4 Replies to “First Cup of Coffee – April 27, 2021”
I think going forward I’ll adopt the Roman emperor voting system of thumbs up/thumbs down for books. I either enjoyed it or I did not. Maybe a middle rating of “undetermined” for those books I don’t feel strongly about.
It’s very hard to put a star rating on a book. What separates good from great? Ok from good? Things other people complain about I’m willing to tolerate and vice versa. Right now I’m super excited for Katherine Addison’s The Witness for the Dead, set in the same world as The Goblin Emperor, which I loved. Someone gave TGE 1 star and said it was “dreary.” And like… I can’t dispute that. It IS a rather dreary story in some ways. But it appealed to me anyway because the protagonist was trying to do his best in a shitty situation.
Congrats on becoming the next SFWA president and good luck!
The thumb waggle between up and down for a waffle between the two came from exactly that! I pretty much rate a book either 5 stars or not at all – unless the author is so big they won’t notice a 3 or 4.
I *loved* TGE! I didn’t find it dreary at all. I am conflicted however on reading TWtD, however. I want more of the palace, particularly the female characters who got so little to do in TGE.
With authors willing to pay for good reviews, I feel like giving a 5-star rating would make me look like a paid shill especially if I wasn’t ecstatic enough to truly sing its praises in the write-up. Hence the thumbs up/down/waggle.
I would love to read more about Maia and the others but I don’t know if the author will ever return to the palace so I’ll take what I can get. Even though I can’t pronounce half the names of things and reduced that part of the palace to “The Michelin Man Building” just so I could keep reading without stumbling. 😀
//
I think going forward I’ll adopt the Roman emperor voting system of thumbs up/thumbs down for books. I either enjoyed it or I did not. Maybe a middle rating of “undetermined” for those books I don’t feel strongly about.
It’s very hard to put a star rating on a book. What separates good from great? Ok from good? Things other people complain about I’m willing to tolerate and vice versa. Right now I’m super excited for Katherine Addison’s The Witness for the Dead, set in the same world as The Goblin Emperor, which I loved. Someone gave TGE 1 star and said it was “dreary.” And like… I can’t dispute that. It IS a rather dreary story in some ways. But it appealed to me anyway because the protagonist was trying to do his best in a shitty situation.
Congrats on becoming the next SFWA president and good luck!
The thumb waggle between up and down for a waffle between the two came from exactly that! I pretty much rate a book either 5 stars or not at all – unless the author is so big they won’t notice a 3 or 4.
I *loved* TGE! I didn’t find it dreary at all. I am conflicted however on reading TWtD, however. I want more of the palace, particularly the female characters who got so little to do in TGE.
Thank you!
With authors willing to pay for good reviews, I feel like giving a 5-star rating would make me look like a paid shill especially if I wasn’t ecstatic enough to truly sing its praises in the write-up. Hence the thumbs up/down/waggle.
I would love to read more about Maia and the others but I don’t know if the author will ever return to the palace so I’ll take what I can get. Even though I can’t pronounce half the names of things and reduced that part of the palace to “The Michelin Man Building” just so I could keep reading without stumbling. 😀
Yeah – I get to do that, being an author. I don’t have to be even-handed.
lol on Michelin Man Building!