Hey Pat! Stop giving every other book 5 stars. 5 Stars should be exclusive to your favorite 2 or 3 books. 4 Stars if it's a great book but not your favorite. 3 Stars if you liked it but you wont read it again. 2 Stars are for the books you hoped would get better if you just invested the time but it never did. 1 Star if you couldn't finish it. At this rate, this comment would get 3 stars!!!

Disagree, you can respect a book is very good without it being your personal favourite, why shouldn't a book like that get 5 stars? For example the kingkiller books are not my very favourites (they are close seconds to the Fitz books by Robin Hobb) but that doesn't mean I don't love them and don't appreciate that they are AMAZINGLY well written and in my opinion deserve a 5 star rating. 4 star (to me at least) implies their is a specific issue which made it not get 5 stars rather than the book simply not being my own personal favourite,Less

Francois, goodreads rating system is a subjective scale. Everyone puts their own meaning to the numbers and assign ratings accordingly to that subjective meaning. The benefit of the rating system, as subjective as it is, comes from the crowds. The average rating over a large sample give you a better understanding of the "quality" of the book; regardless of each individual score or personal scale.

I really do like rating system in boardgamegeek.com. They give a number and an explanation to what that number represent. It is still subjective, like most other rating systems, but at least it provides for a slightly more level plain field.

Francois wrote: "Hey Pat! Stop giving every other book 5 stars. 5 Stars should be exclusive to your favorite 2 or 3 books. 4 Stars if it's a great book but not your favorite. 3 Stars if you liked it but you wont re..."

What you've given is your personal, idiosyncratic way of judging the star system.

Either you use the vague descriptions given ("did not like it"; "it was okay"; "liked it"; "really liked it"; "it was amazing") or you make up your own definitions that only confuse the rest of us. I, for one, have zero idea that you mean you didn't finish it, when you make it a 1 star.

As well, you have an option for marking books as a favourite, in your bookshelves. Anyone who is aware of that will have no idea that you are using 1 star in your personal way, because you don't have to.

Hey, Pat! Keep giving books whatever star rating you think is most appropriate. And thanks for giving us the Kingkiller Chronicles!

@Francois I agree. I added the below to my profile ;-)

A word on my ratings. I believe rating 1 to 5 stars is just too crude but currently Goodreads is not inclined to move to a scale on 10. So, to better understand:

0 stars: The author has burnt down my house and killed my dog. This is revenge. I did not read the book. It's not my dog either.

I star: I tried. I failed. It sucked. I really gave it a shot. Either angry it did not improve or just stopped reading.

2 stars. I had to drag myself to the end. There was a reward at the end. Usually crisps.

3 stars: I liked it but far from unforgettable. Books I know I read a long time ago but can't remember (much of) the story.

4 stars: Ranging between I really liked it to excellent but falling short of 5 stars. Books I vividly remember reading a long time ago.

5 stars: THIS BOOK CHANGED THE WAY I THINK, I WILL TELL EVERYBODY I KNOW (AND A GOOD NUMBER OF STRANGERS) THAT THEY NEED TO READ THIS.

Jeroen wrote: "@Francois I agree. I added the below to my profile ;-)

A word on my ratings. I believe rating 1 to 5 stars is just too crude but currently Goodreads is not inclined to move to a scale on 10. So, t..."

This is amazing... I'm adding it to my profile!

Ramon wrote: "This is amazing... I'm adding it to my profile! .."

I didn't read the second bit of your comment till you commented.
Love how it fits
great minds ... ;-)

I did a short bit of volunteer work in Cambodia a while back. It was so rewarding seeing the real difference that was being made. Pat, what you and people like you are doing is amazing. Keep up the good work.