But I’ve run into a problem with the rating scale because the only options Goodreads gives you is 5 stars:
2 Stars- it was ok
3 Stars- liked it
4 Stars- really liked it
5 Stars- it was amazing
I like the Star rating system, but there is a difference between “really liking” The Great Gatsby and “really Liking” the Fever series.
I rated Insurgent (the 2nd book of the Divergent Series) as 3 stars “liked it” because I did. I didn’t REALLY like it as I did with Divergent, which I gave 4 stars. It didn’t get 5 stars because I think I need to reserve that for the best book I’ve ever read, which it wasn’t. But I also rated “Dreamfever” the first book in the Fever series as 3 stars “Liked it” because I did. But these two books are IN NO WAY the same. I didn’t even LIKE them the same level. The LIKE was very different for these two books. And herein lies the problem.
I feel stuck. How do I rate my books when all I’m given is a 5 star rating scale? I might feel 4 stars about one book I read last month and 4 stars about another book I read last week, but when compared together, one book gets 1 star and the other gets 5. Or- it’s completely IMPOSSIBLE to compare the two.
What if my aunt is checking through my recommendations and sees that I rated Eleanor and Park 3 stars, reads it herself and enjoys it. Then the next time she checks my list she sees I rated Beautiful Bastard 3 stars as well, so she reads it assuming she’ll like it just as she did my last rec but instead is completely offended by all the office sex (weirdo)? What’s a girl to do?
I figure the only way to proceed is to come up with my own rating scale.
The new and improved Goodreads Book Rating Scale
I took a few of my recent reads, plus some oldies I think you’ve heard of, and used my brand new rating scale
On a scale of “If you ran into that cute student teacher from your Senior year of high school AP English class, could you tell him about it” Rate:
The Fever Series- 0 Stars
Eleanor and Park- 4 Stars
On a Scale of “You and your BFFs will find a way to bring the male character up in every conversation, and if you are drinking while laying out in the sun on a beach somewhere in Puerto Rico, you may or may not even have a live reading of a hot sex scene…” Rate:
The Fever Series– 11 Stars (on a 5 star scale)
Jellicoe Road– 1 Star
On a scale of “You can recommend this to your little sister even though she’d probably enjoy the Fever series more but you can’t think about her reading that smut (I mean best story ever)” Rate:
Divergent – 5 Stars
Harry Potter– 5 stars
The Hunger Games– 5 Stars
On a scale of “This book will ruin your life in a good way if they get the male lead casting right” Rate:
Twilight- 5 Stars
Divergent– 5 Stars
On a scale of “You’re so obsessed with this book but can’t figure out a way to tell many people about it and you’re not sure exactly why but you’re also pretty sure it has to do with all the sex” Rate:
The Fever series- 7 Stars
Beautiful Stranger– 4 Stars
On a scale of “This book would have been much better if it actually HAD any sex” Rate:
Written in Red– 4 Stars
The Mached Series- 4 Stars
On a scale of “This book makes you feel okay that most of what you’ve read so far this year is YA” Rate:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower- 5
Just One Day– 4
Twilight- 2
Am I the only one with this book rating problem? Am I thinking too much about this? Are you using Goodreads? How can you rate Book A and Book B both 4 stars when they are SO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT?!
That’s Normal’s Boozy Book Club
Hopefully by now you’ve heard that we started a book club here at That’s Normal. On Thursday night of THIS WEEK (6/27) at 10 pm ET (‘Mercia time) we are holding our first LIVE Google Hangout for the That’s Normal Boozy Book Club. We will fill out glasses with our drink of choice, press play on the You Tubes and get chatting about Written in Red, our first book.
There’s still time to join us! If you read fast, you can totally finish this book by Thursday. If you don’t care about being completely spoiled by the book, you should tune into the chat on Thursday night, even if you haven’t started or finished Written in Red yet!
This is my first book club and I am SO excited for this chat. The thread over on Goodreads has been an awesome teaser for the conversation Thursday night (plus for some reason (#thatsnormal) we also started a Fever Series Discussion which has been equally as entertaining!)
We want you to join us:
We wish we could do a big freakin’ chat with all 75 of our book club members, but alas that technology doesn’t exist, so iff you have any questions or thoughts or burning points of conversation we MUST go over, tweet us leading up to and during the chat on Thursday night using the hashtag #TNbookclub. We can’t wait to discuss this book with you!
We hope you can join us THIS THURSDAY NIGHT! Catch up on all you missed over on Goodreads in the meantime!
