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This week That Artsy Reader Girl’s Top Ten Tuesday topic, “Books I Didn’t Like, but Am Still Glad I Read,” sent me down a long, deep rabbit hole. I started out by moving back over the last few years looking for books that would fit the prompt. Then I began noticing a few things, like how few books I gave “C” ratings to before I started blogging, and how many more “A” books I read before I started blogging. I started asking myself questions, like “Have I become a harsher critic of books?” and “Have I lost some of the joy of reading?
Before I digress too far, let’s take a look at my stats for the last six years. For each year I looked at the grades I gave to the first 32 books I read that year. I picked 32 because in 2016 I had read 32 books before launching Novel Visits.
As you can clearly see my success rate with books has dramatically decreased the last two years. My best year of all was 2016 and those books were from the start of 2016, BEFORE I started blogging. In those first four years almost two thirds of the books I read I rated as “A’s” compared to roughly one third for the last two years. That’s concerning to me. So, why? I’m not sure, but am going to throw out theories and I’d LOVE your thoughts, suggestions, feedback and/or any little rabbit tunnels I may have missed.
Theory #1 – I’ve become worse at selecting books for myself.
I don’t think this is exactly true, but I do think that these days I stick with books more often if they’re sort of on the bubble for me. If it’s an ARC and I’m just not sure, I try to give the book more time. So, I’m DNF’ing at a lower rate, thereby reading more books I don’t really like. I’ve only DNF’d 7 books this year and that’s low for me. Before I started blogging, if the Kindle sample didn’t grab me, I was done. That eliminated a lot of books very early on. I was left with the cream. I’m also picking books I want to read months ahead of their release now, whereas before blogging, I was selecting books much closer to their release dates. I’m something of a mood reader, so this might this be significant.
Theory #2 – I’m not getting as much pleasure out of books.
There is something to this. Let’s face it, grade “A” books are a joy to read. Anyone is having a darn good year when over 60% of the books he or she reads are “A” books. I also think knowing I need to write about books I’m reading somehow takes some of the simple pleasure out of a book. I think it’s harder for me to get completely lost in a book. It still happens, but not as easily as it once did and that’s a little sad.
Theory #3 – I’ve become a harsher critic of books.
I know this is true. When I looked back to some of the 2013-2015 books I gave “B’s” to, I was surprised (even shocked). I’m confident today some of these would be “C’s”. It seems I have far less tolerance, less forgiveness for flaws in books today, and I’m not sure that’s a good thing.
Theory #4 – Blogging has changed my relationship with books.
This I also know to be true, and it’s not all bad. Before blogging, I had a very intimate relationship with the books I read. It was a one-on-one relationship, that got lonely. Blogging opened up the book world for me, bringing with it a whole community that I hadn’t realized I’d yearned to be a part of. That community filled up a portion of my book world, but it also took some of the romance off of the books themselves.
Theory #5 – There just aren’t as many great books as there used to be.
I REFUSE to believe this!
Final Thoughts
I’d like to get back to the place where I’m reading mainly “A” books and I think there are a couple steps I can take to help get me there.
- DNF more and earlier.
- Save books I’m on the fence about for the library or a Kindle sample.
- Allow space for “mood” reading by making fewer requests.
- Try to take mental focus off of the need to review books.
- Try to think about the review only AFTER I’ve finished a book.
- Remember that I don’t need to review every book I read.
This is hard and I’m not exactly sure how to help my reading quality get back to where it once was, so suggestions are welcome.
One Last Question
Since this rabbit hole I’ve traveled down started with looking at book ratings, I’d like some feedback on that. I’ve noticed that some book bloggers have stopped rating books with any sort of star or grade score. It’s something I’ve been considering myself mainly because I hate it when people tell me they aren’t going to read a book because I only gave it a “B”. A “B” is a GOOD grade! What do you think of reviews that don’t include a rating? Does it matter to you? Do you prefer to just read the review and gather information that way?
I have similar taste to you with books so I do appreciate a rating. Maybe you could have a post of books that were good but not the best each month (B or C books) so we could decide. That way you don’t feel but giving a book an honest B but you don’t have to call it that if I’m making sense. I also just think, keep doing what you like best!!
