Tuesday, March 3, 2009

New Grading System

I'm going to start adding grades to my "books read" lists. It's more for my benefit than anything else; I read so much and keep picking up new authors all the time that I need help remembering what I thought. It could be early-onset Alzheimer's, I guess, since I'm only in my early thirties. :) Anyway, if anyone reading this diary of sorts of mine wants to trust in my so-called ability to properly judge a book, be my guest. Just do so at your own peril. Here are some tentative descriptions of what the grades in my grading system are:

A: So awesome I'm walking around with a big goofy grin on my face 
B: Definitely good
C: OK, may or may not wish for the return of the hours I spent reading it (you get the gist)
D: Book was thrown across the room when finished (if finished), a.k.a. a wallbanger
F: Couldn't get through it at all - that's pretty rare but it does exist

I should add that these grades are not just based on the writer's ability to write the English language; I hate books that screw with your head at the end (i.e. Ian McEwan's Atonement, Anita Shreve's The Last Time They Met). Making me become emotionally invested in characters in a book and then yanking the rug out from under me is a good way to make me avoid any author's book in the future. So, while Atonement was well-written and creative, I would give it a D (I did throw it across the room when done). I'm not going to be objective and keep my emotions out of this - what would be the point in that? It's my book diary :)

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