Pages

Monday, April 13, 2009

Goodreads and Stars Upon Thars

With a nudge from Simon and Schuster, I've made it over to goodreads.com. I've received invites from friends for a year or so but haven't had the time to jump on it. Now I have!

I've made my list of my own works, classic loves, and what I'm reading now. THAT I love. However, I don't love putting up public stars on books. I know I'm truly missing out on the spirit of the site. But this is what comes to mind:

http://www.searchviews.com/images/sneetches.gif


Do I put a star on the belly or not? Did a reader star my belly? If so, with how many stars? Is my belly even that big?

I can't do it! My compromise is to use goodreads as my bookshelf to review what I've read. Rarely will I do reviews.

If you want to know what I really think, you'll have to get your hands on my journal. There you will find my world belly view, those who have stars upon thars, and those that, in my opinion, don't. Because come on, we all have our own opinions, right? I just prefer to keep the bellies covered. If my little words, or absence of stars, ever hindered an author from writing their next great work, it would be a great sadness. On the flip side, I can't fling stars without merit, either.

So, at this point, for me, if you pass me on goodreads, let's just say I'll shake your hand, no matter the stars on your belly or mine.

http://www.businesstalk.co.nz/picture.php?albumid=5&pictureid=74

7 comments:

  1. LOL! I feel like that too when I give books stars! I reviewed a few books... but then I just stopped because I felt like giving everyone 4 or 5 stars even if the book was not my favorite, because I didn't want to hurt anyones feelings LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  2. One of my big complaints about the star system (hee) is that you can't allot half-stars. That bugs me because apparently I would give out a lot of 3.5s! :D I find myself qualifying my star ratings quite a lot in my brief reviews.

    Going to friend you now!! You may star or not as you please.

    ReplyDelete
  3. See, like: I had similar thoughts. And no way to express them.

    Can I just copy and paste? Please?

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. My favorite Dr. Seuss story = The Sneetches.

    Stars are shiny. Just in general.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is great, Lori Ann. I, too, struggle on Goodreads. Because those words they put up, to help you rank the book "I really liked," etc., mean something different than the stars do. At least to me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I didn't mean to spell you name wrong. :(

    Btw, my little 2 1/2 yr old nephew loves your Rainy Day Slug illustrations. He especially likes that little ladybug, the kittycat and the boy's toes, pointing to each and giving a *squee* each read-through.

    ReplyDelete