I stopped rating my reads…

And what this means for my reading life going forward

It’s funny how quickly one can swing from one extreme to the next, even in something as “mundane” as reading.

For years I played into the easy 1-5 star rating system without even thinking about it. If I liked the book it was automatically a 4 star, if I couldn’t stop talking or thinking about it, it became a 5 star and subsequently my entire personality for an embarrassingly long stretch of time. Books I felt meh about but didn’t regret reading were 3 stars, 1-2 stars were often reserved for books I was too stubborn to DNF even though they were what I would now consider a waste of my precious reading time.

However, I found that when I started reviewing books I had zero talking points other than just vibes which in my quest to be excellent at reviewing and recommending books just wasn’t going to cut it. So obviously that meant my high-functioning, (possibly adhd) hyperfocused brain had to delve deep into a highly complicated rating and categorizing system.

Spreadsheets, Notion templates, Highly specific Goodreads shelves, Excel Formulas oh my!

And it was great until I got tired of shoving every book into a box after I read it. Reviews became the bane of my existence because sometimes I loved a book even though my scientific rating system said it was just a 3 star.

And obviously those two things couldn’t be true at the same time.

Or could they?

I was looking back at a few of my old book reviews and it’s not the super analytical reviews with a CAWPILE/REDCAPS/WANDER score that I’m proudest of or even remember.

Instead the ones that brought me joy are the simple ones where I just listed bullet point style what I liked and what I didn’t.

Sometimes I added a moodboard. Sometimes I didn’t.

Those are the books I remember reading the most because while the rating break downs were great from a quantitative stand point, they didn’t make me think about why I liked a book or what wasn’t working for me as a reader.

But instead of handling that realization with grace and changing course, I got overwhelmed with what I thought would be the undoing of a failed system. Spoiler: it wasn’t a failed system, it just no longer served what I wanted it to do. So I just stopped reading, stopped engaging with the texts at anything more than surface level. When I finished a book I either didn’t pick another one up for weeks or I just plunged into the next one without a thought.

As someone who enjoys reading and the process behind picking my next read and recommending titles to others, this didn’t feel good either.

So what does one do?

When I had switched to Spreadsheets/Notion to track my reads I had mostly given up on Goodreads as a platform EXCEPT for the fact that I needed it as a search tool. To this day despite its many faults, Goodreads is still one of the best databases for books out there. With one click it gave me everything I needed information-wise on a title and that was something I just didn’t have in a self-made template. It was also free without the annoying pressure to upgrade unlike other apps like Bookly and Storygraph.

Sometime last year or early this year I discovered my official Goodreads swap. I decided I wanted an app to track my books again but there were some criteria I needed.

• Easily customizable with shelves and/or tags

• Graphs are a bonus

• Large book database that is easily searchable

• No AI

• Social aspects like friends and community boards are a bonus but would like the option to “opt in” versus having it in my face everytime I log on.

Enter The Bookshelf App.

This is a newer app so they are constantly adding features but my favorite thing about this app is how simple it is. When you open the app it’s straight to your bookshelf not some social feed. Your shelves and tags are entirely customizable to what works for you and they have a wishlist tab that helps you track what books you want to buy and links a few retailers for you to be able to buy online.

There is a premium and a free version but honestly other than a few of the pro features like no ads, stats, and the pick your next book you don’t even need to upgrade in my opinion. You can pay monthly, yearly, or do a lifetime sub which is wild to me and I’ll probably do that next year because I’m obsessed.

All of this to say, this app reset my brain for how I track my reading now. It’s simplicity lets me add books to my list, rate them with the star rating right at the top, and a free space to elaborate if I want to in a space that is just mine unless I choose to enable the community features.

Bigger systems isn’t always better. Sometimes you can build them too big and then they just become something more to manage. We all already complain about having to clean the things that clean, why make reading into more of a chore than it should ever be?

So what happens next?

Well, I’ve discovered a few four and five star reads lately that I hope to share with you. I’m planning to go back to basics with my reviews which honestly is a little daunting. I’ve been out of the game and habit of writing reviews now for so long I’m psyching myself out a bit.

What do you find helpful from book reviews? Let me know down in the comments!

Until next time,

Stay Cozy ☕️