-12
Do you normally read books with less than 4 stars? (programming.dev)
submitted 2 days ago by cactus_head@programming.dev to c/books@lemmy.world
31 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I struggle with this a bit. Even if the book is 3.98 stars, i view that as not passing lowest bar. I consider most 4 stars books to not be there time, but rather the number of stars is how i filter out bad books

Also, how do you use your stars? Do you change your rating often?

For me, it generally goes like this:

  • 1 Star -Either its so bad that its offense or i dnf it
  • 2 Stars - Either bad or mediocre, not really work any time
  • 3 Stars - An okay book with a couple of redeeming points
  • 4 Stars - A great book with some flaws that bother me
  • 5 Stars - An excellent book, i am jumping in my sits.
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] ZDL@lazysoci.al 3 points 2 days ago

I'll defend your choice to go by cover here, from the perspective of someone in marketing.

The cover is the first contact point anybody has with a book. It is there to let the prospective reader know things like genre, style, intended target audience, etc. A good cover should match the contents to your tastes. A bad cover doesn't.

We form a large amount of our opinions on things from quite literally the first glance: people, food, vacuum cleaners, and yes, books. If the publisher has even a half-decent marketer on staff, that book cover should absolutely be intended for you to judge the contents before you first crack the book open.

[-] Fizz@lemmy.nz 2 points 1 day ago

I do also read the back to make sure its interesting but mostly I just have the mind that if someone spent the effort to write it then I might enjoy it. I can be very stuck in my niches if I dont introduce randomness into my choices.

this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2026
-12 points (33.3% liked)

Books

8217 readers
105 users here now

A community for all things related to Books.

Rules

  1. Be Nice. No personal attacks or hate speech.
  2. No spam. All posts should be related to discussion or reviews related to books. (Please avoid posts that are just a link to the book and a generic summary)
  3. No self promotion.

Official Bingo Posts:

Related Communities

Community icon by IconsBox (from freepik.com)

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
dresden@discuss.online
dresden_do@lemmy.world
JaymesRS@literature.cafe
JaymesRS@lemmy.world
dresden@piefed.world