I enjoy keeping track of the books I have read on Goodreads, usually adding a rating, and very occasionally even writing up a short review comment. I have started thinking about how I rate books and how this might compare to how others rate them.
Very loosely, here is how I apply Goodreads’ 5-star scale:
- 1 star – Did not enjoy at all and would not recommend because it was waste of time to read.
- 2 stars – Finished it, but likely wouldn’t recommend to others.
- 3 stars – I enjoyed it and would recommend to others.
- 4 stars – A very good book that I would recommend widely.
- 5 stars – This book was so brilliant that my life was forever changed by reading it. Everyone must read it now.
Of course, I reserve the right to adjust ratings up for authors who I know personally (favouritism, yes, but it’s my feed and I take licence to be consciously arbitrary in supporting my friends).
I realize that others may have different rating systems, and I’m very curious to know how my assessment above compares to yours. I rarely give a 5-star rating, even for books that I very much enjoy. For me a 4-star rating is a glowing review.
Is my system too harsh? Should I adjust my system and start handing out more stars to those books that I enjoyed?
Please leave a comment to let me know what descriptions you would attribute to the 5-star rating scale.
More of my Goodreads stuff: