The star system, as well as the number system is not really helpful. I’ll try to give it 5-stars if I really liked it, 4-stars if it was good, but not great, 3-stars if it was okay, but I’ll probably never read it again.

I don’t really go lower than that and I’ve only ever 1-starred one series. Usually, I’m pretty good at picking books I’ll like and I’m not super picky.

The reason I say the star/number system is bad is because of how it works. It’s only a valid measure if you’re aware of the other person’s reviews and how your feeling about books mesh with their previous reviews.Kinda like how a random stranger might tell you a pizza place sucked. You probably won’t care, because you don’t know what they didn’t like and don’t know their preferences. However, if your friend tells you it sucked because they put onions on the pizza, you’ll know you might like it, because their only complaint was about onions, which you like.

Same with reviews. I could tell you a book is 5-stars and you may hate it. We care about different things and the only way to judge it based purely off a rating is if you know what I like and what I don’t like, and you know we generally like the same things. Then the rating maters.

That’s almost never the case, though, so I generally use stars to just say “I liked it” or “I didn’t like it”. What’s important is “this is why I feel that way”. That’s everything. The reasons I liked it or didn’t.

Even that’s it’s own thing as I feel a review should be spoiler free. I think someone should go somewhere else to discuss specifics. People just use reviews to see if they’re interested in starting it.

I use good reads and it’s just for fun. I’m not reading to get through as much as possible. I read when it’s fun at a speed where I comprehend everything. Whether that’s fast or slow.

I always set my goal at 100 books, though lll most likely never reach it. I tend to read large books. My page count is high, though.😁

That looks like somewhere that you’d have to worry about compys.

I see that kind of thing all the time in many genres. I don’t think I’ve ever DNF’d a book. I didn’t know it was a thing till I joined Reddit.

It’s almost a joke as well. Someone will say it was garbage when whatever they’re saying isn’t true. Like there is a series called Dungeon Crawler Carl. I saw a guy who supposedly reviews a lot and he said it was too silly and he quite. Well, it can be, but it’s also pretty dark and has many serious moments. Dude obviously didn’t read very far if he thought it was all silly. As a matter of fact, that silliness is really needed. The authors other stuff is super dark. DCC is good because it has some brightness to it.

I also see people who will get on and complain that a character isn’t ultra-super-final evolution from from the jump. They’ll complain that the character has flaws isn’t the ultimate representation of whatever. Never mind giving them a chance to evolve and change through the story. Why read their journey if they don’t experience change?

I also see tons of dueling opinions. People will scream that one book is garbage because it just dumps them in with no explanation and expects them to figure it out as they go. Then I’ll scroll down to posts and see someone complaining that they’ve been given too much information and they’re committing the sin of telling and not showing.

My general opinion is that people just want to complain and have someone pat them on the head for it. I’ve seen a trend in people wanting to stand out by tearing something down. They’ll search and hunt for something to complain about. Then you get a plethora of screaming seagulls echoing the statement.

I’ve seen many authors who are praised for being amazing, then when they get popular and everyone talks about them, someone has to come out trash talking them and several other people are like, “yeah, I always thought they were trash all along. Also, don’t check my post history.” To me, it’s the equivalent of goth/emo kids saying they’re gonna rebel and teach everyone a lesson by being unique and dressing like every other goth/emo kid and anyone who has a problem like with that can just get over themselves. No one understands them.

I’m fine if someone legitimately has an issue with a book and they’re welcome to discuss it. I just think people take themselves too seriously. When people “review” books, it’s like they think they’re the lone reviewer for the New York Times. In reality, your opinion only matters to you. I’m including myself and any reviews I do in that statement. I always hope my reviews can encourage people to try the book, but I don’t think anyone should just blindly accept my take on it. The only way reviews are valid, just on their own, is if you’ve read many reviews by the same person, read the books under review, and found you generally agree with the person. Otherwise, how do you know you won’t love what they hate? What if they say a book is garbage because it has elves and dragons and that’s kiddy shit. What if you love those things and read anything that has them?

But yeah, I think there is a problem with “critics” taking themselves too seriously and looking for issues to make it seem like they’re super analysts. You just have to take any review with a grain of salt. I’ve enjoyed many books and movies for what they are when they had horrible reviews and everyone crapped on them. I’m much happier being able to enjoy them, than those people are crapping on them.

Sounds good. Do what you enjoy, but I just like to mention the benefits I see in it.😁

You should think of giving it a try. The base models are very cheap. I like the paper white with no ads myself.

I agree that there is nostalgia tied up in books. I like the smell of a used book store. I like holding a book.

There are tons of pros to them as well, though, besides the ones I mentioned. It’s not an issue for me, but my dad uses my old ones to read my books and he can change the font size to something he can see without glasses. The back lighting makes it look perfectly lit, like a page in good lighting, so no more getting sore on one side and not being able to turn over due to poor lighting.

There is also no hand cramps from holding tomes open for hours. I take care of my kindle, but I don’t have to be precious and watch for potential spills or wash my hands so I don’t mess up the pages if something got on them.

I don’t have to take multiple books on vacation, in case I finished one. I don’t have to wait for a new book to come in stock or ship to me. If something happens to the kindle, I can buy a new one and download everything back. I can buy a book on a whim and have instant access. It makes flash cards when you look up a word you don’t know. You can pull out your phone and read when your sitting and waiting somewhere. You can read on a browser at work (only when you’re on break, though 😉).

I’m sure there are others I’m forgetting, but those are some good reasons to give it a try. There are a couple of emails you can sign up for that alert you to sales. I’ve gotten entire series a book or two at a time through sales like that for $0.99-2.99/book, before I ever started reading them.

I’ve rebought a lot of my favorite series for re-reading purposes. You should think about trying the cheap one. If you like it, get a better one. I don’t think the high priced one is worth it. Voyager maybe?

I buy almost all my books. I like to re-read and it’s worth it to me, to have my books available at my fingertips at anytime. I got as tired of waiting on books to be available and having a timer to read them as I did asking my parents for a ride when younger and having them tell me no.

I became even more hard core on that when I went to kindle. I can have them all at my fingertips in so I can read on multiple devices and I can get them cheap, get them on audio cheaply for re-reads, and between sales and get real cheapness, I can take chances on series I never would have before. I’ve discovered and loved some series I wouldn’t have tried either because of price/interest or because of shelf space.

That’s just a hipster beaver 🦫, trying to market locally sourced, non-gmo, gluten free, artisanal trees. Don’t even have to leave the water.