So today I wanted to do one of my end-of-year wrap-up posts to start talking about goals that I have for the upcoming year. As we are only a week from Thanksgiving, I do think that this is the right time for this here.
So for today, this will probably be a shorter post but I am making a change to how I will be rating books starting in December 2023-November 2024. Now, I am just trying this out for this upcoming year to see how it will work for me. I have been debating this for a couple of years. I have noticed that my amount of five-star ratings has really gone up in recent years. I have become more picky about what books I pick up, I tend to let go of authors that don’t deliver for me and I am much quicker to DNF books than I ever used to. I have started to see other friends of mine start to use a 6-star rating. This will change how I track it though with Amazon and Goodreads. So the reason to do the 6 star rating is to be more efficient on what my favorite reads of the year actually are. To be more precise in that determination. That if its a 6 star read, its a book I can easily reread again, its a book that worked for me in every way and was a perfect book in that sense. Especially as my five star ratings have become more in number, I think this has become more needed. Because my five star ratings this year have almost tripled what I used to have. So determining what the top favorite books are I would like to be more precise with. And it will also make my end of year posts easier to put together. And with my reading being much larger with last year being 450 and most likely I will get to 500 this year. So my reading has also doubled since I was able to get over my mood reading issues. I used to be on the fence with 6 star ratings, but I definitely think that they have value and there are good reasons to have for them. So basically if I am 6 starring a book, it just means the book is a top WIN of the year type of read. And I will be doing a end of year post next year to showcase my top favorites of the year!
So how will this affect my rating system? Well normally I round up when I do ratings for Goodreads/Amazon. But with adding in this extra rating, my rating system will be rounded down instead for reviews and books rated moving forward. I won’t be changing my rating system for books read in the past.
5 star rating= 6 star/5 star true rating
4 star rating=4 star/4.5 star true rating
3 star rating=3 star/3.5 star true rating
2 star rating=2 star/2.5 star true rating
1 star rating=1 star/1.5 star true rating
So tell me do you use 6 star rating? If so, let me know in the comments on why and how its useful for your rating system in rating books!
I don’t use a 6 star and I don’t know that I would unless platforms like Goodreads or Amazon change to that standard. I wonder if the 6 star thing is partly due to PR companies and authors having review policies where if books are not 4 or 5 stars you have to hold off on posting reviews for a few weeks. It used to be 3 stars, but that has changed the past year or so. Maybe they’re adding that star to even things out? Could be totally wrong there. I think it’s okay to have more 5 star reads. Some years are that way for me. I would rather have a year with more 5 star reads than a year with less. It means I’m reading more books I love. But that’s just me.
Thats why I have a grading system on how I am going to do it. I don’t think it has anything to do with PR companies at all. I have just started to see book content creators start to use it much more and it makes sense especially if you have quite a few five star ratings, to see what is actually the top picks of the year.
I have seen people give “6 stars” for books that just blew their minds. I can understand wanting something more. Shannon (It Starts at Midnight) adds bell ringer to those that outpace the others. Like you, I round up unless there is something niggling at me.
Yeah I think its a way of just personally tracking the top elite of your favorites. And since my five stars have definitely gone up way more in recent years than normal, I just think I need something a bit more to track those top favorites books.
Hah, that’s interesting, it’s the first time that I see a sixth star rating!
Now im not sure how that would work for me, as my rating is as loose as it can get 😂 sometimes it’s just the number that I feel like giving it- while reading I just go « this feels like a 3, why? Not sure. But feels like a 3. »
haha yeah when I first started reading books, I had pretty loose ratings. But I have a pretty precise rating system now.
I don’t use a 6-star rating, but like you, I have noticed that my reading style has changed. I’m no longer desperate to finish a book I can’t stand LOL. My five-star ratings haven’t increased, but that’s more to do with reading less than ever before. I hope this style works out well for you and I’m excited to see what makes your 6-star list 🙂
haha unlike you my reading has at least doubled this year and last year. I have been able to read way more than was my standard. So since I have been pickier about what I pick up. my quality of reading has actually been better.
I haven’t seen a 6 star rating system before. I probably wouldn’t use it unless Goodreads added it to their rating system.
Yeah no this rating system is something other content creators are using. It’s not something goodreads is doing. (they have yet to do half stars haha) this is just a way to personally track the more elite favorite books especially if you have more five stars reads and have a way to track the top favorites especially if you read 40-50 books a month. This is something we are starting to see from people that are really voracious readers too.
New to me and I hope it gives you the ease of lining up your top favs. I like having rating systems across all the places I review in sync, but other than that, I don’t really have a preference.