New Addition to Book Reviews

While I’m waiting for Froggarita to post today’s Friday’s Fab Five, I thought I’d talk about a little something new to my blog.  I realized while looking at other book blogger’s blogs that when I review a book, I don’t ever give a straightforward rating.  I talk about how much I liked or disliked or was indifferent about a book, but that’s it.  I know for some that might be a great way to read book reviews, but then for others, it may not be very helpful.

I’ve decided to add star ratings to all the book reviews I do from here on out, and I’m in the process of adding those ratings to all my old reviews as well.  I’ve already added ratings to the Book Reviews page.

You need to be aware of how I rate books because they may not make sense to you.  When I give a book a star rating, it has nothing to do with its literary value, meaning how well it’s written.  I rate books purely based on how much I enjoyed reading them; it’s as simple as that.  Even though I think a book like Fahrenheit 451 is very well written and has important social implications, I still only gave it two stars because of how much I enjoyed … er didn’t enjoy … reading it.  My rating system is as follows:

	I use this prestigious rating only for books that belong on my Favorites shelf. Books on my Favorites shelf are books I can read over and over again.
	I use this rating for books I liked a lot, definitely recommend to others, and I will read again.
	I use this rating for books I liked, which I may or may not recommend to others and I may or may not read again.
	I use this rating for books I didn’t like, but I’m glad I took the time to read, may or may not recommend to others, and I will probably never read again.
	I use this rating for books I absolutely detested, do not recommend to others, and I will never read again.

Anyway, I hope this will be helpful to those of you who read my reviews.