Making the Grade

One of the most compelling reasons I started reading blogs and then writing my own was to see and share thoughts and opinions about books. Reviews. That still holds true almost three years later. I'm always curious to read, see, and hear about what someone else thinks about a book we've both read. Or, might read.

Real nirvana is sitting with a whole group of people up close and personal to chat on and on and on about favorite books and characters. I've had that good fortune and experience with the SoCal Bloggers and it was so much fun I can't even tell you.

Anyway, Holly recently wrote a post for Book Binge about her review preferences. I found myself agreeing with many of the points she was making. For instance, I completely agreed with her thoughts about the blurb. That said, I have to say what really stood out were her comments on grades. Specifically, the grade the reviewer gives the book.

Holly noted she always looks for a grade in the book review. Me too! I immediately thought, "Good, I'm not the only one." Holly's article goes on to list other points that are important to her about reviews, but I was stuck on that first one. Grades.

You might be thinking, "What's weird about that?" Well, when I started my blog I made a conscious decision to NOT put a grade on my reviews. My logic, which seems sort of dumb now, was that I frequently waffled in my feelings about some books. I didn't feel confident about being able to nail a specific measurement on a book. Additionally, I have to admit, that while I always try to give reasons 'why' I did or didn't like a book, I really didn't want to have to start defending any given grade I might slap up.

I realized when I was reading Holly's remarks how important looking for a grade in a review had become for me. Particularly now with so many posts to read each day, I will skim reviews and look for the grade. So picture it, there I am trolling through Romancelandia looking for the grade on everyone else's reviews and I'm not putting any on mine. Sometimes I'm such a dork.

Thanks to Holly we are making changes here at Nobody asked me... The bottom line? Starting with my TBR Day review of Beau Crusoe I began putting a grade on my reviews. I thought it might be more momentous for me, but it wasn't. In fact, it was sort of liberating and anti-climatic at the same time.

I guess since I've been grading books, sort of, on my personal spread sheet all along it's not going to be that big of a deal. Who knew?