The Rating System
I use the school letter grade system to rate books. This is simple and universally understood, while allowing me a little more wiggle room than the typical five star rating system.
A+, A, A- There is something exceptional about this book. Maybe it’s the writing, or maybe the subject is really fascinating. This is the kind of book you’ll want to buy two copies of–one to keep and one to give to a friend.
B+, B, B- This book is definitely above average. I really enjoyed reading it and it will have a home on my self for many years to come.
C+, C, C- This book is average. There are some things I liked about it and some things I didn’t like about it. It doesn’t stand out as something I’d want to spend a whole lot of money on.
D+, D, D- I didn’t like this book. It was a struggle to get through and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. I wouldn’t buy this book.
F There are so many things wrong with this book, I don’t even know where to start. I think it would make better recycling material than reading material.
About My Reviews
I try to be as thorough as possible, covering many aspects of each book I review. I start by providing some basic information about the book, such as title, author, release date, publisher, number of pages, and my overall grade of the book. I also include a synopsis of what the book is about. This synopsis is usually a mish-mash of words, sentence fragments, and phrases taken from the book jacket, Amazon product description, and my own imagination. Next to the synopsis you’ll also see an image of the front cover. If the publisher has released a book trailer, I will embed this below the synopsis.
Next comes the meat of the review. For readers who just want to get a quick summary of my opinion, I write a one-sentence review. Below this is a longer review in which I start by providing an outline of the book, then proceed to share my opinion about various aspects of the plot, writing, characters, and format of the book.
You may notice a little star rating widget at the bottom of some posts. This allows readers to rank the quality of my review. I also include a brief bio and photo of the author. Finally, at the end of each review I list links to other reviews of the book. Always, I name the source where I obtained my copy of the book. I often receive review copies from publishers and publicity groups for free, and sometimes I buy my own copy or borrow one from my local library.
