Why and How Book Ratings Can Actually Be Misleading

(T)here’s a way better and more nuanced metric to pick and vet your (best) next read

Why and How Book Ratings Can Actually Be Misleading
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“How in the world had I rated Rich Dad Poor Dad 5 stars?” I wondered.

My finance 4-stars like The Millionaire Fastlane and The Psychology Of Money outclassed it by a mile! Demoting it to 3 stars, I checked my other 5-starrers…

And had to downgrade many of them to 3–4 stars:

The Rational Male. 12 Rules For Life. The 50th Law. Atomic Habits. As A Man Thinketh. The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant. The 7 Spiritual Laws Of Success. Extreme Ownership. The Daily Stoic. Buyology. Gone With The Wind. Mrs Frisby and the rats of NIMH. 1984. A Song Of Ice And Fire. Atlas Shrugged. Fool’s Fate. The Kite Runner. The Inheritance Cycle. Tiny Beautiful Things. Elantris. The Pathless Path. $100M Offers.

Intrigued, I checked my past 3–4 stars — and spotted a few of my all-time favorites. Shocked, I promoted them to 5 stars:

The Alchemist. Unscripted. Siddhartha. The Fountainhead. Animal Farm. Crime and Punishment.

P.S. My book ratings and examples (so far and hereafter) reflect my personal opinion. Your opinions might differ 100% — this is partly why ratings are misleading. Exploring the (many) other reasons, I’ll share a way better metric.

Upon reflection, all these rating shifts burn down to 3 reasons:

  • Epiphanic shifts and self-growth with(out) re-reads — that slingshot 3–4 stars to 5.
  • Wizening as a reader — and be(com)ing choosier with your 5-stars. 500+ books later, only 27 books (continue to) have my 5-star vote.
  • Finding and devouring books/content way better than past 5-stars. Rich Dad Poor Dad was such a victim—paling in contrast to later reads.
While I demoted the rating, I let my old naive review stay as is (Screenshot by the author)

This presents a real problem — as most readers don’t return to update their ratings…

Even fewer (if any?) keep returning to keep it updated. Forget re-rating, re-reading itself is rare — only ~35% revel in it. Even then, it’s mostly 5-star fiction for pleasure. Serious non-fiction? Only ~30% of the 35% re-readers do so.


The Misleading Rating Bias This Naturally Leads to

Unlike most purchases, books are dynamic — as Mason Cooley said, “Rereading, we find a new book.”

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