When I first joined Goodreads back in 2012, I liked it as a way to keep track of the books I had read and see what my friends were reading but that was pretty much it. I didn’t give much thought to star ratings or book reviews because I couldn’t see how my opinion really mattered to anyone. Today, I still don’t see how my opinion matters to anyone but I like to put it out there anyway!
Actually, I enjoy reading reviews from other people, especially after I read a book because I like to see if they picked up on something that I didn’t or the make sense of a part of the story that left me confused. Plus, it’s a great way to chat with people when you’re excited about a great book that you just finished because you know they’ll appreciate and understand your thoughts. I check out reviews on Pinterest, Instagram and Goodreads so follow me there and I’ll follow back!
I wasn’t always consistent in giving my star ratings, especially in the beginning. So now I’ve come up with a guideline that I use when I’m trying to decide on how many stars to give a book that I just finished reading. This way, I have a better picture overall of the types of books that I really loved and the types that I wasn’t so fond of. It also gives a consistency to my book reviews that wasn’t there before. I used it for my last book review and I will for all of them going forward.
Star Ratings Guideline
★★★★★ Perfection! I loved everything about the book!
★★★★ I liked it! There were a few things missing or problematic, but great overall!
★★★ It was ok. There were issues but it was still a decent read.
★★ Meh. Some things were good but it was mostly not my taste.
★ Not my cup of tea at all for a number of reasons.
I think they’re pretty straight forward! It will be a very rare occasion for a book to get a single ★ from me and I can’t remember the last time I had to DNF a book. Most of my star ratings fall in the 3 or 4 star range which I think is a good thing because it means I am generally enjoying what I am reading.
[…] happy to report another 5 star read with The Xeno Manifesto! Check out my star rating system so you know that a 5 star book is to me and how I review things. The majority of books I read tend […]