Thanks, Cori. I appreciate your thoughts especially on rating books. I know I like it when others rate, so I’ll probably stay with it.
Great post! I think there may be some validity to all your points. Some years I feel there aren’t as many good books as other years. I think since I started blogging and writing reviews, I’ve been reading books more critically. Whereas before I would just read for me, now if I choose to write a review, I’m looking for things to write about, so that may make me harsher on a book. That’s why I try not to review every book I read, I try to just read “for fun” sometimes.
I think you have a good point in needing to read more books just for me! I know when I do that it always feels good.
Oh my…you’re having the crisis that I had last year I think! I really think a lot has to do with the fact that we’re selecting and reading books so far in advance that they haven’t been vetted by many people yet. Also – you’re selecting your ARCs based on the information the PUBLISHER and their marketing group wants you to have. They’ll exaggerate, mischaracterize, miscompare, etc to sell more books. All this is why I stopped reading publisher’s catalogs and tried to identify my best recommendation sources…and use them to pick books.
As you know, I’m also a huge fan of DNFing early and often. I’ve DNF’d 20 books so far this year! But, I def didn’t use to be like that.
Also – do you think you’re influenced by others’ opinions of a book? Like you loved a book and would rate it A…but then you talk to others and they point out flaws that didn’t bother you while you were reading it. And then you dock the rating for those flaws even though they didn’t bother you when you read it?
Finally, I love it when bloggers rate books…sometimes I can’t really tell what someone thought of a book without a rating. I like that it forces the blogger to put their opinion in black and white. And I do still consider B a good score…would never ignore a book you rated B. I don’t rate the books on my blog…just say read it or skip it (which is kind of a rating?). But, do rate mine on Goodreads.
Sarah, you are so right about selecting books too far in advance. Before I started reading, my list might go out a month or two, but I didn’t actually decided which book i was going to read next until I finished the last one. That style catered much more to my moods and also let me find out more about a book before deciding on it. That’s why I think I want to cut back on requests, though I know that will be really difficult for me.
I don’t think I’m influenced by how others rate books, except in wanting to read books that those of you whom I trust highly recommend. (Like Circe recently and Only Child right now.) Still, I’m going to try to pay more attention to potential influences
I think I’ll be sticking with the ratings. I like seeing them on other blogs.
This was such a great post. I stopped requesting netgalleys and books to review and decided against starting my blog because I found that I did not like the pressure of reviewing books. At first, I was so upset because I was looking forward to sharing my love of reading on a blog, but after reading this, I feel validated with my decision. I do enjoy reading your blog and that of other book bloggers,
Thanks, Katherine. Book blogging is definitely a double-edged sword. You have to take the good with the bad.
Very interesting! I’m not sure if I read better books before I started blogging or not, but I definitely know about more books now than I did before and that’s a good thing. I think I probably am more critical of books now than I was before, but I’m also better at knowing what I like and filtering out books I won’t like.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2018/05/15/top-ten-tuesday-159/
You raise many good points — especially with the steps you mention you might take. Sometimes I feel the rush to review or blog can take away from just getting lost or taking time with a book or story. I find sometimes it helps to slow down or not worry about those things till later. So I hope your steps help you. I’m also quite selective with what I read — I usually have a good sense that I will like it. Hmm.
Thanks Susan. I think I need to start being a little more selective, especially with the books I decide to request.
I’ve been here too! Sometimes I feel like I’m stuck in a long rut of just ok books.
Your first and third theories really ring true for me. Review books are so tricky, because you feel an obligation to finish them even if you aren’t loving them. I also think the practice of reviewing books makes you more critical and gives you a lot of room for comparison (i.e. “This is just like this other book,” or “This other author does this particular thing better.)
Good luck with mood reading! I hope you get out of the rabbit hole. 🙂
Thanks for your thoughts, Lindsey. Comments on this post have given me even more to consider.
