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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Ratings System

I am considering abandoning my ratings system. What do you all think?

 I am finding it hard to give each book a numerical value these days and I find the stress of it is probably unnecessary. I am hoping that my reviews alone will be enough to give readers a good sense of my feelings and opinions about the books I read and review. 

A couple years ago I was thinking about this exact same thing when it was asked on a 3/09 Tuesday Thingers meme. Here is what I said:


I do use a rating system but have been wondering whether or not it is useful or necessary. I know when I look for info on a new book I read the synopsis and reviews first before looking at the ratings. Same as with movies. You can't always trust them. However, sometimes ratings are good for quick reference or for when a review is not clear.

My rating system:

5/5 Amazing!
4/5 Really liked it
3/5 Liked it
2/5 Okay
1/5 Didn't like it

So, considering this has been on my mind for awhile, I think I will give no ratings a try. Let me know what you all think. I want to do what is most useful to my readers. Thanks.

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6 comments:

  1. I resisted ratings for a long time but finally implemented them and I'm keeping them.

    I like to see ratings on blog reviews. A rating by itself is useless. A review without a rating is OK, but I prefer to see a rating with a review. If I see a review without a rating I might skim my google reader and miss reading about a book you loved. I think ratings add to reviews.

    Just one opinion, but I vote for reviews with ratings.

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  2. I gave up my rating system the first part of this year and I've never regretted it. It's much easier to review the books and I do like letting my words speak for themselves when I talk about a book.

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  3. as a reviewer, i sometimes struggle with the right number of bookmarks but continue to use my system. as a reader of other book reviews, i love when bloggers use some sort of rating system. it gives me a starting point before i even jump into the review.

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  4. Personally, I LIKE ratings and always want to know the bottom line - what someone thought of the book??

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  5. I honestly don't pay much attention to ratings. I rate books on Goodreads, but not in my reviews. I did give ratings in one of my year-end wrap ups, but haven't done it since. I say do whatever you think is best on that front.

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Thanks for taking the time to comment! :)