"I'd like to give it 5 stars" my 5 year old daughter said, "because the lion didn't eat anyone."
We both judge books according to how much we enjoyed reading them, as opposed, for example, to literary merit, cultural significance or the authors' writing talent. The short discussion I had with my daughter about rating picture books on Goodreads showed me, however, that we can be using quite different criteria in our judgements. We both enjoyed Deborah Niland's Its Bedtime, William, the story of a little boy who finds a lion in his room at bedtime. I enjoyed seeing the tables turned and a toddler having to deal with bedtime avoidance strategies from an unfamiliar angle. My daughter was pleased that the lion was satisfied with an apple as a bedtime snack, and William survived to string out bedtimes in the future.
The ratings that I give reflect my personal and usually immediate reaction to a book. How I feel about a particular book on a particular day is, however, influenced by a whole range of factors. Was I in the right mood for this book? Was it written in the style I like, or a genre I enjoy? Did it suffer in comparison to other book I've read recently, or have I given it a higher rating than I would otherwise because it stood out in a field of less than enjoyable reads? While I do sometimes go and back and adjusted ratings (usually, but not always, down), the fact remains that the ratings I give are an emotional response not an objective one.
When I first started using Goodreads, it was to record what I’ve read because my memory for titles and authors is so unreliable. After a while, I decided I’d use the rather clumsy star rating system to record how much I’d enjoyed the books, because even with authors, titles and cover images recorded, my memory again proved unreliable. Though I’ve sometimes found the reviews written by other Goodreads users useful, I decided against writing any myself, reasoning that any time spent writing means less time for reading. And I would rather be reading.
We both judge books according to how much we enjoyed reading them, as opposed, for example, to literary merit, cultural significance or the authors' writing talent. The short discussion I had with my daughter about rating picture books on Goodreads showed me, however, that we can be using quite different criteria in our judgements. We both enjoyed Deborah Niland's Its Bedtime, William, the story of a little boy who finds a lion in his room at bedtime. I enjoyed seeing the tables turned and a toddler having to deal with bedtime avoidance strategies from an unfamiliar angle. My daughter was pleased that the lion was satisfied with an apple as a bedtime snack, and William survived to string out bedtimes in the future.
The ratings that I give reflect my personal and usually immediate reaction to a book. How I feel about a particular book on a particular day is, however, influenced by a whole range of factors. Was I in the right mood for this book? Was it written in the style I like, or a genre I enjoy? Did it suffer in comparison to other book I've read recently, or have I given it a higher rating than I would otherwise because it stood out in a field of less than enjoyable reads? While I do sometimes go and back and adjusted ratings (usually, but not always, down), the fact remains that the ratings I give are an emotional response not an objective one.
When I first started using Goodreads, it was to record what I’ve read because my memory for titles and authors is so unreliable. After a while, I decided I’d use the rather clumsy star rating system to record how much I’d enjoyed the books, because even with authors, titles and cover images recorded, my memory again proved unreliable. Though I’ve sometimes found the reviews written by other Goodreads users useful, I decided against writing any myself, reasoning that any time spent writing means less time for reading. And I would rather be reading.
I rate books based on enjoyment as well, but the 5 star rating system on Goodreads doesn't really work well for me.
ReplyDeleteIf I give a book 5 stars then it must be very nearly perfect - life changing or in some way inspired. 4 means enjoyable, but not life changing and 3 means quite good, but it probably annoyed me a little at times.
As a result, just about everything I read gets 4 stars - I tend to only choose books I know I will like.
What do the star ratings mean when you use them?
I rate pretty much the same way, 5 stars excellent, 4 pretty good, 3 a solid enjoyable read (but with problems that precludes the book rising to 4 or 5). Two stars means it kept my attention to the end, but could have been a lot better, while one star is pretty damning.
ReplyDeleteI too, tend to pick up books that I know I'll enjoy, because I know the author, have read a good review from a reliable source, or know that readers with similar tastes has enjoyed them. But I'm also trying to read outside my own comfort zone, and occasionally pick up something I wouldn't usually read. This has resulted in a few wonderful discoveries, and also a few low scores.