Here lately I’ve been contemplating my rating system. Currently, I use a numbered system which I have defined on my sidebar as this:
- 5/5 – excellent, loved it, wonderful, etc.
- 4/5 – enjoyed it, really good, recommendable
- 3/5 – okay, nothing too exciting
- 2/5 – eh, could have skipped it
- 1/5 – hated it
- 0/5 – didn’t even finish
I started my book blog in January of 2008 and one of the first things I did was lay out this rating system. I haven’t changed it since the day I started my blog. However, I find myself struggling to put a number rating on the books that I have read. I end up with a lot of 3.5s (which I don’t even have clearly defined, but I consider it as better than okay but not quite really good) and 4s. I find myself holding back on that 5/5. I haven’t rated anything below a 3 since 2008 (I haven’t officially rated anything a 0 because I keep my DNF books separate and don’t actually review them).
Sometimes I feel as if my rating system is a little unfair. I don’t want an author to think that I didn’t like their book just because of a number I have assigned it. If I really hated the book I’m not going to be writing a review of it anyway because I personally don’t want to put a negative review out there for everyone to see, a simple “it wasn’t for me” will suffice in that situation.
I’m not sure where I’m going with this. I just feel as if I really need to re-think the way that I rate books for my reviews.
So let’s start a dialogue, dear readers …. how do YOU rate books in your reviews? Do you have a numbered system? Do you use the standard school system: A-F? Give me a little insight as to what you do and how you feel about your system.
Tales of a Book Addict 