Sunday, April 08, 2007

Updated Rating Scale (Why? Just Because I Can.)

1 (Poor) - Occasionally my cat climbs on my chest and makes me pet him instead of reading. This time, I should have listened to the cat more carefully.

2 (Fair) - This book kept me guessing until the very end. The problem was I was guessing whether I really liked it or not.

3 (Good) - By the end of this book, I was happy to have read it. Not so much that I don't have some very pointed comments to make, Mr. or Mrs. Author, but I liked it.

4 (Very Good) - Now that was a book. It really is too bad more books aren't as good as that. Really, what's wrong with you authors? I want to like your books. Here's an example of what I'm looking for. Hop to it!

5 (Outstanding) - This book is the reason I read. The book made me say "WOW!" when it was all over. Six months to a year later I'm still talking about it almost nonstop and wondering why everyone hasn't read it. It might annoy my husband but I don't care. The book is that good.

Many thanks to Anjin for his help in turning my ideas for a rating scale into a more palatable and humorous format. And a big thank you to Jody who gave me the idea to add a little humor in the first place.
Posted by at 4/08/2007 09:10:00 AM
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15 comments:

  2. Those are very funny, Kitty. I've been trying to come up with a numerical rating scale, but 5 numbers never seems like enough to me. I tried a scale of 1 to 10, but just when I thought I read a 10, I would read an even better one, so I had to use decimals. I may never get the hang of that system.
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  3. Love it! I'll be looking forward to your 5's!!!
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  4. Liking the scale, it's good to be a bit stingy with your 5's so people know it really was a great book. I am still buzzing about The Black Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop which I read last year and I have to admit to always giving in when one of my cats steps on me whilst I am trying to read. They are just so persistant and friendly!
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  6. LOL. Now that's my kind of scale.
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  7. I'm glad you all like it. LOL

    Kookie - I know what you mean about 5 not seeming like enough. I am trying really hard this year not to use halves like I have in the past, but it's hard. There's a whole range in just one of the solid numbers and finding the balance can be difficult.

    Rhinoa - The Black Jewels trilogy is praise worthy! And aren't cats funny? Mine can be very pushy when he wants some loving. LOL
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  8. Bybee envious...steal...want to steal Literary Feline's witty new rating scale...no, Bybee, no...stealing BAD!
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  9. Bybee - Haha One of the yahoo groups I belong to has been coming up with all sorts of fun rating scales like this. It was a lot of fun to put together. :-)
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  10. Oh my gosh, that was so funny, so witty, so enjoyable to read. Just terrific! I've begun to think about my ratings too and whether I should even bother. It seems like most of the books I read are A or A+ or A-. I don't like letter grades so why do I use them? I don't know. But I think maybe I'll quit all together. :<) Thanks for the great post.
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  11. Oh, that's so cute! I love it!
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  12. Ditto on the 'LOVE IT' comments!
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  13. Nan - I'm glad you liked the rating scale definitions. :-) I've considered dumping the ratings too, but sometimes it's the rating best says how I feel about a book when my words fail to. Of course, sometimes its the other way around too . . .

    Nancy and Lesley - Thank you so much!
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  14. I love when other people have rating scales, because it does make it instantly clear how they feel about the book, but I refuse to use rating scales myself. I have to grade papers and projects and so on all day long and I'm not going to come home and grade books, too! Plus I know I'd give something a 2 and then a month later wish I'd given it a 4. Does that ever happen to you?
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  15. I can understand why you wouldn't want to grade the books you read since you spend so much time doing that as it is. :-)

    Sometimes I think I'd be better off not rating the books I read. Usually those are the times I can't make up my mind quite where a book may fit on the scale. But then other times, the rating itself says even more than my review and I'd hate to lose that balance.

    To answer your question, yes, I have doubted my own ratings sometimes. Usually though it's not a huge jump on the scale.
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