Say Anything {8}

Topic: Rating Books on Goodreads

My Thoughts: So I've been contemplating writing a post on this topic for awhile now, and finally decided to just go ahead and do it already! Since you cannot do 1/2 stars on Goodreads, I tend to stay away from giving them out on my blog because I like to stay uniform across the board. If my blog gives a book 4 stars, then my Goodreads will reflect 4 stars as well. If there is a discrepancy, I will explain why both on my blog and in my Goodreads review. Sometimes I'll round up/down on Goodreads, depending on my personal feelings about the book I'm reviewing.

The reason I follow the above is because I rely heavily upon Goodreads to determine whether or not I will read a book or pass on it. It also determines if I'll buy or borrow (from the library) the book. Typically, if a book is above 4.00 I will buy it. Anything from 3.75-4.00 I may borrow it, or buy it if I just cannot wait for the library to get it. And subsequently, anything below 3.75 generally I will borrow it or pass on it. This is just my own personal formula for choosing books.

Because of my 'Goodreads Formula', it upsets me when the following occurs:

1. An author rates their own book 5 stars.
2. Someone rates a book based on their anticipation of it (when they haven't even read the book yet), and not on their personal thoughts after reading the book.

I understand that an author is super excited about having their book published, and feels that it is worthy of 5 out of 5 stars. That's completely understandable. However; it's not fair to readers who use the Goodreads rating to decide on whether or not to read a book. Not that the Goodreads method is perfect or anything, because really you're just giving a general rating, but I feel that an author rating their own book skews the true rating from the rest of the reading population.

I also disagree with people rating a book just because they are excited for it to come out. There have been tons of books that I've been super duper psyched for and there's so much buzz around the blogosphere that it's all anyone is talking about - and then I finally get the book and... it's not a 5 like I anticipated. So how can you rate a book with a perfect rating if you haven't even read it yet?

My Final Thoughts: Obviously people are going to do what they want when it comes to rating books. I'm really a nobody in the entire scheme of things, but I like to keep things real. Therefore if I haven't read a book yet - I'm not rating it. If I mark a book as DNF - I do not rate it, but write a review on why I didn't finish it. To me, this is the truest way to represent my thoughts and feelings on a book in a way that will benefit others who are trying to decide whether or not they want to read it.

How do you feel about rating books? Let me know!