Listed By Author

(Authors I’ve reviewed more than once.)

My Rating System

My 5-star rating system is very subjective. With some books, it’s more of a feeling, while at other times I attempt a more systematic approach to rating a book. Things I look for in books depend on whether they’re fiction or nonfiction. In both cases, I look for clear, understandable writing and take off points for mistakes (grammar, typos, editing snafus, etc.)

NONFICTION:

PLUS: The nonfiction I read tends to be either history or science, so the most important thing to me is delivery of information, preferably with lay-level explanations for us plebes. Bonuses for a solid source list/bibliography and inline citations.

MINUS: I take off points when the text is too thick/obtuse, no sources are listed, there are contradictions, it repeats itself too often, some of the information is known to be false, etc.

FICTION:

PLUS: For me, the most important part of fiction is pleasure. I must enjoy the book, be glad I spent hours reading it. This is necessarily subjective, but this is where most of my points are allocated when reading fiction. Extra points come from believable characters/dialog, clarity in action and exposition, solid descriptions of the setting (especially important in sci-fi/fantasy where creative world-building is a must), and well-done twists/surprises.

MINUS: Sloppy editing, distracting overuse of certain words (like “majordomo” in The Han Solo Trilogy or “shudder” in The Saga Of The Seven Suns), titles that don’t match the content, and time-jumps without warning to the reader (I’m thinking here of the popular flashback-style of narration, where the flashbacks are very often unannounced and the reader has to guess that we’ve gone back in time). I also typically withhold the fifth star on principle, unless the story was truly breathtaking or spectacular in some way.

(See: Criticisms Common To Many Books I Read)