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It's been something that I've been thinking about for a while - changing my grading system. I've decided to change my letter grade-to-stars ratio. I don't want to because I feel that an A+ read should get a higher grade than an A- read. Since Amazon and Goodreads still don't allow 1/2 stars it's become difficult to accurately translate the letter grades to the star grades. So I've decided to give in but I'll also include the actual letter grade on the review when posting to Amazon or Goodreads.
Previous Grading System ~
A+/A = 5 Stars
A-/B+ = 4 Stars
B/C+ = 3 Stars
C/C- = 2 Stars
D+/D = 1 Star
New Grading System ~
As = 5 Stars
Bs = 4 Stars
Cs = 3 Stars
Ds = 2 Stars
DNF = 1 Star
I decided to include DNF (Do Not Finish) since Amazon will not allow a no star grade.
It's my hope that the review itself allows other readers to understand any likes and dislikes I have of the book being reviewed and not place so much importance on the grade. But I know many readers, myself included, like to see the grade, especially when I have yet to read the book and only want to see the grade.
So how do you like to grade? Stars? Letters or something else? And if you post on review sites, how do you translate your grades? Curious minds...
I like letter grades because they feel less arbitrary to me. That being said, I never use the A+ rating. I just can't....go there. Even for books that I'm an irrational squee'ing fan girl over. I have this feeling like it puts impossible expectations on a book for some readers. "This is an A+ read?!" sort of thing.
ReplyDeleteI do hear what your saying on half-grades. I don't think there's a huge difference, for me, between an A- and an A; but a B- and a B? C and C-? D and D-? Yeah, there can be big differences - at least in my warped mind :)
I like letter grades better and I think that Amazon and Goodreads should add half-star. It really makes a difference. I'm really happy though, because I found my groove with my grading system :)
ReplyDeleteBut like you, I think the review is about the likes and dislikes :)
Oh you're changing to stars! :)
ReplyDeleteI also prefer letters, I find them easier to use for my purposes. But, I understand that using the star system at Goodreads and the letter system in your blog gets tiresome after a while.
Half grades! I'm so torn about those. I use them, but frankly I'm ambivalent about them. I know why I use them, but don't know if the review reader really gets why I use them. Sometimes I feel that it would just be simpler to either downgrade/upgrade.
My preference, always, is for the people to read the review (not just look at a grade). Lots of time the grade doesn't tell ME anything, while the review (positive/negative/meh) will make an impact. I know not everybody reads the reviews though. :)
I struggle with grades ALL THE TIME. Letter grades, stars, whichever... I hate assigning ratings to books, but I want everyone else to do it. LOL! I went through a phase where I didn't give grades to my reviews and I was very happy like that. But then I went and joined goodreads and felt compelled to assign ratings again.
ReplyDeleteI do wish goodreads allowed half stars. It makes a difference! Sometimes there's a book that falls between I liked it a lot and I loved it, right ?