I will talk about my love for Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin books at any excuse I get. As an alternative to the ubiquitous 5-Star schema, I’ve thought about adopting Wolfe’s Rating System (or Archie’s take on it). From Plot It Yourself:
I divide the books Nero Wolfe reads into four grades: A, B, C, and D. If, when he comes down to the office from the plant rooms at six o’clock, he picks up his current book and opens to his place before he rings for beer, and if his place was marked with a thin strip of gold, five inches long and an inch wide, which was presented to him some years ago by a grateful client, the book is an A. If he picks up the book before he rings, but his place was marked with a piece of paper, it is a B. If he rings and then picks up the book, and he had dog-eared a page to mark his place, it is a C. If he waits until Fritz has brought the beer and he has poured to pick up the book, and his place was dog-eared, it’s a D. I haven’t kept score, but I would say that of the two hundred or so books he reads in a year not more than five or six get an A.
If I knew how to portray that graphically, I still might adopt it.
Actually, I’m of a mixed-mind about rating books, it seems demeaning (and pretty subjective) to grade them like this. But it’s also handy to be able to tell at a glance what someone thinks of a book. So, here’s my approach. For now, I’ll stick to the seemingly standard star ratings, but I regularly think about replacing it.
= Grade: A. I loved it. Blew me away. Knocked my socks off. The stuff that dreams are made of. Get thee to a bookstore/library and put this on the top of your TBR pile!
= Grade: B. Highly recommended. Very entertaining (where applicable), well-written, and whatnot. More than worth the time to read.
= Grade: C. I liked it. It’s good. It gets the job done—entertains/educates/keeps your interest/whatever the job is. The book as a whole might not be dazzling, but it’s worth your time. I’d continue the series/reading books by the author. Recommended. I want to stress this word here: Recommended. I suggest you read this book.
= Grade: D. Don’t bother. It’s not bad per se, it’s just not good.
= Grade: F. This is not a book to be lightly tossed aside. It should be thrown with great force.
I also use half-stars for something that’s almost the next whole number, but I can’t quite justify it for this space (but will round up for places like Goodreads/Amazon/NetGalley).
Comments, quibbles, suggestions?
Raina Nightingale
I do not rate books at all, if I can help it. I mostly review places it’s not required, and if the author specifically requests somewhere that it is required, I might be willing to do it ….
You mentioned you are into theology of the Reformed sort on your About page, and that disagreements are welcomed throughout, as long as it is kept civil. I used to be … well, I used to have some affiliation with theology of the Reformed sort. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss somewhere!
HCNewton
I get that…I’m increasingly uncomfortable with grades/stars/numbers…but they’re so ubiquitous and expected that I’m having a hard time separating myself from them (as tempted as I have been several times). I think I keep them primarily now to underline the differences between a “I recommend this” 3 star and “I recommend this” 4 star. Only so many ways to differentiate those two.
That could be an interesting (and hopefully profitable) discussion–any idea where we could hold such a conversation?
Raina Nightingale
Oh skies, I missed this reply! Just checked out your blog again because you had it linked in the e-mail, and then I thought, “Ooh, I think I know who this person is!”
We could have it in e-mail, but this time of year I’m really quite busy so I might not have a lot of time for it. Just saying … it would go real slowly.
HCNewton
I get that, Raina–I miss too many comments myself.