What were your 5-star reads of 2013?

[fbrII]

In no particular order:

The Light Between the Oceans - M.L. Stedman
Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
Haiti Noir - Akashic Noir - Anthology edited By Edwidge Danticat
Best American Noir of the Century - Anthology - edited by James Ellroy & Otto Penzler
If Jack in Love - Stephen Wetta
White Shadow - Ace Atkins
The Other Side of the Bridge - Mary Lawson
Baltsar and Blimunda - Jose Saramago
A Child al Confino - Eric Lament
Silence of the Grave - Arnaldur Indridason

And a very special tip of the hat to:
Ross MacDonald and Andrea Camilleri, who entertain me every year

[Tarana]

Fbone, if you only had ONE 5 star book for the year, either you aren't reading that many books or you need to seek some better reading material. You don't want to waste your reading life on so-so books. I found book clubs in my favorite genres to be very helpful in this regard. Lots of them on Goodreads.

As to your categorizing, you could try 'Phenomenal Books' for a shelf and keep them there. Reminds you to revisit those in the future. Interestingly enough, I've never read Steinbeck and unfortunately, our library does not have Cannary Row in either Ebook or audiobook, so I'll just have to put it on my wishlist and get it in the future. Same with the two sci fi books you mention. Our reading tastes may be very different, but I'm always willing to try a sci fi that someone truly loves.

[DrNefario]

I seem to be very stingy with the top rating myself. I don't know why. I guess I feel I need to hold it back for something really outstanding.

[paola]

various four stars, but only one five star for me A tale of love and darkness by Amos Oz - and thanks to the Literary Book Club, as I don't think I would not have read it had it not been for LBR!

[Tarana]

DrNefario, you might try looking at PDurrant's rating system. I found it helpful. He states that something that gets 5 stars is "one of the best I have read this year". The rating system should help YOU. Don't worry about other people.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Fbone, if you only had ONE 5 star book for the year, either you aren't reading that many books or you need to seek some better reading material. You don't want to waste your reading life on so-so books. I found book clubs in my favorite genres to be very helpful in this regard. Lots of them on Goodreads.

As to your categorizing, you could try 'Phenomenal Books' for a shelf and keep them there. Reminds you to revisit those in the future. Interestingly enough, I've never read Steinbeck and unfortunately, our library does not have Cannary Row in either Ebook or audiobook, so I'll just have to put it on my wishlist and get it in the future. Same with the two sci fi books you mention. Our reading tastes may be very different, but I'm always willing to try a sci fi that someone truly loves.

Thanks for your helpful suggestions. Cannery Row was greatly superior to anything else I read in 2013 and therefore nothing else was rated a 5-star. That's why I briefly thought to exclude "Phenomenal Books" from my rating system. I completed 41 books with the following results:

5-star ... 1
4-star ... 4
3-star ... 19
2-star ... 13
1-star ... 4
[abandoned] ...7

My average is 2.63 in the fair > good category. However, I am a snob in regards to writing skill and solid plots. It's probably why I grade books on the harsh side.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by paola

various four stars, but only one five star for me A tale of love and darkness by Amos Oz - and thanks to the Literary Book Club, as I don't think I would not have read it had it not been for LBR!

One of my top reads was a five-star read for you, I think: Un anno sull'altipiano/Sardinian Brigade.. (Loved it; thanks for the recommendation!)

I'm reluctant to give a book five stars. Only one this year, the non-fiction Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Scott Anderson. I did have twenty-seven four star books though.

[GeoffR]

If I found myself reading more 1-star books than 5-star books I think it would be better for me to spend less time reading and more time on selecting which books to read. Even the process of researching books to find out whether I am likely to enjoy them or not is more fun than reading 1-star books.

I rated 11 books at 5 stars (16 if including rereads), and one at 1-star. Most common rating was 4-stars.

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by Tarana

DrNefario, you might try looking at PDurrant's rating system. I found it helpful. He states that something that gets 5 stars is "one of the best I have read this year". The rating system should help YOU. Don't worry about other people.

I don't rate most of my books at all, but I did review and rate some of them as part of a challenge on another site, and I noticed that one of my favourite books of the year (China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F McHugh) I'd only given a 4.5.

I might try to include some sort of rating for everything next year.

[jersysman]

I don't give many 5-star ratings. I had two this year.

Best Little Stories from the Civil War: More Than 100 True Stories by C. Brian Kelly
Geronimo: The True Story of America's Most Ferocious Warrior by S. M. Barrett

[kennyc]

Yep I agree with the last few posts. I don't really rank/star my reads unless forced to by something like an Amazon review. And besides a 5 is like a perfect 10, there's no such thing.

[NickyWithNook]

For me, 5 starts means that I really loved it AND I find myself unable to stop thinking about it. That it stuck with me. In a good way.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Yep I agree with the last few posts. I don't really rank/star my reads unless forced to by something like an Amazon review. And besides a 5 is like a perfect 10, there's no such thing.

Are you sure?

In the end a book will fall into two buckets: ones I would recommend; and ones I would not recommend. With a five star system, anything over 1 star is recommendable to someone and even those with 1 star might be recommendable to someone based on topic and interests.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

Are you sure?

In the end a book will fall into two buckets: ones I would recommend; and ones I would not recommend. With a five star system, anything over 1 star is recommendable to someone and even those with 1 star might be recommendable to someone based on topic and interests.

Well except for Cannery Row and Grapes of Wrath.