You Think This Book Deserves 5 Stars? Here's My System
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about reader ratings for books. Since I typically choose a rating for each book that I add to my “read” list on Goodreads or BookBub, I thought I’d take a minute and explain my own personal rating system for you.
First, I’ll say, I give very few 5-star ratings, and they have to be earned. To earn my five stars, a book needs to get and keep my attention throughout. It needs to introduce interesting and compelling characters, the plot needs to hold together with no holes, and it must be beautifully written.
A four-star rating means it also needs to get and keep my attention throughout, and introduce interesting and compelling characters. The plot must hold together, although I’ll forgive a few pinprick holes. And it must be well written.
To earn three stars from me, it should get and keep my attention pretty much throughout, characters should be interesting, and the plot should hold together. There are places where the writing is weak.
I do not give one- or two-star ratings. If a book rates below a three I simply won’t assign a rating to it. That’s because I know how darned hard they are to write, and I think anyone who’s completed an entire book and gotten it published should be commended. That said, if you see a book on my list that is unrated, you know the writing is pretty pedestrian or downright poor.
Funny and snarky earn some points, but even they aren’t enough to overcome a sentence like, “Different sizes and shapes of mirrors lined walls that didn’t have Brazilian art clinging to it.” (Author name withheld because I don’t want to embarrass them.)
Curious about what’s wrong with that sentence? Scroll down . . .
What I’m Reading
The Coworker by Frieda McFadden
This was not my usual cozy mystery read, but a psychological thriller. I was reminded almost immediately of Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, as it became apparent very early on that one or both of the two narrators were unreliable.
The question is, which one? And why? What was their objective?
While I don’t think this book approaches the heights (or depths) of a novel like Gone Girl, it was certainly intriguing and kept my interest throughout. Recommendation: don’t read this one at bedtime!
Death of a Minor Character by EX Ferrars
This was the first book I read from this author, although, as it turns out, it’s fourth in series.
Virginia and Felix are a married couple who’ve been happily separated for six years. He lives in London, she lives in a small village, and they’re both content with that. Until Felix’ neighbor is murdered, and an acquaintance of Virginia’s is found dead in his own village shop.
Somehow, Felix and Virginia together figure out whodunnit, and why. The solution was not what I expected, and that doesn’t happen to me very often.
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Notable Quotes
The sun, rather than setting at this time of the year, chose instead to simply fall out of the sky like it had been shot.
- Dangerous Secrets by Steve Higgs
This tickled my funny bone. Living in the US, I’ve mostly experienced sunsets that are very gradual and take a long time, but there are some parts of the globe where the sun sets much more definitively.
As I puttered around doing the necessary chores to secure the house for the weekend, Figaro did his part by being underfoot and in the way until I pulled out the dreaded cat carrier. Sensing a disturbance in the force, Figaro conveniently vanished into thin air.
- Class Reunions are Murder by Libby Klein
Pets in cozies are always good for a laugh and diffusing tension.
Wise Words
Because words matter.
Let’s take a close look at this sentence:
Different sizes and shapes of mirrors lined walls that didn’t have Brazilian art clinging to it.
What the author was trying to say here was that some of the walls featured Brazilian art, and the other walls were lined with mirrors. There are lots of ways to say that, but the quote above should not have been one of them.
First of all, basic grammar: a pronouns and a noun that refer to the same thing should agree in number. The walls (plural) had, or didn’t have, Brazilian art clinging to them (plural).
Second, describing the art as “clinging” is a stretch, unless the art in question is a Jaguar or iguana hanging on by its claws. If you’re talking about paintings, fabric, photographs, or other types of art more commonly found on walls, they would be hanging, mounted, displayed, nailed, tacked, glued, or taped. In no case would they be clinging.