of unknown books (my selections are usually based on books I've read about; books recommended to me either by reader friends or, indirectly, by other authors I like; publishers I seem to like; etc.)
Mod
2022: 3.9
I went back as far as 2015 - all the rest were 4.0 apart from 2017 (4.1) and 2015 (4.2).
It has been remarked that I'm less than generous with my stars.2021: 2.9
2022: 2.9
Mod
2022: 4.4
Higher rating by a small margin this year but overall similar to 2021. Most of the time I carefully choose the books I read, the ones I expect I would like. If it turns out to be a misfire I usually dnf it, hence a high average rating.
My ratings are strictly for my own experience, and these days I usually don't finish books I don't like, so I tend to stay on the high side. Looks like I'm not the only one!2021: 4.0
2022: 4.1
2022: 3.62021: 3.7
Looking back into my history, the average rating is consistently in the range of 3.6 to 3.8. I have a spreadsheet set up to track my reading statistics, including average rating, so it was not a surprise. Most books I read are 3-star (I liked it) or 4-star (I liked it a lot). I save my 5-star ratings for books I add to my list of favorites.
Mine's 3.75 but that's partly because I added in a number of favourites to my list and I usually abandon books I don't find engaging, so they're not rated.
Mod
I knew you'd come through for us, Bill. ;-)
Like many others, I don't rate DNFs either. It's really hard for me to give a book a 1-star rating---usually, I choose not to finish it or I find something semi-worthwhile about a book.
How interesting reading everyone's ratings!2021: 3.7
2022: 3.6
Not too surprising since 3 stars is almost my default and I don't generally rate books that I didn't finish or really didn't like (framed more as - this book wasn't for me).
I've trended upward with my current average being 4. I tend to round up to avoid getting trolled by people who confuse a personal opinion with a personal attack on either their own judgment or their personal quest to defend the author's honor. But in my review, the words, I write exactly what I feel about a given book. Usually people don't get past the stars.Sometimes my method for avoiding conflict doesn't work, because now and then someone will come along and be upset that I rated a book higher than it deserved. But for the most part nudging a review up 1 star from my natural inclination keeps me out of trouble.
If it's truly something I hate I'm not sure how consistent I am between giving it one star vs. giving it no rating.
If my review attracts any kind of negative attention I tend to take away the stars and give it no rating, and to keep the written review as-is.
Or sometimes I just delete the review and keep it off-line in my own database of reads, to remind me of what I thought at the time, and avoid conflict here.
I am getting better at not finishing a book I don't like. Usually these are being read with a group, so I feel obligated to finish. Still, I have very few 1-star ratings. I can usually find something to admire even in books that do not fit my tastes.
Mod
As other people have said they do, I choose my books carefully, and if I don't like it I don't finish it, so lots of 4's and 5's.
Unfortunately, it also affects my rating knowing that GR is now used for marketing and not just reader to reader communication. The star ratings were originally supposed to be based on how well you liked a book, not how objectively good you think it was; but people will conflate the two. And in this world were anything less than 4 stars is concidered a pan, I think I'm too conscious of hurting a book's status because it just wasn't my cup of tea.
Marc wrote: "I knew you'd come through for us, Bill. ;-)Happy to be the resident curmudgeon, Marc. I try to stick to the "standard" description for the rating levels. 5 stars: it was amazing. Am I often amazed? No. 4 stars: I really liked it. Do I "really like" most books that I read? No.
"Like many others, I don't rate DNFs either. "
For books that I abandoned, I only rate them if I made it past 100+ pages.
I always wished that we had half stars, but this is a very interesting question. 2021: 3.7
2022: 3.7
My all time average 3.71. I guess I'm consistent. I think that most of the reads are either 3 or 4 stars for me, with others falling below and some falling above. I do feel like I have hit a major string in a row of either 3 or 4 stars this year.
2021 : 4.22022 : 4.1
Last year i read 28, 5 star classics. This year i am reading more contemporary literature.
Overall average (2010 on) is 3.86. This year it is 3.9 to date. Lowest years when read at least 100 books are 2013, 2014, & 2015 when average was 3.6.
2021 - 3.5 stars2022 - 3.4 stars
I try not to give out too many 5 star reviews (all time favorites) or 1 star reviews (truly hated it or did not finish) so my reviews tend to be mostly 3 and 4 stars since I'm pretty good at avoiding the ones I wouldn't rate higher than average. So I'm not surprised at the ratings at all. I have noticed a little lower than usual ratings this year but I'm not sure why.
Last year was 4.0, this year so far 3.8. I rarely finish and rate books I hated. I have had over the years given three one star reviews, one was for a novella I read for a book club, one was for a short story collection (and I didn't read all the stories, but it included several horrible stories by authors I like normally), and finally was just a dreadful "dark fantasy" again, by authors I normally like very much. No one should have to read that dreck, so I didn't feel badly about my ratings.
Mod
Your comment made me go back and check my own 1 and 2 star ratings, and I found a similar trend. A lot of books I didn't like by authors I normally do, and a good smattering of books I read for a book club.
2021 3.72020 3.7
Pretty much as I’d expected. Fitting the general trend of other comments, I filter the books I choose to read. I can’t recall when I last read a book blind, without having read about it beforehand or it being by a tried & trusted author.
I mostly give 3 or 4 stars. I deviate a little from the standard categorisation - I will give a book a higher rating, even if I did not enjoy it, if I feel the writing has merit. In those cases, I get pleasure from the structure & style but not the content.
I try to save 5 stars for anything I find outstanding, there is usually a fair degree of personal resonance in my 5 star books.
Lower rated books tend to be ones I have had to read for study. I tend not to join book groups as I feel constrained by the choices. I am not a prolific reader & would rather read from my ‘want to read’ list, than reread something I’ve read or something that doesn’t appeal.
My average for 2018 & 2019 was lower, I think due to being in a play reading group with several constraints - copyright, number of parts, length, availability of enough copies in the public library. I didn’t like many of the plays but enjoyed the experience.
2021: 3.62022: 3.6
And here I thought I was being more generous this year. Guess not. Lol.
2021: 3.52022: 3.8
I must be choosing better options this year! 😜
You can look it up on the GR website:
- Click on MY BOOKS along top menu
- Scroll down the left side listing just under your custom bookshelves list and under MY ACTIVITY click on YEAR IN BOOKS
- It should default to 2021 and show your your average rating
- To get to 2022, click on GO TO NEXT YEAR (just under the banner ad, top right)