(no subject)

[lirazel]

Another thing I'm going to stop doing this year: giving book ratings right after I read the book.

I end up adjusting down pretty often once the high of the actual reading of the book is over and I have time to really digest it. I often find that books that seemed good while I was reading them actually don't hold up as well over time--I find they were fluffier, took up less space in my mind than a really good book should, or on reflection, things didn't hold together as much as I thought they did.

I need to wait a day or two before I can confidently say, "This book is good!"

Comments

[dollsome]

I feel this!! I gave up star-rating awhile ago because I realized that I feel like I don’t really experience books on a star-rating system, and it was kind of flattening my experience with reading in a way that oddly stressed me out. (I can be stressed out by ANYTHING, apparently!) And yeah, I totally relate to that feeling of a book really working for me in the immediate but then not really having a lasting impact long term.

[lebateleur]

I generallly don't give star ratings to books because I've never found a way to accurately and consistently condense everything I liked or disliked about a book (plotting, description, characterization, mood) as well as intangibles (was it poorly written but to my particular id? Was it well written but just not for me) into such a top level signifier.

[likeadeuce]

This sounds like a good plan -- the funny thing to me is that I tend to move in the opposite direction. I'll remember something as one of the best books I read in a year and go back and realize I only gave it 4 or even 3 stars.

[chestnut_pod]

Like dollsome, I've mostly given up on the star ratings altogether, for much the same reasons. I always enjoy seeing your reading go by, and I hope this change makes it more fun for you, too.

[lirazel]

Yeah, it's a very bad system, but I use other people's ratings enough that I continue to do it out of a sense of "this might help someone else out there trying to decide what to read." I am glad you gave up on it if it was stressing you!

[lirazel]

Oh, it's a terrible, terrible way to talk about how good a book is, but I make use of other people's star ratings enough to keep doing it in hopes it will help someone else out there.

[lirazel]

the funny thing to me is that I tend to move in the opposite direction. I'll remember something as one of the best books I read in a year and go back and realize I only gave it 4 or even 3 stars.

Oh, that's interesting!

[lirazel]

Thank you! I don't know whether it will make things more fun, but I think it will more accurately reflect how I actually feel about books.

Like with the Alexandra Rowland book--I gave it a 4 and then once I was a few days out, I was like, "No, that was definitely just a 3 at best." That's certainly not the only one where it's happened, but it's a good example.

[pauraque]

Meanwhile, one of the things I'm trying to do is not take so long to post about books after I read them, because I lose too much momentum. If we could just take the average, maybe we can both respond to books in an ideal time frame!

[lirazel]

Haha! We both need more balance!

[vriddy]

Sounds like a good plan!! And inspiring. I also find sometimes after a few days, I start mulling over aspects of the book I liked less, and sometimes I even feel betrayed it ended on a note high enough to make me give it a high rating when actually, a lot of the book content felt low calories overall (this mostly applies to non-fiction, in that case!). Good luck :)

[lirazel]

sometimes I even feel betrayed it ended on a note high enough to make me give it a high rating when actually, a lot of the book content felt low calories overall

I know exactly what you mean. I've been there.

Thanks!