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I posed a question the other day in the MLM comment section about grading. Rosie recently talked about grading over at her blog. I know it's a discussion that comes up periodically in bloglandia. I've moved completely away from grading. I think the last grade I gave was a D+ for that toaster oven book. If I like something a whole bunch, I'll say "fuckin ay" but other than a glowing recommendation, I've stopped grading.
Here's why:
1) Physiology: I'm a chick, so I get into a mood and then, oddly, when the mood passes I look at the grade I've given and wonder, WTF was I thinking???? Grades can be a smidge arbitrary. Sometimes they can suffer from hormonal surges and pms moments. On the flip side grades can also be smarmed up by an overload of coffee or rabid fangirl-ism. Oopsie.
2) Psychology: In case you haven't noticed, I'm a bit lazy. I don't adhere to a system. I'm slightly impulsive and can be a puppy. In other words: Total ADD. I forget my own rules. Oopsie.
3) Worth: Sometimes I want to recommend a book I don't particularly love because it's intriguing or thought provoking or weird. By giving the book a "C" or what ever...I feel that I'm doing the author a disservice and folks will think "meh" and move on. I'm telling ya, that last book Thirty Days was upsetting but still I'm glad I read it.
4) Unicorns and Butterflies: I always want to be nice! I can HATE a book and still be nice! Well. Most of the time. I have a friend who keeps telling me that I can be "brutal". Am I brutal??? Oh noes. Heh.
5) ME! I'm ego maniacal and want y'all to read the damn review. Sue. Me.
6) Dipshittedness: I find it difficult to grade eb00k romantica by the same standards I would grade a Lisa Kleypas or Jen. Crusie. It confuses me. I get sweaty palms and then I start re-evaluating and second guessing. DANG it. I hate that. Occasionally there's an ebook that is fricken' worthy and I want to grade it....and then I do...omg could I be more inconsistent?? (And I'm not saying The Hell You Say here. Not. Going. To.)
7) More Laziness: I'm sooo impressed when I go to other blogs and y'all have these detailed explanations of your grading systems. I mean some of them are downright OCD with charts and graphs and numbers and omg...it's so precise...others are hilarious (coughbevcough). I can't seem to form a standard (or find the energy to do so) of grading. I know that Demon Moon is an A+..that Caine's Reckoning is an A...that Scandal in Spring is a B (or is it a B+? IDK!)....but other than that..uh...yeah...looks like a lot of work! Isn't it enough work just to write up the review?????
So. I'm recommending with my thumbs up, or with my words of caution or my glowing gushing fangirl squeeing...or not recommending. I will randomly hand out trinkets: Chili Peppers; Nose Awards; Kitten Gum....
Hope this works for y'all.
lb
33 comments:
Hi lb,
that's absolutely cool. Funny, I wrote an entry in my LJ about nearly the same topic yesterday, too. As you said this is an ongoing discussion. I came to a different conclusion but your decision to not grade is still fine. ;-)
Christian
LB--That's cool. You know, I hadn't even noticed that you weren't giving grades. I can tell from your review whether you liked the book or not, and most of the time I can tell whether I'll like it or not.
I've noticed that my grades can vary from mood to mood, but fortunately, they rarely fluctuate more than half a point in either direction.
Hand me the guy with the gun from yesterday, and we'll be cool
:grin:
I agree with your reasoning. I don't give grades, either. Not that I hate when people give them. Sometimes I like it. Though oddly, it annoys me on movie reviews when I don't see a grade. But not on books.
What is with that positioning of that nightstick in that picture? And it gives a whole new twist to the word nightstick.
CJ~ OMG look at the shadow on the door. It's like that double dong alien book. QUICK someone tell JL Langley!!
Sorry.
Christian~I read your post. Actually I was involved in a chat over the weekend and we touched on this. Some folks only choose to review books they like, which is fine, I mean, what ever blows up your skirt, but I WANT to know which books don't agree with people. I want to see what they do and don't like..fair and balanced. Heh.
JenB~I think it's clear how I feel about a book. I think saying that my mood swings a grade pro'lly makes me sound soooo amateurish. Huh. I am.
Azteclady~I was worried folks wouldn't care for my memorial day spirit. You may borrow him. But bring him back when you are through.
That cop has a really furry ass.
I'm with Jenb - I didn't even notice that you weren't giving grades. I can tell whether you like the book from your review. I tend to do reviews only if the book moves me in some way - either way. Although I admit that I don't like to write the ones for the books I don't like...I don't do it as well as you do! lol
Nice bod, furry ass, 2 dicks...interesting. I'll take gun guy.
I think that cop's got his APB out.
For lisabea!
Heh. I don't mind his fur...he looks like a man at least and not a yaoi twink. Blech.
License and registration please? Yessir!
Thanks Tracy. I need to read the new Sookie Stackhouse book! That's my weekend homework. That'll be a great review. Or else!
All your reasons are rock solid, esp the "ME" one :P
I can't do grading either... I can name 10 movies that I love or would recommend it, but I would give it less than 2 stars.... erm, those are called guilty pleasures and we all need them.
mmmmmm...yaoi bois
I have new reviews. Instead of stars or grades why not:
Squee- excellent
MEH- ok
WTF?- wtf?
Blows Monkey Chunks- true suckage
Lol. You don't have to justify yourself, Lisa. But it sure was fun to read your reasons :). I suffer from the nice syndrom too. Unless it's in private, I just cannot be harsh in a review, because I can't bear the idea it might make the porr author feel bad if by unconceivable (bad)luck they stumbled upon my review...even when their latest work was an utter piece of shit. Fortunately, there aren't that many of those. So if I rate, and later I re-read it, I am usually more severe than I was at first. Not that I rate often. I'm lazy about actually writing the reviews (or writing pretty much anything, which is why I don't have a blog :-DD).
Love the sexy cop. And it's not a shallow liking for men in uniforms, since he's not wearing one :-p
BMC~Gee KB didn't I just see that on your blog? (the one I haven't had time to post on cuz it's PRIZE night and my daughter won the Drama Award woooooottttt!! Sorry. Proud mom).
Squee- excellent
MEH- ok
WTF?- wtf?
Blows Monkey Chunks- true suckage
I like this rating system...maybe have to use it from now on! :)
LB - congrats to the daughter who won the award - you have every right to be proud! :)
Having just recently started a blog, this is the one thing that makes me feel just a bit sqirmy inside when I am writing.
In what way am I qualified to give a grade of 3, 4, 5 (or blows monkey chunks, goats etc. as they say)other than I just know what I like and what I don't and I like to talk/write about it.
As a reader I do like to be able to go somewhere and get a feel for a book. Just too much of a tight ass to be buying too much crap. One or two I can cope with every now and then but more than that I get a little twitchy.
I like the idea of the words giving the rating. This idea gets a solid 5 from me. heh.
Aww LB!! :D
How was the prom?
Sarah~Did you read that thread over at Josh's LJ about excerpts? He was discussing chat groups and I think he was actually addressing authors...but..uh..you know how hard it is for me to keep my mouth shut. I rely on these blogger reviews to find new books...I'm already married to my fav. author's... and I tend to go to specific sites for info on ebooks, or m/m, or regency..etc..and I don't get much from chat groups other than poking my friends and being a cheerleader.
So the upshot of this endless monologue is: what about my reader friends...Do you go to chat groups, read excerpts, and buy books? What entices youro try a new author or purchase a book?
What kind of excerpts work? Sexy or emotional? Or both?
I should do a post.
I totally scooped that pic, you know. Ass like two perfect peach halves-- fuzz and everything! And he's furry all over... YES! a real live furry man! I thought that rare species had vanished permanently from the public eye!
And in defense of my grading system... it's not exactly a grading system. It's how I've ALWAYS grouped books in my head. So when I started my blog, I just gave those tiered groups names that were as over the top as the rest of my blog. hee
Besides, the juxtaposition of the over the top girlie-ness (the background is even a close-up of a wedding cake) and the erotic, urban fantasy, eye candy etc. posts just amuses my sense of the unexpected.
BTW, it's YOUR blog, which means YOU can make or break or change whatever you want. The fact is, and this is how I look at my blog too, blogging should amuse YOU first. Then, if anyone else likes it, that just makes it even MORE fun.
So go ahead, stir it up all you want.
After taking a huge break from reading (don't ask me why - I just don't know!) most if not all of the books that I started reading were from friend recommendations. From there I've found the authors that I follow and so on. I love hearing about new authors (to me) and reading reviews from friends on what they thought. From there I'll usually check out the author website and so on. Don't do chat groups.
I don't go for the grading thing mostly because it's inconsistent between blogs. Blog A may grade really hard so 3 dancing penises means "EXCELLENT!" But Blog B may not be that tough, so three dancing penises may only mean "AVERAGE!" And then the reader looking over selected reviews on my website has still her own interpretation of what 3 dancing penises means.
I'm more interested in what the reviewer has to say about the book -- and I look for good "sound bites" I can use on my website and on book blurbs.
I wanna see these dancing penises you're talking about.
Josh since you use such EXCELLENT sound bites on your website (toots own horn, slightly, toot toot) I bow to your intelligence on this matter. I did notice that you failed to post your nosepicker trophy for Best First Fuck and Judicious Misuse of Sunscreen...but..uh...I think some of your fans may not appreciate the honor of that particular award.
JenB...I'll look for a photo.
Tracy~I think the general consensus is friend/blogger recommendations. At least from this lot. One thing that I've really gotten a kick out of this year is the fact that many of us send each other books snail mail. Such a hoot...and I have a heap I need to return. Dang. I suck.
BevQ~Oh noes. Should I say "it's my blog..." Heh. I was really interested in the grading because suddenly I've read a ton of posts on the subject and I thought: crap, I don't do anything they do...is that good or bad? I mean, I'm NOT going to change or anything..I just wondered how much it mattered. Plus I had nothing to post on....
heh.
The bounty of new authors I've discovered this year can be blamed on two people: Bam and Teddypig.
I blame you, lb, entirely.
(and a very weak voice saying, feebly, in the back of my mind, "but really, dear, you don't need any more books..." so of course I have to get more books, damn my contrary nature)
Heh.It was the J.L. Langley, wasn't it? She hooked me. HOOKED ME.
Heh, Judicious Misuse of Sunscreen...that still makes me crack up lb.
As for the thread, yeah I did read it. I must say I laughed at the
thought of Josh rolling his eyes at *the lack of savoir faire...and
flashing naughty bits*...heh, he, like you, has a delightful turn of
phrase. I like it!
I had a think, did you see the smoke, and for me I am so not an
excerpt reader unless it is someone I have read before and it is a book I am panting about. Like, TEA, which was the BEST FGS(fan girl squee) excerpt eva.
Because I do not know the author, their style, their voice or have
some connection I find reading an excerpt cold not that great. I
always read a synopsis and if it it sounds interesting then I go and
find some reviews. I tend to go to particular sites as some I have
found give a 5* out of pure niceness and this does not mix with my penny pinching ways.
I have also found that there are certain reviewers who have similar
tastes to mine. When I've read a book they've recommended, and I've
felt a level of agreement, I'll usually go back for more. This does
not always work, there are the odd anomalies when I think they must
have been eating funny mushrooms or something as that book was surely the biggest pile of poop eva.
I started my m/m ebook hunting at teddypig's. He does have great taste and he gives good read. I do so miss his posts. I also go to
librarything.com and check out their stars on a book. A bit more
honest that some book selling sites me thinks!
Occasionally I am also sucked in by a good cover... ok, lots of times I have been sucked in by a good cover. I am not ashamed on my leering at half naked, delicious, getting in on man habits...much. But I also like the brit covers of the Merry Gentry series, Liz Carlyle has gorgeous covers and there are I am sure loads of others but I am too lazy to get out of bed and look!
I had a think, did you see the smoke, and for me I am so not an
excerpt reader unless it is someone I have read before and it is a book I am panting about. Like, TEA, which was the BEST FGS(fan girl squee) excerpt eva.
Laura sent me chap books from the upcoming Mexican Heat and from Adrien IV. I caught something in Adrien that I hadn't really let settle until last night and now, I'm even more nervous and excited to read it. You're dead on: excerpts from books we want to read are tantalizing and stir conversation. I'm not likely to read excerpts at random from the chats. Boy howdy, there are a lot of them there, that's for sure.
But excerpts at Loose-id and Fictionwise, etc, are pivotal. And I do cruise around there looking for books.
??? Really!!! Awww man, I am so hanging out for Adrien! Not sure I am keen on the word nervous though...
It wasn't any different than what's available on line. I was just happy to not read it on the computer. I can't wait to find out how badly we will be abused this summer by Jake and Adrien. GARH. It's going to be grand, you know it.
Great discussion. Sorry I missed it last week.
LB: I agree with points 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of your post. hee. I think I am most guilty of points 1, 4, and 6. Totally number 6. I have completely different standards and hence expectations, of an erotica short than something masterful like a MJB novel, you know? And I think that way of thinking is perfectly natural, but do readers of my blog think that way, too? IDK.
Grading books is the most difficult part of writing reviews. I actually hate the part of giving a grade. Its the part I most agonize over. But I do it anyway, because I almost always find myself looking for grades on other blogs and review sites. Unless the review is written by a blogger I am familiar with (and already know their likes, dislikes and style), I feel I need some kind of final assessment, and that would come in a grade.
Having said that, though, I do tend to take grades fairly lightly. I only really give the grade any weight when I see five or more blogs giving the same book practically the same grade, good or bad. The books whose grades are all over the place? Most often hose are the books I am most inclined to go discover for myself, you know?
I agree too. Grades are tough. I could never be a teacher. When I read a book when I'm sick I'll give it a terrible review, and then feel terrible about it. So I stopped writing about books that didn't wow me. I changed from book REVEWS to book RECOMMENDATIONS. Now I only talk about rainbows and kittens and unicorns, and everyone is a lot happier. But I appreciate Other People taking the time to do real reviews! I've gotten all my best 5 heart books from the Desert Island Gals. :)
This is an interesting idea. Probably the best way to not get back-handed:) I will keep it in mind.
Just Bloghopping
http://thinkitthrough2eternity.blogspot.com/2008/11/bloghopping.html
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