I've been thinking about this after looking at my ratings for a few years and seeing that I give very, very few 5 star ratings.

I know what the reason is. Books that have a significant impact on me, on how I think about life, literature, art, and the like...books that I am still thinking about long after I turn the last page...those get 5 stars from me. They're at the top. It makes a certain sense, then, that books that don't reach that level of impact but that I nevertheless enjoyed (sometimes a great deal) can only be 4 or 4.5 (depending on whether the site allows half stars) or lower.

Of course, not every book is meant to impact me in the way described above. Some books are meant just to entertain, to be light, and I enjoy those books a lot. I've thought about adjusting my rating system such that each book is rated in the context of what that book is trying to achieve. But star ratings don't allow for any granularity, so I still lean more toward the system I've been using (where 3 and above is a good rating).

What do you all do? If a life-changing work of art gets a 5 from you, does something that falls short of that automatically come in below 5 stars or might a gripping thriller that you loved but won't remember in a year also qualify for a 5 based on the fun you had?

So at the very beginning of the year, when I first joined this app, I made the decision to try and shoot for reading 30 books this year. Since then I’ve only read four and it is now late August and it’s about to be September and now I only have 30 minutes left of the year. Yes thirty. Thirtyyyy 🥴

My reading slump has been so bad this year and don’t give me wrong. I have been reading in general just not actual published work. I’ve only been reading fanfiction for the most part now it is my goal to actually reach the 30 bookmark that I set for myself for the beginning of this year and I truly need to lock in. It does get hard when life gets so busy though.

I have curated my little library to mainly include things that entice me and now majority of it I have not read yet as I have given away a lot of books over the years and now my shelves are filled with books basically from my TBR. I’m excited to read them I just struggle to get into them 😵‍💫

I just wanted to share and possibly resonate with others that are also in a slump and are trying to reach their goal this year 🫶🏽 I am determined to succeed and haven’t given up yet, friends!! 🤠🤠🤠