This is really interesting. I definitely feel like my reading has changed since I started blogging. I still very much want to be a mood reader, so I’ve avoided requesting ARCs yet–but that leaves me feeling like I’m missing out on new books, so I usually end up reading them anyway. I’m also a little more impatient when a book takes me a long time to read, which I never really paid attention to before.
I’ve avoided ratings so far on my blog, but I also don’t really do full reviews–just short summaries with a couple of quick thoughts. I like to see people’s ratings when they use them on their full reviews, but I do think sometimes they become the focus, like with your example of a “B” grade. You might have mentioned a whole lot of positive things about a book, plus a couple things that don’t work for you, and people end up looking for those things that knocked it down from an “A.”
I’ve always been pretty impatient when a book doesn’t grab me from the start. That’s okay, but with ARC’s I’ve tended to slog on and I really need to stop doing that. It’s great that you’re operating without any ARC’s. Impressive! I will probably stick with the ratings for now, but it’s something I’ll still be thinking about.
Twenty years ago I had one or two sources for books. My local paper (which had a great Sunday book review section, sadly no more) and the Sunday NY Times Book Review (which is also lacking these days). Now I’ve got 10 web sources bookmarked but I don’t think I’m any happier with the books I’m reading.
Reasons:
1. New genres such as “dystopia,” “magical realism,” “fantasy,” “graphic novels” aren’t my thing but they end up taking space.
2. Online reviewers are reading what they like. Conversely, since online reviewers aren’t reviewing what they don’t like, those opinions don’t surface. And some bloggers admit they don’t want to review books they didn’t like. This all adds up to a reviewing universe that only “likes” — just like Facebook. But discerning readers want to hear about the “dislikes” too.
3. To be honest, I think there were better books published 20 years ago, but that may be the curmudgeon in me. But there aren’t the “go to authors” such as John Irving (definitely lost it), Jane Smiley (ditto), Alison Lurie, Ann Patchett (off her game since Bel Canto), Ann Tyler (at the end of her career) that I knew I could rely on. And eagerly awaited their releases. The book world now glorifies the “debuts,” but how many of these authors will have a 2nd book in them, much less a 3rd or even 5th.
4. There is a lot of political correctness influencing what is popular right now. Refugee books for example (Exit West, Behold the Dreamers, Girl Who Smiled With Beads, The Newcomers), and they get better reviews than I think they deserve. (And I mean published journalistic reviews.) And if you want to push that envelope read Heart Berries (or try to).
5. This may sound counter-intuitive, but I have more time to read. So perhaps I’m less discerning and willing to accept a “just OK” book. When I was working, I hoarded my reading time like a squirrel stores nuts. But I’m getting frustrated. However, I am a museum docent and have a large stack of art history books that I think I’ll start delving into. “Sargent’s Women,” “A Revolution in Color” and “Of Arms and Artists” here I come!
Wow! Madeline, as usual, you give me a lot to think about. Similar to you, before blogging I had three main new book sources: the Sunday NY Times, Goodreads Best Books of the Month and Amazon Best Books of the Month and I was very successful. Sometimes I think too much info is a bad thing and that may be the case for me with all the “book lists” out there now. I’m not sure books were better 20 years ago, but they were certainly different. Good luck with the art history books!
So many great stats! I don’t know where to start my response so I’ll jump in and say that I have a similar history- way more highly rated books before I started blogging. Of course, I was reading a lot less and I was only reading books long after they came out and someone recommended them. So, by our nature, blogging is going to affect our ratings. We’re the people people look to for what to read!
I like a ratings system as long as I know what it means. Some people think 3 stars is no good, but for me it’s good- just not great.
As for how you’re reading I know that if I read for pleasure I don’t read as carefully and so may let things slide more than if I’m reviewing a book. I think mixing business and pleasure works for book blogging! Take a mini-break and read something from the backlist knowing you’re not going to review it.
Thanks, Catherine. I like what you said about being the people people look to for what to read. I need to keep that in mind more and realize that suggesting you might NOT want to read a book is actually a service to others.
I do need to do more of the “me” reading. That’s what I did with The Song of Achilles last weekend and it felt wonderful. (Though I loved the book and my end up reviewing it anyway!)