How I Rate Books on Goodreads Discussion

How do I rate books on Goodreads? Should we give half star ratings? Does it matter what genre the book is? Should we be rating books at all?

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[RememberedReads]

I always find the way people determine ratings to be such an interesting topic!

Personally I just 3 stars as the default for everything and then subtract based on flaws or add based on engagement and craft. I rarely rate anything with 5 stars - maybe 5% of the books I read. But I'm happy with that, so it works for me.

[GirlAboutLibrary]

Enjoyed watching this and thinking through my own decisions for why I gave books a certain number of stars on goodreads. Burial Rites is on my TBR list, but now I really want to pick it up! I find that with books that are hard to categorize I try to focus more on my personal enjoyment of the book, because that's the only element that i really feel like I can remark upon in a simple star type of rating. I pay a lot of attention to what people have written on Goodreads as well, because giving a book two stars means so much more to me when I can see the rationale for it.

[BooksAndJams]

I stress out about rating books. I find it so totally subjective. I base it almost wholly on my enjoyment and much less on the quality. But it’s so difficult to decide most of the time. I may leave off rating books in 2018.

[Annafan-zgzy]

I agree that Goodreads would be well served to add a half star rating system. I joined Goodreads when it first was launched, but quit almost immediately because it didn't serve me as well as the database I had created on my own pc and, mostly, it was the rating feature that I wanted to be able to look back on. I have since rejoined and do like the convenience of the different shelves and ease of keeping track of my book buying addiction :), but a better rating system would be greatly appreciated! Hope they are listening.

[GameofTomes]

I love hearing how others rate books. I agree with how you rate it versus how it makes you feel and how it draws you in. I definitely rate based on how I enjoyed in and how much I am drawn into it.
I typically rate books regardless of genre as to how I personally feel about them. I haven't even thought about rating them according to genre. The only appealing thing about that to me is the children's books like you said. I personally wouldn't enjoy a children's book as much as I would a fantasy book. That doesn't mean it doesn't deserve more stars for its intended audience. I don't think I could rate anything else based on genre besides middle grade or children's books though.
That's an interesting thought I've never had. I'll have to give it more thought! -Christeena

[patricejones]

Regarding Between The World and Me. I was conflicted for different reasons. It had nothing to do with Coates' writing style or writing expertise or the fact that it was his story. Clearly the man can write, and he has a valid story. My reason for rating it low is because I did not agree with much of what he said. I would not say a lot of it to my own son. I gave the book one star. I do have his 2nd book which I have a feeling will be rated much higher. Great discussion video. Mostly everyone has a different view on ratings, I presume. It is fascinating. We all have different values, different experiences, etc., and that helps to shape our ratings. No one is wrong.

[lookinglikingloving]

I find this topic really interesting. I really only use Goodreads as my personal Reading log and therefore I don't mind giving most books a star rating (I work similar to yourself although 1⭐️for me can be books which I should have really DNFd instead of pushing through to finish when I was not enjoying) However I really struggle rating non-fiction especially memoirs (particularly if they have difficult/important/emotional issues in the story)

[LauraFreyReadinginBed]

I'm seeing lots of discussion on this issue here on Booktube lately (Mercy's Bookish Musings, Steve Donoghue's response) and the more I think about it, the more I think we should NOT be so concerned with ratings. It's sort of like the whole "likable character" thing - is it really important that a character is likable? (I don't think so) and in the same vein, how important is it that a BOOK is "likable"? Can you get something out of a 2-star book? Is it still worthwhile to read a book if you don't 100% enjoy it? I think we as readers get a weird sense of entitlement, like, we expect to be 5 Star wowed by every book, and we set ourselves up for disappointment.