Rating System

[Shana @ Literarily]

I loved the discussion that occured in the comments of S. Krishna's post about rating the books she reads.

I'd love to continue the dialogue here.

A few questions:
Do you rate books on your blog?
If so, tell us about your system.
If not, do you rate books on Amazon, Library Thing, Goodreads, Shelfari?
If so, what system do you use there?

Should ratings be based upon a set of criteria or how you 'feel' about a book?

I really like J. Kaye's sytem of rating books. It would come in so handy with a book I just finished. I'm really struggling with rating it for Amazon. It was erotica, and overall, I didn't care for the book because of the explicit sexual references. BUT it was very well-written and I would feel badly giving it a certain less than stellar rating just because of the content, which I didn't *personally* care for.

My three main criteria for juding a book are:
Character development
Prose
Plot

But since everything is based upon a five star system, I need two more criteria. I was thinking:
Organization - doesn't jump around, isn't confusing, past and present clearly dilineated
Diaglogue - natural and realistic

What do you think about those five criteria?

Final question: would anyone be supportive of a univeral rating system for book bloggers? If you're one who prefers a subjective, loved it, liked it, didn't like it approach that probably wouldn't work for you. And that's fine! :)

[Bobbie Crawford-McCoy]

Because I review many different genres of books, it’s hard to have a specific format.

I make sure that the description of the book/book flap/back cover Information is in my own words.
Sometimes summarizing the book the way I do it gives away a lot, but I do it on purpose for some of the genres I review.

I've only been writing reviews for a couple of months now, so I'm still learning and improving.

When I write reviews on say, True Crime books or Non-Fiction books, I tend to give more details about what the reader will find inside.
When I am looking for a True Crime books or Non-Fiction book that I want to buy, I try to find details and teasers.
Really long, detailed non-fiction books can be really wonderful or really boring. I like to find out more then many of the typical reviews offer, when I'm planning on buying it.

-Bobbie

Book Reviews By Bobbie

[bethany (dreadlock girl)]

I had a rating system in the beginning, but then I felt that it gave the book too much of a systematic feel, when I know that my rating was (even if I tried for it not to be) very subjective. I ditched a rating system, and have just com up with an idea for letting folks know which books are just really, REALLY ones that I loved.

It is called the Happy Chicken Award!! :) I know it is silly...but that is the way I like it.

Not your typical rating system!! (haha!) Isn't my chicken pretty?? She is one of my favourites.

[Bobbie Crawford-McCoy]

It sure is a pretty chicken lol ;-)

-Bobbie

Book Reviews By Bobbie

[MahoganyRain]

I like that idea. It is so cute

[Bluestocking]

I do rate my books. Here's the rating system.

LI- Like it
E- Exceeded my expectations
L- Loved it
D-Didn’t hate it but I didn’t like it either
S- Can’t get enough of your sexy wit
I- Non habit forming cure for insomnia
W-Waste of paper and ink
Q-Not quite what I expected
SP- Speechless
G- Get on with the plot already
T- Trite

It's a little eclectic, but it works.

[Anysia]

Hee, I like this one. I may have to come up with something like it for mine.

[Callista]

I rate my books on a scale of 5 which I am finding too broad but I don't feel like changing everything over to a scale of 10. The review of the book shares what i found good lot, organization, dialogue etc wise but the rating is more how much I personally liked the book.

[cait]

I don't use a rating system on my blog.
I guess I figure the point of reading the review is to see what I think of it, which is often more complicated than the stars or whatever can express. If you up it to ten or whatever, maybe you can get more exact but it seems a bit too much for my taste.
I hate doing it on Amazon..at least Library Thing allows 1/2 stars which helps.

I don't know...I reconsider it at times but I think I will go without them for now.