THE Group for Authors! discussion

Today I was horrified to discover that a book which I have neither read nor rated was on my bookshelf as a 1* rating. I know I'm a bit of a technoklutz but I feel sure I couldn't have pressed that many wrong buttons in sequence, so I'm wondering if this is a goodreads gremlin in the works? Apparently it also happened to a friend of mine. The person whose book it was, not surprisingly, has defriended me, for which I don't blame her in the slightest. But it has upset me rather badly to think that people would think that I would rate a book which I haven't read so badly with no explanation and I thought it might be a gremlin which you needed to know about.

That's crazy!

Hi Loretta,
This is weird. Makes me wonder if the 1 rating I got was a mistake, too, in a sea of decent reviews. Also makes me aware that I should check my own bookshelf regularly.

Loretta wrote: "Today I was horrified to discover that a book which I have neither read nor rated was on my bookshelf as a 1* rating. I know I'm a bit of a technoklutz but I feel sure I couldn't have pressed that ..."

its easy to click unintentionally on the stars and not notice. Clicking the star adds to read shelf

Jo wrote: "Hi Loretta,
This is weird. Makes me wonder if the 1 rating I got was a mistake, too, in a sea of decent reviews. Also makes me aware that I should check my own bookshelf regularly."

Yup, it might well have been a mistake and I think it's a good idea to check your bookshelf regularly. I shall certainly be keeping a watchful eye on mine from now on, and I shall be very mindful of where I'm clicking.

Paula wrote: "Loretta wrote: "Today I was horrified to discover that a book which I have neither read nor rated was on my bookshelf as a 1* rating. I know I'm a bit of a technoklutz but I feel sure I couldn't ha..."

Oh, maybe that's what happened then Paula. Now I'm aware of it I shall keep a careful eye on my "read" shelf. I would hate to do that again, as it must be gutting for an author to have 1* with no explanation.

Watch too when editing a book or review and changing what bookshelves book is on. You have exclusive and non-exclusive book shelves and if you remove a book from all the exclusive shelves, goodreads will add it to the "read" shelf. That is, a book you shelve has to be on at least one exclusive shelf ...

1-star ratings can be typos, particularly from touchscreens on cell phone apps. Or could just be a reader convinced the 1-star rating = top, best, first place, first class, A #1, -- despite goodreads suggestions hovering over the stars on some devices/browsers, members rate however they choose by whatever scale they choose (some specify on their profiles, some do not).

Despite the goodreads stars/scale saying that ★★☆☆☆ means a book was "okay," a lot of my friends on goodreads use the amazon scale instead ( that is, going by suggested goodreads ratings, ★★☆☆☆ here on goodreads is supposed to be the equivalent of a ★★★☆☆ on amazon).

Just in case it cheers you up, going by goodreads suggested scale any goodreads rating needs to have a star added to compare with amazon rating. Apples to Oranges.

I've had so many "read" and "want to read" goofs I no longer use so when books show up on those shelves, I know something is wrong (I use "to read have bought" and "I read" instead). Doesn't help the goodreads stats/details but works for my book catalog.